HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/20/2016 Council minutes COUNCIL MEETING
APRIL 20, 2016
The Council Meeting of the Council of the County of Kaua`i was called to order
by Council Chair Mel Rapozo at the Council Chambers, 4396 Rice Street, Suite 201,
Lihu`e, Kaua`i, on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 at 8:30 a.m., after which the following
Members answered the call of the roll:
Honorable Mason K. Chock
Honorable Gary L. Hooser
Honorable Ross Kagawa
Honorable Arryl Kaneshiro (recused at 3:15 p.m.)
Honorable KipuKai Kuali`i
Honorable JoAnn A. Yukimura
Honorable Mel Rapozo
APPROVAL OF AGENDA.
Councilmember Kaneshiro moved for approval of the agenda as circulated,
seconded by Councilmember Kuali`i, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Next item, please.
MINUTES of the following meetings of the Council:
February 4, 2016 Special Council Meeting, Council-Manager Form of
Government Workshop
March 3, 2016 Special Council Meeting, Council-Manager Form of Government
Workshop
March 17, 2016 Special Council Meeting, Council-Manager Form of
Government Workshop
Councilmember Kagawa moved to approve the Minutes as circulated,
seconded by Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Yukimura: Council Chair?
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes?
Councilmember Yukimura: I would like to ask for a deferral. I have not
had a chance to review them.
Council Chair Rapozo: On all three (3)?
COUNCIL MEETING 2 APRIL 20, 2016
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, please.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Can we have a motion to defer?
Councilmember Kagawa moved to defer the Minutes, seconded by
Councilmember Kuali`i, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please. You are welcome.
CONSENT CALENDAR:
C 2016-96 Communication (03/23/2016) from the Director of Finance,
transmitting for Council information, the Condition of the County Treasury
Statement quarterly report as of February 5, 2016.
C 2016-97 Communication (04/06/2016) from the Acting County Engineer,
transmitting for Council consideration, a Resolution Establishing Crosswalks,
Striped Pedestrian Walkways, And Intersection Modifications On Waikomo Road,
Koloa District, County Of Kaua`i, to improve safety for pedestrians and to improve
pedestrian connectivity for the immediate residential community to Koloa
Elementary School, businesses, and other destinations in the area.
Council Chair Rapozo: Can I get a motion to receive?
Councilmember Kagawa moved to receive C 2016-96 and C 2016-97 for the
record, seconded by Councilmember Kuali`i.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follow:
The motion to receive C 2016-96 and C 2016-97 for the record, was then put
and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. At this time, if there are no
objections, I would like to entertain C 2016-101 and Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2629),
relating to smoking in motor vehicles. I would like to take those two (2) items at the
start of the agenda. The substance of this Bill is being deliberated on by the State at
the Legislature right now, and it looks like it is going to pass in the next couple of
COUNCIL MEETING 3 APRIL 20, 2016
weeks. My suggestion is that we entertain the Bill today, we take the public
testimony, and then defer this Bill until May 8th, which is two (2) Council Meetings
from now, that way we will have an idea of what the State is doing.
JADE K. FOUNTAIN-TANIGAWA, County Clerk: Chair, it would be
May 18th.
Council Chair Rapozo: Oh, May 18th? I am sorry, May 18th.
Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: Thank you, Chair. Do you want to receive the
Communication, and then do the discussion on the Bill?
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes.
There being no objections, C 2016-101 and Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2629) were
taken out of order.
COMMUNICATIONS:
C 2016-101 Communication (04/05/2016) from Councilmember Chock,
transmitting for Council consideration, a Proposed Draft Bill to amend Chapter 22,
Article 8.2 of the Kaua`i County Code 1987, as amended, by adding a new subsection
"(o)," relating to Smoking Prohibited in Certain Areas, to prohibit smoking in any
motor vehicle, whenever occupied by a person less than eighteen years of age:
Councilmember Chock moved to receive C 2016-101 for the record, seconded by
Councilmember Kuali`i, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. Can you read the Bill, please?
BILLS FOR FIRST READING:
Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2629) — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND
SECTION 22-8.2, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO
SMOKING IN A MOTOR VEHICLE
Council Chair Rapozo: We are going to go ahead and suspend the
rules and take public testimony at this time if there is no objection with that?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
Council Chair Rapozo: Did we have any registered speakers?
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: We have no registered speakers.
COUNCIL MEETING 4 APRIL 20, 2016
Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone wishing to testify? Please. The green
light will come on, the yellow light will come on when you have thirty (30) seconds
left of your first three (3) minutes, and when the red light comes on, that means your
time is up. If you could start by stating your name for record, and then you can
proceed.
SALLY JO MANEA: Sally Jo Manea. Thank you for hearing
testimony this morning, Councilmembers. I have been a Tobacco-Free Kaua`i and
Tobacco-Free Hawai`i member for many years. The reason I am here this morning is
because I am in favor of passage of this Bill. I do not think that there...I am speaking
for the kids because I have had young people come up to me in my years of being an
anti-tobacco advocate and say, "My parents smoke in the car when they are dropping
me off at school, I do not have any choice about it, and I am just subjected to it. I do
not like it, and there is nothing I can do about it." Basically, I am here today speaking
for them.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you very much.
Ms. Manea: Parents should know better, but some do not.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you.
Ms. Manea: Mahalo.
Council Chair Rapozo: Next speaker.
VALERIE SAIKI: Hi, my name is Valerie Saiki. I am here on
behalf of the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii. I am here in support of this Bill.
I made some folders with information for all of the Councilmembers in regards to
secondhand smoke, smoking in vehicles, electronic smoking devices, as well as my
testimony and a couple other testimonies from children, as well as teenagers and
other community members. Over my time of campaigning for this Bill, we have
collected over four hundred (400) petitions from adults and a couple hundred from
youth under the age of eighteen (18), as well as several handwritten letters from high
schoolers that once this Bill comes into Committee, I will submit as well.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Anyone else?
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: We will have some discussion.
Councilmember Chock, did you want to address your Bill?
Councilmember Chock: Yes, thank you, Chair. Thank you for the
opportunity to share a little bit about this. We have been talking about this with
COUNCIL MEETING 5 APRIL 20, 2016
Valerie and Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawai`i about a year not. This is one (1) of
the requests that I could support because it has do with health, it has do with our
oversight over our roads, and we have some models to look towards in terms of
effectiveness. I am happy to also defer it because of that reason, because we were not
sure where State Legislature was going to go with this. In these past weeks, the
latest look at where they are going is that this might be favorable in terms of passing.
For those reasons, rather than creating legislation that would be overseen later, that
we defer this at this time to see how it turns out at the State level. If we need to, we
can always come back or receive this Bill at a future time. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: A question to the introducer. Is the State bill
in substance similar or almost the same as the Bill that is before us today, such that
if it passes the State Legislature, it will apply Statewide including Kauai? Is that
the case?
Councilmember Chock: That is correct, and it is almost verbatim in
terms of its content.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Any other discussion? Go ahead.
Councilmember Kagawa: Thank you, Chair. Ever since I have started
getting testimony, I would say maybe about four (4) or five (5) days ago, I have been
trying to do my personal homework. I have tried to notice all of the cars that I see
driving, and to be honest, I have seen maybe two (2) cars out of probably thousands
where people were smoking, and both of them were riding by themselves, so there
was no child in there. As we look to pass a law on Kaua`i that is "county specific" and
not applied Statewide, I am wondering if there is any data to support that there is a
problem first. I do not believe that we should pass laws when there is no specific data
as to whether there is a problem that we need the law to improve the situation. Sure,
I can agree that obviously it is a "slam-dunk." Yes, it makes it safer for a child, but
my real concern is are we fixing the problem? I think the problem is if smoke from an
adult that is going on to a child and is negatively affecting their lives, then when they
are smoking at home, then what? Are we going to look into policing that as well? I
have some concerns there about the Bill and about the true intent. Are we trying to
fix the problem? I think the real solution actually is education, because if we can
better educate the parents that smoking anywhere near the premises of a child or a
student is harmful and very detrimental to their lives, then that is how you fix the
problem. You stop it from happening anywhere near a child, and certainly limiting
it to a car is just one (1) little aspect of their lives. I am not sure if the police is ready
and able to add that to the list of things that they watch for drivers. They have got
to watch cell phones, vehicle registration, safety checks, and whether they are
speeding. We are just adding to the list. How effective will the police be or will we
COUNCIL MEETING 6 APRIL 20, 2016
be responding on a complaint basis? Will it be, "Oh, I saw this license plate smoking
with this child in the car, please investigate." Do we have the time and resources to
effectively make this Bill work? Those are some concerns that I have. If we are going
to do something, I feel we should do it right. Let us not put a bill on the books...and
it is interesting that the Big Island sent testimony supporting it when they have a
dog barking law that they say they do not even enforce. Is that Big Island's style?
They put laws on the books, but it is just to scare people off. They do not really enforce
it. I do not want to follow that road, if that makes sense. I have some concerns.
Nonetheless, I think this is more effective on a statewide basis as smoking is not
allowed in the premises of a commercial building. You have do it outside. It is
statewide and everybody knows that you cannot do it. In State of Hawai`i, you cannot
smoke indoors in a commercial business, period. I think a similar law statewide
saying you cannot smoke with a minor in the car, period. That would seem to make
more sense rather than, you cannot do it in Kaua`i, but can do it in Honolulu and
wherever. Anyway, I have concerns again and I hope statewide, that they address
this problem and make it easier and consistent. Thank you, Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Any other discussion?
Councilmember Hooser.
Councilmember Hooser: I am in strong support of this measure. I want
to commend Councilmember Chock for introducing it and for the community-based
advocates who have been working on this issue and many other related issues over
the years and brought it forward. Like others here on the Council, I also see people
in their cars with their children, and I more often than I would like to see or would
like to think I do see adults in cars with children who are smoking. Sometimes they
are trying to hold the cigarette outside of the window, but at the end of the day, they
are smoking with young children, sometimes very young children, sitting right next
to them. I believe we have the responsibility as the elected leaders of our community
to look out first and foremost, for those that cannot protect themselves such as
children. Even if one (1) child or one (1) family is protected by this measure, I think
it is worth doing. I certainly hope that the State passes the statewide measure. There
is no question about that. I understand the police has many duties and they are doing
a great job, but I believe I saw testimony from them in support of this measure. I am
happy to see that. I believe the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney also expressed
some support. Again, I think we have a duty to protect the children and to look out
for the health of those small people that are not able to look out for their own health.
Again, I am also hoping that the State will pass it, but I am in strong support of the
measure moving forward. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else wishing to...Councilmember
Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. For me, this is a no-brainer because it is
about the health of our keiki. I see here from the materials given to us, that according
to the Surgeon General, even brief exposure of secondhand smoke is dangerous and
COUNCIL MEETING 7 APRIL 20, 2016
can be harmful, and it is especially dangerous to children because their bodies are
especially vulnerable. A car is a closed space. It is a very small space, so you would
have a concentration of smoke. Based on the testimony, kids do not have a choice.
They are not empowered to make their own decisions. They cannot open the car door
and leave. So they are a captive audience and we need to protect them. I do not think
it needs a concerted effort from the police. If in the course of their work they come
across the situation, then they will be able to enforce it. Without the law, they will
not be able to enforce it. They are just going to stand by and watch and not be able
to do anything. This would give them the tools to stop the situation. I think we need
it. I also think that if the State passes it, we do not have to pass it at this level. I
think a deferral at this point is appropriate.
Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Yes, I will just add to it. I did do a little bit of
my own research as well. I mentioned that I had been looking at this for a year and
I sent out inquiries. I was wondering the same question, is this pervasive in our
community? Is this something that we really need to address? I sent it out to about
ten (10) different people to just keep an eye on it. In the last year, I got three (3)
responses, which is about a thirty percent (30%) return out of ten (10). It does occur,
unfortunately one too many. It is something that I think we should be looking at
even if it happens for a short interval. It does make a difference. I also just wanted
to mention that the Big Island has successfully implemented it, unlike some of the
other bills that were in discussion earlier. They have not had a challenge as other
bills have been discussed in the past. I would just spend the time to look into this a
little further. I think there is a way to enforce it as there are some concerns about
that. Again, I think we have seen support widely not only from our own County
agencies; Police and the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, but also the other islands.
I agree with Councilmember Kagawa. I think education is foremost, and I think that
we need to support everything that we can do; however, the roads are within our
purview. It is within our jurisdiction. We make sure that safety is a priority by
having people put their seatbelts on, make sure their cars are in order, their turn
light signals and lights are all working, and this is one (1) small step that we can take
as well to ensure the safety of our residents. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: That is your third time, Councilmember
Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Third?
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes. Again, we are going defer this. We are
going to have a lot of discussion in the Committee.
Councilmember Yukimura: I asked a question the first time.
Council Chair Rapozo: No, go ahead.
COUNCIL MEETING 8 APRIL 20, 2016
Councilmember Yukimura: If this Bill comes back to us needing work, I
would like to know more about the Big Island's experience. It has been in effect since
2010, so how many enforcement cases have there been during that time? It would be
interesting data to have.
Council Chair Rapozo: I am hoping that they will...a request was
sent out, and it looks like the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney has contacted the
Hawai`i County Office of Prosecuting Attorney as well, but they have not reported
any difficulties. I am curious to see how many cases were actually cited and
prosecuted. Councilmember Hooser.
Councilmember Hooser: Just real briefly. I think passage of
something like this just sends a huge message that it is not okay, that it is against
the law, and other children in schools will know that it is against the law. The
children riding in these cars will know that it is against the law and their parents
will know it is against the law. I do not think it is about giving tickets. It is about
compliance. We will just send a strong message that it is not okay to smoke in a car
with a young child or any child and put that message out there, that message will
multiply, and there will be less adults breaking the law and smoking in cars with
children and harming their health. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Did you have a comment?
Councilmember Kagawa: Again, I hear so much concern that people are
getting sick and dying. I mean, what about at home? Are we going police that too?
Are we into doing parenting laws here? Are we judging parents, whether they are
raising their children right? To a certain point, let us get back to what we need to do
in basics. If we are trying to cure smoke effects on children, then we have go to
Congress and ban smoking outright, because people are doing it in their homes and
are still affecting children. Let us take it to the right avenue. I think pandering is
not effective. I think pandering is pandering, and certainly in a car is one (1) facet of
their life. If it is dangerous, then go for changing it in all aspects of their lives, not
just this. That is my general feeling.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Well, we will have a month do our due
diligence. One (1) of the things I battle with is at what point is the County's
responsibility stop and the State's responsibility start, at what point does someone's
private rights should be preserved and we should be helping that? On the other side,
I am thinking this is a problem. It is a huge problem. Again, is it in our arena to
address? Councilmember Kagawa brings up a great point about the house. You have
people living in small homes here that that smoke has nowhere to go, and is that
what we are going to address next? Is that something that the County Council should
be looking at? Also, the Kaua`i Police Department (KPD) did respond and although
their letter says they are in support of the additional language, they have concerns.
They have a lot of concerns about enforcement. They have concerns because of the
officers' ability to determine how old the kid is. There is concern about that. There
COUNCIL MEETING 9 APRIL 20, 2016
is also concern from the Police Department that electronic cigarettes (e-cigarette) may
or may not contain nicotine, and they will never be able to determine what substance
is being smoked, or vaporized, or whatever it is called. They did not come out and
say, "We support that and we support the additional language, but we have some
concerns about enforcement and we have concerns about the terminology being used
and the fact that e-cigarettes are becoming very popular." How will they enforce that?
As a former cop, I can tell you when you pull over a car...I remember the one (1) time
I pulled over a car heading down Moloa`a stretch and this person took out his beer
bottle to show me, "haha." I chased him all the way down to Kilauea only to stop him
to find out that it was root beer. It was embarrassing, it was confrontation, and thank
goodness there was no altercation. Every time we put an officer in the line to make
a vehicle stop, we have to consider that it could be a problem and this is a difficult
thing to catch, and I understand. I think a Councilmember said that they are not
going to be actively enforcing it, but if they come across it...again, do you have to
warn the parent of their rights before you can ask them if their kid is eighteen (18),
or seventeen (17), or sixteen (16)? Education is key. I think education is working,
but maybe they need a little stimulus from local county legislators in the way of a
law. I do not know, and that is something that I have to look at in the next coming
months. I think that we definitely got to address it and I think a lot of good
information will come out of this. I, too, will be interested in...and not that it matters
what the Big Island does, but I am curious to see how it is working on the Big Island.
With that, can I get a motion to defer until May 18th?
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to defer Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2629) to
May 18, 2016, seconded by Councilmember Yukimura, and carried by a vote of
6:1 (Councilmember Kagawa voting no).
Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried.
SCOTT K. SATO, Deputy County Clerk: We are at the top of
page 2.
C 2016-98 Communication (03/15/2016) from the Acting County Engineer
and the Director of Finance, requesting Council approval of the following unbudgeted
equipment purchases using funds from the Department of Public Works, Roads —
Baseyard Divisions, Other Supplies accounts for Fiscal Year 2015-2016, at an
estimated cost of$67,500:
• Replacement Heavy Duty Excavator Mounted Mulcher — $40,000
• 9 cubic feet Cement Mixer (Bridge Crew) — $5,000
• Riding Lawn Mower with small utility trailer (Levee Crew) — $5,000
• Riding Lawn Mower with small utility trailer (Kapa'a Baseyard) —
$5,000
• 2 Plate Sled Compactor with Water Tank — $8,000
• Rotating Laser Instrument (Bridge Crew) — $4,500
COUNCIL MEETING 10 APRIL 20, 2016
Councilmember Kagawa moved to approve C 2016-98, seconded by
Councilmember Kaneshiro.
Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion? Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: I want to thank our staff. I think some of
these purchases were done after we did a personal request to ask Kapa'a Baseyard to
ask the Department of Public Works to consider some equipment additions. I had
some concerns raised by some of the baseyard roads maintenance workers, and they
said a lot of jobs that were being done by hand could have been better served using
equipment, but the equipment were old, broken, not working, et cetera. We did a
personal request and I am glad to see about six (6) months later, voila. Certainly
using men instead of machinery at times is very inefficient in this modern day of life
that we live in. We would like to see our County workers doing most efficient job they
can, having the proper tools that are working. Again, thank you to the staff for
following up on my personal request. I commend the Department of Public Works for
responding and giving the men the tools that they need. Thank you, Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Anyone else? Is there any public
testimony?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
The motion to approve C 2016-98 was then put, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. Next item, please.
C 2016-99 Communication (03/29/2016) from the Acting County Engineer,
transmitting for Council consideration, amendments to Chapters 18, 20, and 23 of
the Kaua`i County Code 1987, as amended, relating to revocable permits for County
designated rights-of-way, to clarify the process and responsibilities for permitting of
vending on County owned property: Councilmember Kuali`i moved to receive
C 2016-99 for the record, seconded by Councilmember Kagawa.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
ALICE PARKER: Alice Parker, for the record. I am concerned
that this may take a low-income rental property off the market, and that it will go to
regular pricing. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else?
COUNCIL MEETING 11 APRIL 20, 2016
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: Further discussion?
The motion to approve C 2016-99 was then put, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. Next item, please.
C 2016-100 Communication (04/01/2016) from the Housing Director,
requesting Council approval to decline the repurchase of Unit No. 701
in Ho`okena at Puhi, 2080 Manawalea Street, Lihu`e, Hawai`i, Tax Map
Key (TMK) (4) 3-3-003-036-0041, and grant the owner a one-year waiver of the
buyback provision to allow for the market sale of the property by the owner:
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve C 2016-100, seconded by Councilmember
Kaneshiro.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion? I think Ms. Parker's
testimony was intended for this item, but that is okay. We got the message. I tend
to agree with Ms. Parker and there is something that I just want to have a real quick
discussion on. As we are in this crisis of affordable housing and this particular
purchase, this property, is basically estimating that the buyback would be three
hundred twenty-three thousand dollars ($323,000). If the County purchased this
property at three hundred twenty-three thousand dollars ($323,000) and resold it to
the affordable market and keep it in affordability, even if we sold the unit at less than
what we bought it, let us say we sold it for three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000),
even two hundred eighty thousand dollars ($280,000), which we would not. I think
in this market, it is a buyer's market right now, and I think as I have been looking at
the prices of real estate on Kaua`i, even if we took a ten thousand dollar ($10,000)
loss, even if we took a twenty-five thousand dollar ($25,000) loss, we have now allowed
a home to be affordable into perpetuity, really because we would always have that
first right, for fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000). If the buyback was six hundred
thousand dollars ($600,000) or four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000) or five
hundred thousand dollars ($500,000), I think maybe it is not worth it, but these are
the little nuggets that we have to pick up in my opinion. I would ask that we ask that
we refer to the Committee and have the discussion with the new Housing Director. I
thought about this, that it is going to cost this County, even if it costs this County
twenty thousand dollars ($20,000), we have created an affordable property for twenty
thousand dollars ($20,000), which you cannot buy...anyway, I think you get my point.
I would ask that we do that and maybe we have to reassess the policies here in the
County, that what is that margin that we are willing to spend to keep a family in an
affordable unit? Ms. Parker, I do not know if we are on the same frequency, but I
think that is what you were saying, that once we give this up, it is done. We have
actually facilitated a speculative home purchase because now this person has the
ability to sell this property at whatever they want. Councilmember Yukimura.
COUNCIL MEETING 12 APRIL 20, 2016
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, I agree. I thought that we were going to
have the Housing Agency here. I think a good alternative is to put it back in
Committee and ask them to come because I think you are right, Chair. If we do not
look at this carefully, we may be foregoing an opportunity to keep a house in the
affordable housing inventory. I would support a referral to Committee.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there any other discussion on
this?
Councilmember Kuali`i withdrew the motion to approve C 2016-100.
Councilmember Kagawa withdrew the second.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you.
Councilmember Yukimura moved to refer C 2016-100 to the April 27, 2016
Housing & Transportation Committee Meeting, seconded by Councilmember
Kuali`i.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you very much. No further discussion.
The motion to refer C 2016-100 to the April 27, 2016 Housing &Transportation
Committee Meeting was then put, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you very much. Thank you,
Ms. Parker. Next item, please.
Mr. Sato: This brings us to the top of page 3.
C 2016-102 Communication (04/11/2016) from the Salary Commission,
transmitting for Council information, the Salary Commission's Resolution
No. 2016-2, Amending Resolution No. 2016-1 Relating to the Salaries of Certain
Officers and Employees of the County of Kaua`i.
Council Chair Rapozo: Just a process question, staff. I do not want
to know if we can or cannot do it, but I want to do is discuss all of this in the same
discussion so we are not chasing people back to the next item. Is that possible? Is it
practical for you to have the discussion on both at the same time or is it difficult for
you? Okay, I can read your body language. We will start with C 2016-102. Can I get
a motion?
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to reject Salary Resolution No. 2016-2 in its
entirety, seconded by Councilmember Kagawa.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you very much. With that, is there any
public testimony?
COUNCIL MEETING 13 APRIL 20, 2016
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion? Go ahead.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: We are on C 2016-102.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. In this Resolution the proposed salary
increases are included for the positions from Mayor to the Deputy Fire Chief. I
believe these are the salaries where there has been, in many cases, great inversion
where there has been a real difficulty in competing with the market. Also as I said
before, it is very important that we support good management, and I think passing
this Resolution or approving it, would be the right thing to do, and therefore, I will
be voting against the rejection.
Council Chair Rapozo: Any other discussion? If not, roll call...oh, go
ahead.
Councilmember Hooser: Is the motion to reject in whole?
Council Chair Rapozo: Correct. We need five (5) votes to reject. With
that, roll call...Councilmember Kaneshiro.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: Yes. We just went over this a few weeks ago,
and I stated my position on this. I do not know. I will restate my position on my vote
just so that it is not skewed. Again, I do not like repeating myself, but it is up again.
It is only fair to repeat my position on this as it is. For me, it is what is in the best
interest of the County in the long-run, and understanding the budget ramifications,
it is easy to say no increase each and every year due to budget concerns or wrong
timing, which is what I said last year. I did not even get to see the budget. I was the
Budget & Finance Committee Chair. This came up before I even got to see the budget.
I was not comfortable with it. As you think about it, there is no right time to increase
salaries. There will never be a right time. We can always find an excuse not to do it.
There is a long-term effect on our decision, and that effect is that the amount gets
compounded every year, the disparity will be larger every year, and the percentage
increase will be larger every year. What do we do? Do we continue to put it off or do
we vote on it now? Do we go for the increase and figure out how to fund it or does the
Administration provide cuts to fund it and take it from there? I think last time they
did the increase, they had to increase the salaries by twenty-five percent (25%)
because it went so long with no increases. There is no right time. To say our
department heads should not get paid comparable to what other counties pay, I do
not know. We are a smaller county, but maybe we have more difficulties because we
COUNCIL MEETING 14 APRIL 20, 2016
have a smaller economy of scale to do the type of work we need to do, so we need
people that are even more forward-thinking. If we had a couple million people all
paying taxes, then I think we would be in a pretty good financial situation, but we do
not. We have limited resources, and it is just hinders us from competing with the
private sector and positions around the State. That is where we are trying to get
people...and also to keep the people here. We have seen people leave for the private
sector or other job opportunities. I think we want to do well, and we need good people
there. We are hear it all the time. It is difficult for us to actually get great people,
attorneys, or Certified Public Accountants (CPAs). We have a great attorney now,
but what keeps him from wanting to move to the private sector? I do not know, maybe
he enjoys being tortured here for a while. But I know it gains good experience, but
again, I would like to keep people here who are doing a good job. Taking a step-back,
what do we need to do? What is in best interest of the County for the long run? Again,
this is the recommendation from the Salary Commission. The Salary Commission is
made up of volunteers with no connection to the County, and they take an unbiased
look at the salaries. Basically, their job is to provide a resolution that attracts and
attains public servants for the highest caliber and quality. They spent many hours
working on this, and of course, fairness was the overriding consideration. As we go
into this, I just want to make sure that people know that this is a recommendation
from the Salary Commission. If it gets approved or not approved here, it is ultimately
the Administration's responsibility who will actually get the raise and who will not
based on their own criteria. That is where the responsibility is held. The
responsibility is held at the Administration. Are we able to justify increases? Does
our budget also justify the increase? So that is my stance on that, and it is kind of
unfortunate that we have to deal with it again. I think I have to repeat myself, but
that is my stance on it.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Hooser.
Councilmember Hooser: Yes. I will be supporting the motion, which if
it passed by the five (5) votes, is that correct?
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Hooser: Would deny the pay raises. My vote is not a
reflection on the individuals who are in these positions at all. It is a vote that
basically says I think the pay is sufficient. I differ with other comments that says
that we are being harmed. We are not paying enough. I think the pay is sufficient.
I believe most of these positions, if not all of them, are one hundred thousand
dollars ($100,000) or more, or close to it anyway. The taxes and fees continue to go
up in the County and we talk about raising the General Excise Tax (GET) that is still
on the agenda. There are many other needs that we have to face in this County. I
will not be supporting increasing the pay for the administration's directors and
deputy directors.
Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? Councilmember Kuali`i.
COUNCIL MEETING 15 APRIL 20, 2016
Councilmember Kuali`i: Yes. I cannot believe that we are back here.
We just dealt with this. We had extensive discussion. We heard from the community.
If the Salary Commission did their work and gave us a proposal, that was the proposal
they gave us just a few weeks ago. Now we have another proposal and all that is
different about this proposal is that they removed the Council. So everybody else
should get a raise, but now we do not believe that the Council should get a raise. That
is just pandering to me, like has been said before, to get a vote on the Council. That
is not right. That is not how we serve our constituents. I do not know what happened
at the Commission meeting. Why did they revisit this and all they do was take out
the Councilmembers? What kind of justification is there when you decide one thing
and now you decide the opposite? All that is pandering, and trying to get one (1) more
vote so this can fail so that we as a Council cannot do our responsibility to the people.
It is wrong, utterly wrong. I hate being put back in this position, but I have to vote
to reject again, and hope that there is five (5) votes to stand up to what we already
did for the people. There is no justification that these raises to one hundred thousand
dollar ($100,000) positions is absolutely needed and dire because this County is
suffering because people are leaving. There is no justification. The Salary
Commission has not given us any of that, and any problems that we have with
inversion is self-induced. We are causing these problems ourselves. So it is time we
stop the bleeding and fix this, and yes, there is a right time to consider justifying
raises, and that time is after we do a better job with this budget. Year after year, this
Council has only really altered the budget in small ways, but ultimately giving the
Administration everything that they wanted, and this budget has grown and grown
and grown year after year by millions of dollars and now we are coming to the people
and asking them for more GET? More GET on our kupuna and the people struggling
most and making the least money? Twenty dollars ($20) means so much to them, like
the Chair said before. No, this is wrong. Vote C 2016-102 and C 2016-103 down
because it is not right.
Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: We praise the Salary Commission for their
work. They did a great job in analyzing what is fair compensation in comparison to
other counties, in comparison to the subordinates that they manage, and in
comparison to other wages for similar professions in the County of Kaua`i in the
private sector. Again, I think they did a fabulous job in putting in the time and effort
to come up with a salary schedule that they feel is sustainable; however, our job on
the Council is to manage our budget and to spend within our means, and at this time,
without proposing any GET or any significant other taxes or fees on our people, I find
it irresponsible to vote for any salary increases of this large magnitude. Therefore,
yes...is it five (5) minutes already?
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes, you did twice.
Councilmember Kagawa: I did twice?
COUNCIL MEETING 16 APRIL 20, 2016
Council Chair Rapozo: That is what my timekeeper is telling me.
Councilmember Kagawa: It is my first time.
Council Chair Rapozo: That was his first time on this matter.
Councilmember Kagawa: I am done.
Council Chair Rapozo: You can finish up.
Councilmember Kagawa: Yes. I am voting to reject not because I believe
that the Salary Commission did a poor job or that the managers do not deserve an
increase. It is our responsibility to manage the budget, and I do not see the
sustainability of our budget to handle these increases at this time. Thank you, Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: I just want to clarify that this Resolution does
not just leave out the County Council salaries, it leaves out nine (9) other department
heads, and that is in the next Resolution. It is not just Council salaries that it leaves
out, it leaves out other managerial levels.
Council Chair Rapozo: I am not going to speak for Councilmember
Kuali`i. Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: I just wanted to state, I will be voting
consistently as I have before. I, too, am not thrilled about having to see this again.
But as I had mentioned before, I am willing to take some small steps. This is a small
step. There are budgetary concerns and therefore, I am willing to meet halfway in
this year's request.
Council Chair Rapozo: I think what Councilmember Kuali`i was
saying was that last week we had this opportunity and we could have rejected the
bottom half and the Council. The Council voted two (2) weeks and came out rejecting
the raises. I have to agree with Councilmember Kuali`i on the rationale of the Salary
Commission to come back with a Resolution removing the Council. I am baffled.
Throughout the discussion, and we have had a lot of discussion on this matter, the
consistent theme was it is not about the personalities. It is not about the people in
the positions, but it is about the position. It is about the position. For some reason
the Salary Commission, by this Resolution, is saying that the County Council of the
future, not us, the County Council of the future was not worthy of the salary that
they originally...their research or whatever, their work said that the County Council
deserves this much. Now in a matter of two (2) weeks, something happened and they
said, "Do you know what? Come to think of it, they do not deserve it." I am not
talking about Councilmember Hooser, Councilmember Yukimura, Councilmember
Kuali`i, Council Chair Rapozo, Councilmember Chock, Councilmember Kaneshiro,
COUNCIL MEETING 17 APRIL 20, 2016
and Councilmember Kagawa because it is the position. But because the Commission
had probably heard that hey, if some Councilmembers are concerned, they do not
think the Council should get a raise. They went back and said, "Let us take them out
and maybe we will get a different outcome." Councilmember Kuali`i, there is no way
I could have said it better than he did. That is frustrating to me, because they put in
all the work and say, "Okay..." That is not their job to secure the votes necessary so
that administrative people can get a raise and we will use the Council as the martyrs.
Sorry, we are just going to toss you to the side so we can get the Administration the
raise. That is now how it is supposed to be done. They submit a recommendation,
the Council acts, and we did. Now, we do not have a choice in this. They submit a
resolution and we have to vote on it. That is fine and that is cool. I just am having a
real problem. My position has not changed either. Is it right time? Is it feasible? It
is not about the people. It is not about who is in those positions, but it is about can
we afford it right now? Can we afford it right now? My position has not changed and
will not change. I think it is just unfortunate. You have an opportunity, the
opportunity fails, and then you go back and come back again and try again. At the
end of the day, I respect the process and I respect the outcome. We will obviously
comply with the outcome. Councilmember Kuali`i said it best, what happened
between two (2) weeks ago and this week that all of a sudden the future Councils do
not deserve a raise? That is troubling and maybe we will get to hear from the Salary
Commission at some point. Anyway, with that, the motion is to reject in whole. Roll
call.
The motion to reject Salary Resolution No. 2016-2 in its entirety was then put,
and failed by the following vote:
FOR MOTION: Hooser, Kagawa, Kuali`i, Rapozo TOTAL — 4,
AGAINST MOTION: Chock, Kaneshiro, Yukimura TOTAL — 3,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0.
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0.
(Motion to reject Salary Resolution No. 2016-2 in its entirety failed; Pursuant to
Section 29.03 of The Charter of the County of Kaua`i, there were insufficient votes to
reject Salary Resolution No. 2016-2 in its entirety.)
Council Chair Rapozo: Motion fails and Salary Resolution No. 2016-2
passes. Next item.
C 2016-103 Communication (04/11/2016) from the Salary Commission,
transmitting for Council information, the Salary Commission's Resolution
No. 2016-3, Amending Resolution No. 2016-1 Relating to the Salaries of Certain
Officers and Employees of the County of Kaua`i: Councilmember Yukimura moved
to reject Salary Resolution No. 2016-3 in its entirety, seconded by Councilmember
Chock.
COUNCIL MEETING 18 APRIL 20, 2016
Council Chair Rapozo: The motion is to reject. It there any public
testimony?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there further discussion? Councilmember
Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Yes, just to mention small steps again, and
that is why I am voting in favor of rejecting the second half, something that maybe
we can look at again in the future. Just in terms of the Council's removal, I too, am
a little bit concerned about the process that took place. I want to reiterate that for
me it is not about whether or not future Councils should or should not get it. It is
just about principle, the fact that we should not be looking at this, and that there
needs to be some change in the process so that we are not overseeing that
recommendation. My hope is that that message is heeded, and we find a resolution
to it in future so that it can be voted and decided upon effectively. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: This Resolution rejects or does not include
Council salaries just like the first did not include Council salaries. It includes
positions from the Director of Economic Development down to the County Auditor,
which was the second tier that I suggested deferential treatment on. I first want to
say with respect to the Council's salaries, even though it is for future positions that
future position is just nine (9) months away or less, and not all of us are not going to
be on the next Council. So in effect, people are voting on their own salaries, and I
think that is why Councilmember Chock is saying that the Council needs to be taken
out entirely from any action on Council salaries. I also want to say that maybe the
Salary Commission heard me that fifty-six thousand dollars ($56,000), which is what
the Council now gets, plus an allowance of about six thousand dollars ($6,000) for car
and phone is sufficient for a part-time salary. So maybe it is not necessary to raise
Council salaries at this point. Then as to the nine (9) positions that are here and
represent the second tier, I want to say that unlike the first group of salaries, which
we just allowed to stand, there is no major inversion between the department heads
and the people under them. There are no huge disparities with similar positions on
the other islands, and I would like to ask staff to pass out the chart, which shows
Maui County and Hawai`i County's current salaries, and Hawaii County's current
salaries as compared to the Kaua`i County proposed salaries. You will see that we
are not very different from Maui or the Big Island. Maui has twice the population
that we have, and Big Island has three (3) times the population that we have. Also,
we are not dealing with a problem of competing with the private sector or retaining
managers because I think we could get quite a few applications for these positions if
COUNCIL MEETING 19 APRIL 20, 2016
these positions were posted and if there was an actual recruitment process. As
Councilmember Kaneshiro said, there is no perfect time. Well, I say given the fact
that there is no real inversion and there is no disparity with the other islands, there
is not a problem of competing with the private sector. Now is not the time for these
salaries. We can wait and we can increase them later on. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: Thank you, Chair. I am a little concerned that
the previous Resolution had passed. It is a little early for Christmas, and Christmas
came early to those on that list. Given the fact that we are again, broke, a recent
report said our residents of the State of llawai`i pay the second highest taxes in the
nation when you combine real property taxes, income taxes, General Excise Taxes,
and all the other taxes and fees on vehicles and what have you. We have a General
Excise Tax proposal that we are floating to possibly be the top in the nation. If we
are broke and we are increasing salaries,where is the money going to come from? We
are broke. We have roads and bridges that are in dire need. Where is the money
going to come from? Again, I am concerned that the first one passed, and then on this
one, I am concerned that we are saying that we are not focusing on individuals and
individual responsibilities in dictating which half gets cut out, but we ignore the fact
that we have our Deputy County Clerk and County Clerk who have been working
more tirelessly than any other Deputy County Clerk and County Clerk that I can
remember with the make-up of this Council and the financial situation of the County
at this time. They are off the list. No Christmas for you, Scott and Jade, and the
Director of Parks & Recreation. I feel strongly that contrary to what some say, I think
they are doing a tremendous job. We have Kekaha Gardens Park done. It is
beautiful. It is what the community has been waiting for years. There were huge
accomplishments in the parks. We are now working on Hanapepe Softball Stadium.
We have huge things that the Department of Parks & Recreation is doing the way
that I feel that many of the public wants it to be done. The improvements of the parks,
taking care of the senior softballs, all of the requests that they have as they grow, all
the soccer and baseball that is played year round, and we leave the Director of Parks
& Recreation out, but we give the Department of Public Works more and what do we
have from the Department of Public Works? We have planters, bike paths, and
sidewalks. So one could disagree as to are we really dealing with accomplishments
or are we dealing with personalities? I feel like the cutting in half was totally wrong.
You either take all of the salary increases from the Salary Commission or you take
none. You do not split it in half and say, "Well, half of our work is the better half.
This other half, is the one we do not like, but we are going to put them out there
anyway." I feel like that is totally pandering, and that is the word, "pandering." I do
not think we should be pandering when we are broke. When we pander, we should
make solid decisions and do what is best for the people because that is what they are
asking for. Again, I am going to vote for reject because we are broke, and I do not
want our County to become the residents who are paying the highest taxes in the
nation. I think number two is enough already. Let us drop down, if we can. I will
remind you that it is not the property taxes. In the report that I saw, Hawai`i ranks
COUNCIL MEETING 20 APRIL 20, 2016
number two on the bottom in property taxes. We have the lowest property taxes
amounts in the nation. It is the income taxes and the General Excise Taxes that are
really high and we do not control that here on this Council, but we do control the
property taxes. So congratulations. The County has done a good job in keeping
property taxes fairly low, but when we are broke, let us not be irresponsible. Again,
I look back at the previous decision and it is very troublesome that financially, we
could not make the right decision today. I will be voting to reject again. Thank you,
Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Anyone else? Nobody?
Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: We heard from one (1) Councilmember about
being concerned about the process that took place in the last vote, but that
Councilmember voted to reward that process and change the decision that was made
before. You heard from another Councilmember that the Salary Commission did
their great work, they had this wonderful proposal, and we support their work, but
we only support the top half of their work. The bottom-half, I am going act like a
Commission member myself and redo the work of the Salary Commission and bring
in new county comparison...well, it is not even new County comparison data, but
bring county comparison data and argue these bottom half positions should not get
raises, but yes, let the top half get raises because of the comparisons to Maui and Big
Island. The Salary Commission did those comparisons, they brought us a complete
proposal, but now we are breaking it apart and saying half should get raises and half
should not. I agree with Vice Chair Kagawa, it is all or nothing. Giving half raises
and the other half not, now is more self-induced inversion. It is out of control. This
is Council is not doing its job when it comes to the budget. It is very sad year after
year. This is supposed to be about the positions and not personalities. When you
start breaking it down, pulling things out, and making odd unexplainable decisions,
it must involve personalities, otherwise, what is it? Where is justification? I always
ask for the justification and with these, I do not really see it. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Just to reiterate my position. From a
budgetary standpoint it is either seven hundred thousand dollars ($700,000) or half
of that. I choose half right now. That is a little more fiscally responsible to me. I do
not care who it is. We take half now and we take half next year. We are making a
forward step in trying to achieve what the goal is, which is what the Salary
Commission has. It is not about positions for me. I just want to make sure that is
clear. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? Councilmember Kaneshiro.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: I do not want to repeat what I said at the last
Resolution, but again, I am going to stay consistent in what I said the last time I
COUNCIL MEETING 21 APRIL 20, 2016
voted for the complete Resolution. Now it is in half. My vote is not going to change.
I am voting for the Salary Commission's recommendation. I would have loved to just
vote on it one (1) time with the whole thing again, but it is broken in half. I am going
to stay consistent with everything I said before and stay true to my conviction. That
is the way I will be voting, and I might be the lone vote on this one, but again, I am
staying consistent with what I said and what I hold true to.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. If we were meant to just rubber-stamp
the Salary Commission it would not have even come to the County Council. The
Salary Commission would make its decision and the Charter would say "so shall it
be." But in fact it came to the Council and it came to the Council for a reason, because
we control the budget and we are also are thinking individuals. Councilmember
Kuali`i asked for justification. I think I gave three (3) reasons; there is not as much
inversion, we do not have the problem of getting private sector applicants for this job
or retaining people in it, and the present salaries are comparable to the other
counties. It is not a reflection on any particular person. We are not pulling out
positions by personalities. We are pulling them out by rationale. We are giving some
very clear justifications. When we are broke, we do not add to the budget if we do not
have to. I think with this bottom tier, it is not necessary at this time. So we are
balancing the constraints of budget with our other responsibilities. I think the salary
levels that are presently set for this tier are not out of whack and the raises are not
as urgently needed as the top-tier. It is balancing the need to saving money.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Hooser.
Councilmember Hooser: Yes. Chair, I will be voting in support of the
motion to reject. I have been consistent from day one. I do not believe now is the
time to increase the salaries of the Administration, of the leadership, particularly. I
am going to be consistent in that vote and continue to express that opinion or feeling.
Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Anyone else? If not, the Mayor
wanted to speak. I am going to suspend the rules to allow the Mayor to speak, but
just the Mayor. We already called for public testimony. You are a resource person.
I am going to suspend the rules. Mayor, if you want to come up and say a few words.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
BERNARD P. CARVALHO, Mayor: Good morning, Council Chair
and Councilmembers. First of all, thank you for the discussion and it is no secret
from the beginning it was important that we come to you with a full package, if you
will, that all of my department heads deserve. They all work hard. They all have
their responsibilities. We have given you folks all of the information and comparisons
to the neighboring islands. We have our set responsibilities, and to split and separate
COUNCIL MEETING 22 APRIL 20, 2016
and all of that is just unacceptable to me. I am hoping that you folks can reconsider
and look at this whole package. We just had a recognition ceremony yesterday for
our Boards and Commissioners and their volunteerism. I thank them for the work
they did was very important. It was not just thrown together. It was done with
information, analyses, comparisons, and all of it. To say one is better than the other
one is just unacceptable. We are a team. We have given you folks everything that
you folks, I feel, as far as the information-wise. Everybody has their responsibilities,
and to say that we are separating is just unacceptable. I am hoping that you folks
can reconsider that you look at the whole entire team. This is a team that has done
tremendous work in their own capacities with doing what they need to do to support
initiatives from you folks as well as from the Administration. I am just hoping that
we can continue to look at that and make sure that that is a solid piece to support
this Resolution. I am hoping that can happen today. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you, Mayor. Councilmember
Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Mayor, as Councilmember Kaneshiro pointed
out, salary setting is a dual function. The Salary Commission recommends the
maximum and we either approve or reject it, but that you have the other
responsibility of setting the specific salary up to the maximum, the procedure for
selecting people, and of course, we always want the very best managers. The question
is of these positions that are up before us that are within your kuleana, because the
County Clerk and County Auditor are not, how many of these positions did you post
and go through a recruitment process where you advertised and then interviewed and
selected?
Mayor Carvalho: I think I answered that question. I do not
know how many, but I know that whoever we have on-board, I did a thorough analysis
of that particular person for that experience and what they have to bring to the table.
That is my responsibility to either go out or not. I can show you some of the positions
that we did go out for, but the ones that we did not go out for, that I appointed because
they have the responsibility and they have the experience that I felt, that is my
responsibility. All I am asking you folks is to look at setting the salary and I will
assign that to whoever I feel will fulfill the needs of that particular position.
Councilmember Yukimura: Well, yes, you certainly have the prerogative
to do that, but the system that you choose for recruiting and selecting the very best
manager possible for the County will either give us confidence or not in terms of how
we set the salaries and do our responsibilities.
Mayor Carvalho: Right.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you.
COUNCIL MEETING 23 APRIL 20, 2016
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kagawa and then
Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Kagawa: Council Chair, I just had a question. If we
could have Mauna Kea come up and explain why in this fairly unique case, that a
minority of the Council has the power to pass this. You kind of explained that we
need four (4) votes to kill it, but three (3) votes basically passes what they want. I
just want the public to be clear because there may be some from the public that is
watching and are wondering, what are you guys grumbling about? It did not have
four (4) votes and it is going to pass. I want Mauna Kea to provide that.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. We will get that after we are done with
the Mayor. Councilmember Chock, did you have a question for the Mayor?
Councilmember Chock: Yes. Thank you, Chair. Mayor, thank you for
being here. The first half has passed, will you be providing salary raises for all of
these that passed?
Mayor Carvalho: Will I be passing what?
Councilmember Chock: Will you be providing salary raises for all
those on the list that were passed?
Mayor Carvalho: I am going to look at every single position
right now and see which ones would be receiving whatever raises. That is my
responsibility. You folks are giving me the cap.
Councilmember Chock: Absolutely.
Mayor Carvalho: I am looking at the each department head.
We have not gotten a raise since 2009. At that time, the Council got a raise. I am
not saying it, but that is the truth, however that came. All we are saying is that it
has been over seven (7) years.
Councilmember Chock: I understand. Thank you. I was wondering if
it is within your purview, will you going through a specific methodology to determine
whether or not these positions will be given a raise?
Mayor Carvalho: We are looking at that as we speak. Whoever
deserves a raise will get a raise, and whoever does not, will not. I will determine that.
Councilmember Chock: Would you be willing to share that
methodology with the Council?
Mayor Carvalho: We are willing to share what we are doing.
COUNCIL MEETING 24 APRIL 20, 2016
Councilmember Chock: Thank you very much.
Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else has a question for the Mayor?
Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Mayor, in your comments you said
"separating is unacceptable," and you asked that we approve raises for all of the
positions.
Mayor Carvalho: All of them.
Councilmember Kuali`i: So by what has happened with the 4:3 vote
and the Council really not being able to approve or disapprove, that half is left in
place because the Salary Commission now has given us two (2) separate resolutions
by breaking it in two (2) separate groupings, and that first group will be approved.
You will have the ability to give them raises. Now, if the second group is not
approved, you will not have the ability to give them raises. So if separating is
unacceptable to you, will you treat both groups the same and not given anyone raises?
Mayor Carvalho: I will look at the entire package.
Councilmember Kuali`i: The first group does include your own
position.
Mayor Carvalho: Right. I need to look at...yes, it does include
my position, yes.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Along those lines, do you think it is fair or
correct that your position goes from...I do not have it in front of me now...one hundred
twenty thousand dollars ($120,000) to one hundred thirty-two thousand
dollars ($132,000), and that the County Clerk should remain at one hundred fourteen
thousand dollars ($114,000) and not get the five thousand dollars ($5,000) to one
hundred nineteen thousand dollars ($119,000)?
Mayor Carvalho: I believe the Salary Commission did they are
job. I did not have influence on what they did. They did the analysis, whatever they
came up with. We are here to approve that.
Councilmember Kuali`i: But by giving raises to half and not the other
half, you would in essence be playing a role in creating more inversion and inequity
throughout the...
Mayor Carvalho: I am hoping that that does not happen. I am
hoping that you pass the Resolution so we do not have to do that.
COUNCIL MEETING 25 APRIL 20, 2016
Councilmember Kuali`i: I am hoping that if it does happen, that you
will manage it in a way that prevents it from happening.
Mayor Carvalho: I will look at the whole thing in the way that
I feel is best for my Administration.
Councilmember Kuali`i: But what you said about separating is
unacceptable.
Mayor Carvalho: I would prefer that everybody get a raise, as
we said from day one because the Salary Commission came to you folks with a
package and somehow it got split along the way. But we are talking about the second
piece, which would make it whole. I am asking you folks to support this particular
Resolution so we can look at it collectively overall.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any other questions for the Mayor?
If not, thank you, Mayor.
Mayor Carvalho: Thank you.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I had one (1) question. Mayor, I have one (1)
more question.
Council Chair Rapozo: For the Mayor?
Councilmember Kuali`i: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Go ahead.
Councilmember Kuali`i: There was a point made by one (1)
Councilmember about not getting applicants and having difficulty hiring these top
level one hundred thousand dollar ($100,000)positions. In your entire time as Mayor,
have you had any difficulty in attracting and hiring any department director or any
high-level position where it remained vacant for a period, six (6) months or whatever,
because the salary is too low? Have you had any problem?
Mayor Carvalho: I have had difficulty in certain ways.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Can you tell me what the problem was?
Mayor Carvalho: No, just overall.
COUNCIL MEETING 26 APRIL 20, 2016
Councilmember Kuali`i: What position did you have a problem hiring
for a significant period of time because the salary was too low and then you raised
the salary...
Mayor Carvalho: County Engineer and Deputy County
Engineer.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Was that position not about credentials?
Mayor Carvalho: Attorneys. I can give you all of it. Even our
Director of Economic Development, which was a big one. I could go over all of it
because you folks do not understand that I have to manage these operations every
day and everybody has their set roles and responsibilities. To say one (1) has a license
and the other does not....the Director of Parks & Recreation is responsible for the
entire island and he, along with the team, has to manage that. I have to make sure
we bring people in who has good hearts and souls, who are experienced, and
understands the culture and understands what we are doing here. That is my
responsibility. We are here today to ask you folks to please look at this salary package
and let me manage what I have to manage. I know what I need to do and who is
qualified or not. We will let you folks know how we move forward. That is how we
have done it.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Thank you.
Mayor Carvalho: If it is a position that needs to go out, I put it
out. If it is a position that I can talk to five (5) or six (6) people who are well-qualified,
then I will do that as well through interviews.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you, Mayor. Mauna Kea. I think you
heard the question. Why in this unique situation, a vote of three (3) members of the
Council is a successful vote?
MAUNA KEA TRASK, County Attorney: Correct. For the record,
Mauna Kea Trask, County Attorney. In looking at...
Council Chair Rapozo: In layman's terms.
Mr. Trask: In 1988, the Salary Commission was created.
Based upon my research and understanding, looking at documents, listening to
discussion on the floor by the members of the body and community who remember
this, they wanted to make it less political, more scientific-based, and less arbitrary.
The Salary Commission was created and they thought the best way do it was to have
these people, volunteers, who are not paid, appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by
yourselves, that would look at the objectives, look at comparables, look at what people
look at in industry look at to set salaries appropriately. Therefore, they would pass
a resolution. The Salary Commission actually passes the resolution, and they have
COUNCIL MEETING 27 APRIL 20, 2016
done so. In acknowledging though in creating this procedure, it was decided that the
members of the legislature, which controls the County purse strings, nonetheless
should have what is effectively a veto via power of rejection over the Salary
Commission's already passed resolution. The Salary Commission is passed and it
goes into effect regardless of the act of the Council or the Mayor within sixty (60) days
because it has passed, unless rejected specifically by a vote of five (5), which is a
supermajority of the Council. The only act therefore in this case, is a negative one
because it is already passed. Then this would be the act that would stop it. This is
not an issue that needs to be politically passed because it is meant to be more
apolitical. Therefore, it needs to be rejected by five (5) versus approved in any way,
shape, or form because assumedly, they did contemplate the fiscal status of the
County and all of these other variables and tangibles.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: I guess in layman's terms, would the motion
to reject need five (5) votes because it would appear like a supermajority that would
override a veto?
Mr. Trask: Correct.
Councilmember Kagawa: Is that the purpose?
Mr. Trask: That is the purpose.
Councilmember Kagawa: Okay. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you very much.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I have a question.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: The Salary Commission has the authority to
submit to a proposal that includes all of the positions, thirty-one (31) or whatever it
was, then that proposal can be rejected by a vote of 5:2, and then they can come back
and just break that up in two (2) pieces and try to get half of it passed or not five (5)
votes to reject, or just take out a piece like the Council? How often can they keep
coming back to get some semblance of something that passes? If that is being altered
in that manner, how could that not be political?
Mr. Trask: That is a really good...
Councilmember Kuali`i: If they did it once a year, all or nothing, or
with their full comprehensive package that they worked on and put forward, it went
up or down, and they came back next year again with all the additional studies and
COUNCIL MEETING 28 APRIL 20, 2016
additional justifications on what they have experienced, and difficultly in hiring, that
is one (1) thing. But now to see this separated out in multiple resolutions and both
of them do not have the Council positions in it, but they have two (2) groupings so
that maybe we can at least get one (1) grouping passed. This does not seem like how
the process was intended. Was it intended by Charter for this Salary Commission to
do this kind of wrong on behalf of the people?
Council Chair Rapozo: Well, let me just interject real quickly because
I think there is a question in that, which I am interested in as well. Is there any
prohibition or any limit to how often the Salary Commission can submit a resolution
to the Council?
Mr. Trask: I do not know.
Council Chair Rapozo: You do not know?
Mr. Trask: I do not know.
Council Chair Rapozo: Well, I think we need to know, or I think we
need to find out.
Mr. Trask: Yes. We had extensive conversations with the
Office of the County Clerk, and my current understanding is that there is precedent
for this. It was done with Chief of Police's salary, Fire Chief's salary, various parts
of the salary, Standard of Conduct Differential (SOCD)...
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as not present.)
Council Chair Rapozo: The fact that we may have violated a rule or
law in the past does not give us justification to do it again.
Mr. Trask: I understand that as well. It is a compound
question. There is a lot of facets towards it. I would like to also address one (1)
important point that Councilmember Kuali`i made, which I agree with. There is
always politics involved. Creating eight (8) political commissions does not get rid of
politics. It just creates more politics.
Council Chair Rapozo: Layers.
Mr. Trask: Yes. I do not know the answers to all of this
right now and it is not one (1)...it would not include an analyses of just one (1) charter
commission or analysis of one (1) charter amendment. There has been a total of
approximately three (3) or four (4) throughout the history of the Salary Commission.
I do not know.
COUNCIL MEETING 29 APRIL 20, 2016
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay, I guess I would ask that we put that in
a formal request. In effect, is this even legal? I would suggest that the
Administration hold off on granting any raises until we find out because I would hate
to see employees give money back. All I want to know is if in fact, what is happening
is not prohibited.
Mr. Trask: To address one (1) more question that
Councilmember Kuali`i made, I do not think that...it says right here Section 29.02,
"The Commission shall..." I am sorry, Section 29.01, "There shall be a Salary
Commission composed of seven members to establish the maximum salaries of all
elected and appointed officers as defined..." "The commission shall adopt and, when
it deems necessary..." I am sorry. Section 29.03 "The commission's salary findings
shall be adopted by resolution of the commission..." If they find that they should
bifurcate it, and I was not present at the meeting. I understand members of this body
showed up and this was the product. 1: understand originally there was a single
resolution. I do not know what happened there. It is going to take a lot of analyses.
I do not think it is prohibited to do...if they find bifurcated is necessary, then that
would be their finding and they would adopt that resolution is what I am imagining.
Council Chair Rapozo: I am not questioning the bifurcation of it. I
am just questioning if they can submit a resolution every month?
Mr. Trask: Good question.
Council Chair Rapozo: Does the Charter specify that?
Mr. Trask: The Charter is meant to be an organic,
non-detailed document. It is supposed to be general.
Council Chair Rapozo: I just thought I heard you say "as deemed
necessary."
Mr. Trask: Correct.
Council Chair Rapozo: Was that the timing language? I thought I
just heard you read that and then you jumped to the next section.
Mr. Trask: Yes, it says, "The commission shall adopt and,
when it deems necessary, may change the policies governing its salary-setting
decisions." So I imagine that would be the rules. That pertains more to their
commission rules than the Charter.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay, "when deemed necessary" could be
every month or every other month.
COUNCIL MEETING 30 APRIL 20, 2016
Mr. Trask: Well, I do not think that necessary deals
with...
Council Chair Rapozo: We will send it across because I do not want
to speculate.
Mr. Trask: Neither do I.
Council Chair Rapozo: At the end of the day, whatever the rule says,
whatever the authority of the Salary Commission, the final judge of what happens is
the public. They are the ones that are going to question what is going on. I think it
is political. What just happened was a great example of a political process where how
many bites of an apple do you get? Are you just going to keep coming back and keep
coming back? It may be, probably in fact, almost positive that it is proper to do that.
I do not think it is a prohibition, but at the end of the day, the public sees this and
they see this process and say, "Wow." So that is the final judge. Any other questions
for Mauna Kea? If not, thank you very much.
There being on objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded
as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: I think everybody spoke already, right? Is
there any final comments before I make mine? Councilmember Hooser.
Councilmember Hooser: Just real quick. The Mayor mentioned
everyone works hard and everyone deserves it and I have no doubt that is the case. I
think there are people all over our community that work really hard and deserve
more, but it is about the ability to pay. I am consistent in my vote today. I would
have preferred that no raises be granted at all, and with this situation that we have
now, it is a little ugly actually, having some getting and some do not, and who
deserves it and who does not deserve it.
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as present.)
Councilmember Hooser: It is unfortunate that we are here today, but I
am going to be consistent with my vote to say loud and clear, I do not think now is
the time to grant raises. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Anyone else? Last chance.
Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I just want to put some numbers out there.
The comment made about making half now and half later, it is just not true. These
positions that are nine (9) now, the final positions we are considering on whether they
get a raise or not, these positions represent less than one hundred thousand
dollars ($100,000), seventy-seven thousand dollars ($77,000) worth of increases for
COUNCIL MEETING 31 APRIL 20, 2016
all nine (9) positions. Seventy-seven thousand dollars ($77,000). The overwhelming
raises of nearly five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) was in the group already
approved. Basically, we have given raises to a group of people that cost five hundred
thousand dollars ($500,000) and we are unwilling to give raises to the remaining
nine (9) positions for seventy-seven thousand dollars ($77,000), saying that times are
tough and we cannot afford it. This whole process has been a struggle between what
our budget is and what we can afford versus what is deserved and what is fair. We
are just making things worse by doing what we are doing, by breaking it into these
groups. The Mayor was right to say that separating them is unacceptable.
Separating them over seventy-seven thousand dollars ($77,000) is truly
unacceptable. We have a one hundred eighty million dollar ($180,000,000) budget,
so now to stand on principle over seventy-seven thousand dollars ($77,000) to say that
the Director of Economic Development, Liquor Control, Director of Parks &
Recreation, Deputy Director Parks & Recreation, Housing Director, Boards &
Commission Administrator, County Clerk, Deputy County Clerk, who we know
firsthand works so hard, and County Auditor; to say those nine (9) positions do not
deserve seventy-seven thousand dollars ($77,000) more in raises and to have already
said all of the others can get five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) more, that is
wrong.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: I mean, the figures I was given was different.
I do not want to talk about math any further, but I think that is something that needs
to be revisited before quantifying. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura, you spoke twice
already. We are going to move on. Any other...
Councilmember Kuali`i: I just wanted clarification on what the vote is.
Council Chair Rapozo: The vote is the same. The motion was to
reject, so five (5) votes to reject, and anything less will pass. Let me just say it is a
really bad position for this Council to be in right now. I do not like to be put in that
kind of position where typically it is hey, we are on a timed deadline, so we have to
act. In this case, that is not the case. In this case, we are now in a position where we
are basically facilitating the division of the administrative branch. We, this body, is
going to create this division in pay because we have said that the main thing is that
we get half of these positions their raises, then we are okay. I am not comfortable
with that. The Mayor talked about the Council's raise back in 2008, and that was
done at the time where the Salary Commission dictated the pay and the Council never
had to approve it. It was a three thousand dollar ($3,000) raise. It was a three
thousand dollar ($3,000) a year raise for the Councilmembers. In this case, the raises
are significantly higher. What is really troubling, and I think Councilmember
Kagawa who talked about our County Clerk. Our County Clerk runs the legislative
side of this government. She runs. She is like the Mayor of this side of the street.
COUNCIL MEETING 32 APRIL 20, 2016
She runs the Office of Council Services. She runs Elections. To say that she is in the
bottom tier, that is an insult, and that goes to the Salary Commission. Insult. I am
not going to comment on any of the other positions because I do not have the expertise
in all the other positions because that is the Mayor's kuleana. I respect the Mayor
for being here today and fighting for his people, but it was the Salary Commission
that put us in this predicament by splitting up this Resolution and removing the
Council. We disagreed with you, Council, from your last discussion, but let us split
them because half of something is better than all of nothing. That was their
mentality. Let us go find out where the Councilmembers are comfortable and then
we will create a situation where one (1) will pass and one (1) will not. I do not know
how the Mayor deals with this in the morning when he has his meetings. I do not
know how the Mayor is going to deal with this when people come up and say, "What
is up, Mayor? Do we not deserve a raise? They deserve a raise, but we do not deserve?
The top half, five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) deserves, the bottom half, the
little peanuts, no?" "Oh no, go talk to the Council. They cut your pay." That is what
is going to happen because that is the fact. The Mayor came up and said, "I want to
pass it all." Pass it all. I respect that. We, the Council, is going to say, "No, Mayor,
we know better than the Commission. We know that we are going to give you
something in the spirit of collaboration or whatever it is. We are going to give you
five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) worth and the martyrs in this case will be
these positions here, the seventy-seven thousand dollars ($77,000) total of increases
that we are going to kick out so that we can feel good about not spending a lot of
money." Seventy-seven thousand dollars ($77,000), but we said okay to the five
hundred thousand dollars ($500,000). Is this political? Absolutely political. Are they
going to come back next month again in two (2) more weeks and say, "Hey, let us try
it one (1) more time. Let us put the other half in. Let us try again and again and
again, and maybe we will get it passed at some point. Maybe they are going to be
disgusted with us coming up all the time and they will pass it." You got one (1) shot,
and that shot came and went. Then the Salary Commission for whatever reason
decided to try and figure out a way to at least get the higher paid people a raise. Wow.
Is this political? Absolutely. Councilmember Kuali`i asked the Mayor a question
about has he ever had problems recruiting or retaining, and the Mayor's answer was
not to address that question. It was to talk about his prerogative to appoint who he
wants and that is entirely his prerogative. I have been here a long time, except for a
few occasions where we had problems hiring, there has been no problems. There is
always going to be people leaving for greener pastures, but as far as hiring, there has
never been a problem. Every Mayor has done extremely well appointing people to
these positions. I do not buy the problem with the salaries, or recruiting, or retention.
That is not an issue. It is not a crisis that we have to address, in my opinion. My
light is going to turn red. I am going to be consistent with my vote as well. It is
unfortunate that result will be that bottom tier does not get the raises. With that,
roll call.
The motion to reject Salary Resolution No. 2016-3 in its entirety was then put,
and carried by the following vote:
COUNCIL MEETING 33 APRIL 20, 2016
FOR MOTION: Chock, Houser, Kagawa, Yukimura,
Rapozo TOTAL — 5,
AGAINST MOTION: Kaneshiro, Kuali`i TOTAL — 2,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0.
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0.
Mr. Sato: Five (5) ayes.
Council Chair Rapozo: This might be a good time to take a ten (10)
minute caption break.
There being no objections, the meeting recessed at 10:01 a.m.
The meeting reconvened at 10:16 a.m., and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: Can we have the next item, please?
LEGAL DOCUMENT:
C 2016-104 Communication (03/24/2016) from the Director of Human
Resources, requesting Council approval to indemnify the Board of Trustees of the
State of Hawai`i Deferred Compensation Plan for Part-Time, Temporary, and
Seasonal or Casual (PTS) Employees of the County of Kaua`i, to offer an alternative
retirement plan for qualified employees.
• Memorandum of Understanding for the Deferred Compensation
Retirement Plan for Part-Time, Temporary, and Seasonal or Casual
Employees of the County of Kaua`i
Councilmember Kagawa moved to approve C 2016-104, seconded by
Councilmember Kaneshiro.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion? Councilmember
Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: I have a question. Again, if someone who has
the expertise in these documents could provide in layman's terms, a brief description
of what this does?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Councilmember Kagawa: What does this do, what does this accomplish,
and why do we need to approve it?
JANINE M.Z. RAPOZO, Director of Human resources: Good morning,
Janine Rapozo, Director of Human Resources. What this does is right now our
COUNCIL MEETING 34 APRIL 20, 2016
short-term and temporary or casual employees do not have any type of deferred
compensation plan. They do not contribute to our Employees' Retirement
System (ERS). Right now, all they have is social security that is taken out. So what
this plan does is instead of taking out social security for them, there is an Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) approved plan that you can participate in, whereby instead of
having their six point two percent (6.2%) going to social security, we would be taking
out seven percent (7%) that goes towards the deferred compensation plan that an
investment company would invest for them, and should they leave County
employment, they actually can have access to it. Most of these employees are our
summer hires or eighty-nine (89) day contracts. Part of the reason for doing this as
well from the County's standpoint is by not having to pay social security, the
employer's portion of social security would be reduced. We are looking at about a
sixty-five dollar ($65,000) savings on the social security side.
Councilmember Kagawa: If I can, Council Chair?
Council Chair Rapozo: Go ahead.
Councilmember Kagawa: How much more labor time is this going to
take in the Department of Human Resources or other personnel employees in the
various departments that employ these causal or part-time workers?
Ms. Rapozo: What is going to happen is when they first get
employed with us, during new-hire orientation, they would just fill out a form and it
would go to the insurance company who would work directly with them as far
as...instead of going to social security, their funding would go to this insurance
company to invest for them. It is really no additional work. It is just a matter of
changing where that money would go to.
Councilmember Kagawa: It is very insignificant accounting-wise also?
Ms. Rapozo: Very insignificant, yes.
Councilmember Kagawa: For payroll accounting?
Ms. Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Kagawa: Thank you, Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Just one (1) last quick one. In the letter it
says it allows employees to opt-out of contributing to social security. So we are
creating this second option, if you will, with the deferred compensation and employees
still get to choose?
COUNCIL MEETING 35 APRIL 20, 2016
Ms. Rapozo: No. This would be mandatory that the
employees go this way. The opt-out is for the County to provide this program. Instead
of doing social security, you can do this deferred compensation plan.
Councilmember Kuali`i: The County's position is the seven
percent (7%) is higher than the six point two percent (6.2%)?
Ms. Rapozo: It actually works out the same because what
happens is it lower your gross income, so the seven percent/six percent (7%/6%)
actually works out to about the same take home pay for that particular employee.
Councilmember Kuali`i: The advantage to these employees is that they
can take it with them when they go and they do not have to wait until they retire?
Ms. Rapozo: Right.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Okay. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any other questions? If not, thank
you very much.
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded
as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: Further discussion? Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: I just wanted to thank the Director of Human
Resources for following through on this. I know it is an idea that has been around
that we have been talking about it for some time, and I know how difficult it is to
create these systematic changes. I do believe that there are other cost-savings
benefits that are out there we should continue to look for, and I am hoping that this
is one (1) step forward in doing so. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you.
The motion to approve C 2016-104 was then put, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. Next item, please.
CLAIM:
C 2016-105 Communication (03/04/2016) from the County Clerk,
transmitting a claim filed against the County of Kaua`i by Irvin Y. Ching, for damage
to his property, pursuant to Section 23.06, Charter of the County of Kaua`i:
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to refer C 2016-105 to the County Attorney's Office for
disposition and/or report back to the Council, seconded by Councilmember Kaneshiro.
COUNCIL MEETING 36 APRIL 20, 2016
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there any discussion? Is there
any public testimony?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
The motion to refer C 2016-105 to the County Attorney's Office for disposition
and/or report back to the Council was then put, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. Next item.
COMMITTEE REPORT:
PLANNING COMMITTEE:
A report (No. CR-PL 2016-02) submitted by the Planning Committee,
recommending that the following be Received for the Record:
"Bill No. 2609 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING
CHAPTER 8, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO
HOMESTAYS,"
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for approval of the report, seconded by
Councilmember Kaneshiro.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
The motion for approval of the report was then put, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. Next item, please.
RESOLUTION:
Resolution No. 2016-39 — RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING CROSSWALKS,
STRIPED PEDESTRIAN WALKWAYS, AND INTERSECTION MODIFICATIONS
ON WAIKOMO ROAD, KOLOA DISTRICT, COUNTY OF KAUAI: Councilmember
Kagawa moved for adoption of Resolution No. 2016-39, seconded by Councilmember
Kuali`i.
COUNCIL MEETING 37 APRIL 20, 2016
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion? Councilmember
Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: If we can have the Department of Public
Works please provide a brief description or a map, if possible, so that the public knows
exactly where these crosswalks, striped pedestrian walkways, and intersections
modifications are on Waikomo Road are being done? As always, it is nice to have the
public know exactly where we are doing things prior before they just are just done
and then they say, "Oh, we did not know."
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
LYLE TABATA, Acting County Engineer: Good morning,
Councilmembers, Council Chair Rapozo, and Vice Chair Kagawa. Lyle Tabata,
Acting County Engineer. We are bringing forward this Resolution in an effort to
create a safer environment for, in particular, our youth and our pedestrians who
traverse this roadway from Koloa Town to get to Po`ipu Road, and in particular,
students who come from the housing immediately surrounding the area of these roads
to get to Koloa Elementary School. Michael Moule, the Chief of Engineering, has
prepared a presentation, and I will turn it over to him.
MICHAEL MOULE, Chief of Engineering: Thank you, Council Chair
and Members of the Council. I am Michael Moule, Chief of Engineering. You have
the Resolution itself, which includes nine (9) sheets of Exhibit "A," which shows in a
fair amount of detail exactly what is being shown. We are not presenting those
images in this presentation. We do have them on the computer if you want to see
those on the screen as well, but you have those in paper format that were submitted
to you with the Resolution itself. It is attached as part of the Resolution as
Exhibit "A" which is nine (9) pages showing details of this. This presentation is
essentially the exact same presentation we gave at the last public meeting on this.
In the transmittal that we sent to you, we talked about the public involvement process
on this. There was an initial public meeting. After was conceived by the Safe Routes
to School Task Force and I will let Lee Steinmetz talk about that in a moment, there
was an initial public meeting in January 2014. I personally was not involved in that.
I arrived at the County a month after that. Then, on June 23, 2015 we had a final
public meeting to go over the final concept. The concept was changed over time based
on those meetings and discussions with the public.
(Councilmember Yukimura was noted as not present.)
Mr. Moule: At this time, I am just going to give Lee
Steinmetz a moment to talk a little more about the history of how this project was
conceived and developed with the Safe Routes to School Task Force and members of
the Koloa community.
COUNCIL MEETING 38 APRIL 20, 2016
LEE STEINMETZ, Transportation Planner: Thank you, Michael. I am
Lee Steinmetz, Transportation Planner with the Department of Planning. I just
wanted to point out that this is Koloa Elementary School's main Safe Routes to School
route, particularly for walk to school days. This is just an example of the number of
people who use the route when we do have a walk to school day. This really prompted
us to think about how we can make this safer for people using it. Of course we are
not going to get this quantity on a daily basis, but how can we make this safer because
this is a main route of walking to school. The start of the process was with the Safe
Routes to School Task Force, which we met with to discuss some options and how we
might do this. We developed design alternatives through that task force and then we
took it to the community through the Koloa Community Association. We also did a
survey that was distributed by some of the community members to the residents in
the area. So really, that is all I want to say for now. If you have any questions, we
would be happy to answer them.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any questions? Councilmember
Chock.
Mr. Steinmetz: I am sorry. I just meant questions about the
community process. Michael was going to go through the plans just quickly for you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Go ahead.
Mr. Moule: Thank you. Sorry we lost our images for a
moment. Here is the map of not all of Koloa town, but the portion of Waikomo Road,
which shows a lot of Koloa Town. You see the three (3) areas. This is the third slide
that you have on the first page. Different designs have been proposed to the three (3)
areas here, which are detailed again, in the actual Resolution and in Exhibit "A." I
will go from top to bottom on this image from north-south, mauka to mauai. The first
portion, the green portion, of Waikomo Road from Koloa Road to Weliweli Road is
currently twenty-four (24) feet wide overall, and the proposed design here, as you will
see in a moment, keeps the twenty-four (24) feet of pavement, but marking a
pedestrian path adjacent to that narrowing the travel lanes for motorists, but is still
two-way. The rest of the road from Weliweli Road to Po`ipu Road is approximately
eighteen (18) feet in width currently. It varies a little bit in some places, but generally
that is what it is. For Section B, we are looking at a two (2) way traffic remaining in
the section with a kind of unique design, which I will go through in just a moment.
Then the last section of Waikomo Road from Kapau Road to Po`ipu Road is proposed
to by one-way in the westbound direction towards Po`ipu Road from Kapau Road.
I am going to go through the next several slides here showing how the different
design looks in picture format. Again, in the Resolution map that we attached to the
exhibit, it shows it in more detail how that is laid out. We are going to focus again,
on the first portion here, a twenty-four (24) feet wide from Koloa Road to Weliweli
Road. Here, the plan is to take existing twenty-four (24) feet, mark an eighteen (18)
feet wide travel way for two-way traffic and a six (6) feet striped shoulder to designate
COUNCIL MEETING 39 APRIL 20, 2016
an area for people to walk in both directions between KOloa Town...the downtown
sort of Koloa Town where all of the shopping is, the bank, and Big Save to Koloa
Elementary School. It is pretty straight forward here. It is just a narrowing of the
travel lands similar to the travel lanes that we have on streets all over Kaua`i.
The next segment is the segment from Weliweli Road to Kapau Road. Again,
eighteen (18) feet existing. We proposed to leave this two-way with a very unique
and different layout here. We originally proposed for this whole segment to be
one-way from Weliweli Road to Po`ipu Road, but with work with the community
meetings, there was concern for the residents of the two (2) side roads, Kapau Road
and Puni Road, about how that would change their circulation patterns and their cars
around. So what we have proposed here is to change this eighteen (18) feet to a
twelve (12) feet two-way travel lane, which if course two (2) cars cannot fit side by
side in twelve (12) feet, and a six (6) feet marked pedestrian lane or shoulder with a
dashed stripe. There would be some signage that we have not exactly figured out
exactly what the signs are going to say at this point, but signs would indicate that
motorists who are traveling towards the camera in this image, would need to move
into the pedestrian lane, yielding to pedestrians, in order to allow oncoming cars in
the other direction.
(Councilmember Yukimura was noted as present.)
Mr. Moule: Keeping in mind that given the fact that the
last bit of the road would be one-way towards Po`ipu Road, the vast majority of cars
on this portion of the road would be, in this image, on the right side going away from
the camera and there would be an occasional car that wants to get out of the
neighborhood, people who live in the neighborhood or use this area, they would have
to move over for oncoming car. So that is the proposed design in that location.
Then for the last segment between Kapau Road and Po`ipu Road, the proposal
is for a one-way with a similar cross-section. We have actually marked the striped
shoulder wider in this case given the fact that it is one-way as opposed to a two-way,
and the stripe is solid stripe instead of dashed stripe. So it would be a one-way travel
lane. We would have arrows on the pavement, especially at first, to remind people of
that with the pedestrian lane on the makai side of the road. The pedestrian lane
would stay consistently on makai or south and eastside of Waikomo Road.
Lastly this is just showing the existing aerial image of the intersection of Po`ipu
Road and Waikomo Road, and what we are proposing to do at that intersection with
the pedestrian walkway as it comes to the intersection. There are a few parking
spaces for businesses here at the corner, and so vehicles would be able to come in to
use the parking spaces and get back out to Po`ipu Road, as you can see, with this little
loop or a U-turn area, and pedestrians would cross that small amount of traffic
making that little movement there. Then, there would be two (2)pedestrian crossings
where there is currently a pedestrian crossing actually, along Po`ipu Road at
Waikomo Road. That is last of the slides. Again, if you want to see this in more detail
COUNCIL MEETING 40 APRIL 20, 2016
and look at how this is laid out for the rest of the road, we can bring up the portable
document format (pdf) of Exhibit "A," which is attached as part of the Resolution, and
so we can see that in more detail if you would like to see that.
Council Chair Rapozo: Just real quick couple of questions. What is
the County's standard for a two (2) lane road as far as width? Is there a County
standard?
Mr. Moule: Yes. We have various width standards for
roads.
Council Chair Rapozo: What is the standard?
Mr. Moule: We typically require for most roads the total
edge-to-edge for an uncurbed road is twenty (20) feet. So that is where you have both
sides with grass and other obstructions that might be in this area. In this case,
one (1) side would be grass and it would be striped.
Council Chair Rapozo: Section B where you only have a twelve (12)
feet travel way for the vehicles, is that up to County standards?
Mr. Moule: Again, you would not have a situation where
two (2) cars try to fit in that space.
Council Chair Rapozo: That is not what I asked. I asked if it is up to
County standards. If somebody came to build a subdivision or whatever, would we
allow a twelve (12) feet two (2) lane road?
Mr. Moule: The total width of the road being twelve (12)
feet, no we would not. The total width of this road is eighteen (18) feet, not twelve (12)
feet.
Council Chair Rapozo: But you are saying that the standard is
twenty (20) feet?
Mr. Moule: The typical standard for a typical residential
street, there are some exceptions for agricultural roads that are narrower. For
residential streets, which is the smallest level besides agricultural roads, it is
twenty (20) feet edge-to-edge. This road is currently eighteen (18) feet edge-to-edge.
Council Chair Rapozo: So it is not up to the typical standard?
Mr. Moule: The eighteen (18) feet is not up to our current
standard for a twenty (20) foot road, that is correct.
COUNCIL MEETING 41 APRIL 20, 2016
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Then the second question, in
community process, were there concerns about Section C and making that a one-way
road?
Mr. Moule: There have been...again after the first
proposal, which was to make the entire lane from Weliweli Road to Po`ipu Road, there
were concerns about the one-way. This changed to make that middle portion
two-way, took away most of those concerns. Our understanding and in talking to the
members of the community who went door-to-door to talk to the residents, some of
the residents of that portion of Waikomo Road between Kapau Road and Po`ipu Road
did express concerns over the one-way.
Council Chair Rapozo: They did?
Mr. Moule: Yes, but much more residents preferred the
one-way than opposed it. So there are some residents that would prefer it not to go
one-way. I am not going to say that everyone approved.
Council Chair Rapozo: I think Waikomo is used...I mean I use...let
us say you are at the neighborhood center and you want to get to Po`ipu. If you are
coming from Po`ipu and you have to get to the neighborhood center, that Koloa-Po`ipu
intersection is a bad one by the service station. That is where we get the most
problems and the most complaints, the traffic backs up. But what we are doing with
this one-way now is you are taking the traffic that typically would go on Waikomo
Road, let us say to get to Weliweli Road, and you are now forcing them to go through
Po`ipu adding to the problem at the intersection of Koloa-Po`ipu. I am not sure if the
consultants or whoever designed this took a look at that. We are now removing, what
I consider a pretty major...Section C from Kapau Road to Po`ipu Road on Waikomo
Road, that is a pretty heavily used road both ways.
Mr. Moule: It is. The answer I would give to that is that
the movements that would...one (1) of the reasons, there are many reasons why we
recommend one-way in this direction if it is going to be one-way is because the
movements that you would need to make to go around essentially, are all right turn
movements, which have much less effect on roadway capacity and congestion than
left turn movements. So if you are trying to get from the school to the neighborhood
center for example, or you have come from Po`ipu and you are coming up Po`ipu Road
and you are trying to get to the neighborhood center, you would continue into town
and make right on Koloa Road and a right turn on Weliweli Road, and you are at the
neighborhood center. It is more distance. It is not a significant longer distance, but
those are all right turn movements. It adds more traffic at the intersection, there is
no doubt, but it is...
Council Chair Rapozo: But Po`ipu to Koloa is not right turn only.
That is the problem at that intersection, that thing backs up for the people that want
to turn left.
COUNCIL MEETING 42 APRIL 20, 2016
Mr. Moule: You mean coming out of Waikomo Road?
Council Chair Rapozo: No, coming out of Po`ipu Road to Koloa Road
by the gas station.
Mr. Moule: Right.
Council Chair Rapozo: So that is why I use Waikomo Road, because
I do not want to deal with that. If I am coming from Po`ipu and I have to get to
wherever, I will use Waikomo Road because I do not have to deal with the intersection
by the gas station. Now this is going to push all of the traffic to that intersection that
we know is problematic. We know that today, and it is not getting any better.
Anyway, just an observation. I was just curious as far as what the community's take
on it was. I do not live there, but I go there quite a bit. I am just curious.
Mr. Moule: I agree, it adds traffic at that intersection,
which at times has some congestion especially during school arrivals and dismissals.
That is something that needs to be considered as far as whether this is...
Council Chair Rapozo: And the idea is...
Mr. Moule: We think that is it not significant enough. We
still brought it to you because we feel that is it reasonable.
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes I understand, and that is what we have to
do now. The idea of this project is to address the kids walking to school, and that is
the busy time of that intersection. We are saying that this is the busy time. We know
that the impact that we want to create this change the behavior of kids walking to
school, so that is the busy time for that intersection in the morning, the Koloa-Po`ipu.
I do not know. I do not know what the traffic counts are. I am not sure it was done
for the morning traffic. I do not know how many cars use Waikomo Road on Section C
in the morning, that will be forced to now go on to Koloa/Po`ipu. That is just my first
blush.
Mr. Steinmetz: If I could maybe just add something to that. I
think the point you bring up is well-taken and something we are looking at. Kind of
what you are describing is through traffic trying to get through, and what we were
trying to do through this design is prioritize the local traffic and especially the
neighborhood walking, both for Safe Routes to School, but also people that live in that
neighborhood that may want to walk up to town to Big Save or to the hardware store.
We got a lot of comments that people just do not generally feel safe walking on the
street right now. So what we were trying to do is shift that, and you are right, there
are some impacts to the intersection, but have the through section use the main roads
and let Waikomo Road serving more local traffic. This was something that was
discussed at the community meetings, and the preference...again, it was not
unanimous by any means, but the preference of the majority was to make these
COUNCIL MEETING 43 APRIL 20, 2016
changes so it is safer for kids to be able to walk to school and have that be a higher
priority than through vehicle traffic.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kagawa. Oh, I thought you
had your hand up. Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you. Thank you for the presentation.
I used to walk to school on this road, but my concern is about signage, especially in
the one-way section as I was looking up here. For a typical driver who would want to
short-cut...where is the signage here that says that you cannot go this way now,
especially with the oncoming pedestrians right in that lane?
Mr. Moule: We are not showing signs layout in the
Resolution itself because generally speaking, we want to have some flexibility to be
able to add more because if we show exactly where signs would go, it becomes a little
problematic to modify those in the future, but we would have a sign. At a minimum,
you would have a sign at each end of this one-way area. I think what our plan right
now is to use signs right in this area, something right out on this road here, which
would show here you would have this one-way, and then you have another sign here
in this vicinity showing one-way for this portion of the road. Then, at the other end
down at Kapau Road where it is not quite so important because they can still go that
way, you have a one-way street sign as well. But our real focus would be, see this
pavement marking here, it would to put those fairly frequently especially at the
beginning of the project to remind drivers, even when they are coming out of private
driveways, that it is a one-way road. Over time, we may not maintain all of the
markings if we are putting them frequently because we are planning to put them
more often than normally for one-way street, but that is the idea. Honestly, drivers
see markings in some ways better than they see signs because they are focused on
the road itself when they are driving, so they miss signs. We are going to use signs
at least at each end and maybe a sign or two (2) in the middle, but definitely markings
very frequently. Honestly, this is an older image, but we are looking at putting in
markings right in this area, too. Again, we are not trying to represent exactly every
marking on the Resolution, but our plan is to increase markings. In fact, that was a
comment that came to us from the Police Department. I think we mentioned that in
the bottom of our transmittal; that they were concerned...actually, the very same
concern that you just brought up about drivers not understanding especially at first.
So we feel strongly about putting a lot of markings in anywhere, wherever someone
turns out of the road, they essentially can see a sign.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: Thank you, Chair. How much is this project
going to cost?
COUNCIL MEETING 44 APRIL 20, 2016
Mr. Moule: We are not yet to the point of the cost estimate
for this. The money for this comes out of the operating budget for the Roads Division
that is approved for restriping projects like this.
Councilmember Kagawa: Do you not have a ballpark figure?
Mr. Moule: We do not yet. We are about to do the cost
estimate because we are working on drafting the information for bidders right now
for bidding the restriping effort on this. So the final cost estimate will be part of that,
and we could bring that to you at another meeting. Deferring this is okay. We do not
need this to pass today.
Council Chair Rapozo: I was going to suggest that we defer it
anyway. We do not have any idea at all, zero (0)? Okay.
Mr. Moule: Off the top of my head, I do not. We did run
some early numbers, but unfortunately I did not bring that with me and I do not have
my laptop with me today, so I cannot pull that up. We will be able to bring that to
you at the next meeting for sure.
Councilmember Kagawa: As far as we know, how many
pedestrian-vehicle accidents have happened on these improvements? Do we have any
numbers over the history of all of these improved areas of how many
pedestrian-vehicle accidents have occurred?
Mr. Moule: We have a list of the most recent five (5) years
of crashes that we can easily access. I have looked at that for Waikomo Road and I
will double-check before next meeting, but I do not believe there were any
pedestrian-vehicle crashes in that 2007 or 2011 timeframe. In addition, we could ask
the Police Department to dig deeper into a longer period of time. It is a larger effort
for them to do that, then the simple one that we can do. If that is something that you
desire for us to do, we could ask them for that for the next meeting. But I cannot
promise it because it is not our department that looks that up.
Councilmember Kagawa: Did we do any anonymous observations in the
morning or afternoon on the total number of children that use that entire improved
area to walk to school or from school to home?
Mr. Moule: We have not done counts on a typical day. We
have counts from walk to school day.
Councilmember Kagawa: Walk to school day is not a typical day.
Mr. Moule: Absolutely not. I agree. We have not done
counts. We do observe people walking on this road on regular days, not just walk to
COUNCIL MEETING 45 APRIL 20, 2016
school days. An actual count though, those are very labor intensive. We can do them,
but we have not done them in the various places.
Councilmember Kagawa: I am just saying just one (1) day go look and
count. It is not Rocket Science.
Mr. Tabata: Councilmember, what prompted this is walk
to school day and the parents want this. They are the ones who came to us to do
something about it, so we are doing something about it.
Councilmember Kagawa: I understand that, but information...
Mr. Tabata: They will then get their children to walk to
school if we make the facility safer for them.
Councilmember Kagawa: I understand that. I am just saying
information is always helpful. Are you against information?
Mr. Tabata: That is the information. That is the
information I am telling you that we, in the Safe Routes to School Committee, hear
time and time again from the whole island and participating schools, that if we fix
the facilities, the children will walk.
Councilmember Kagawa: Okay, changing the subject. I looked at
Section B where Mr. Blake is standing, and I see some stress fracture on the road.
Are we planning to paint those lines and the men or are we planning to repave and
then do the painting?
Mr. Moule: The plan at this time would be to repaint the
road as-is. This road, like all roads, are being evaluated by the Roads Division for
resurfacing. If this Resolution passes, we would repaint in the near term before
resurfacing, and then it would be repainted again after the next resurfacing like every
other road where we restripe it with the markings that are there, if that makes sense.
Councilmember Kagawa: Are we going to look if resurfacing is deemed
necessary in the near future to resurface before we paint?
Mr. Moule: This road is not within the next couple of
years at least that I have received from the Roads Division. We can certainly look
and see on their list. I personally do not track them beyond the next year or two (2),
in the Engineering Division. We can provide that information as well, and see where
this roughly speaking would be on the resurfacing list. I know this road very well. I
live in the Koloa-Po`ipu area and my son walks to school now, not just this year, but
long after we started developing this project. I have traveled this road and while
there are some cracks in it, it is in much better shape than many roads in County. In
COUNCIL MEETING 46 APRIL 20, 2016
fact, I suspect that this road may be one road that the Roads Division is planning to
slurry seal next rather than resurface, but we can look into it and find out.
Councilmember Kagawa: How many members from the community
actively participated when we told the community that this year what we are showing
the Council now, is the plan, and we decided that this is the plan? How many
members from the community were at that meeting and agreed with you?
Mr. Moule: So we had the meeting...that would be the
June 23, 2015 meeting where we had twenty (20) to thirty (30) people attend.
Councilmember Kagawa: Twenty (20) to thirty (30). Okay. That is all
for now. Thank you, Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura, Councilmember
Kuali`i, and then Councilmember Kaneshiro.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you very much for these efforts. I did
participate in one (1) walk to school day, and it looks like slide 2, is what I remember.
I do not know if it was the day I was there, but that is how it was when a lot people
wanted to walk to school. I appreciate the efforts to try to make it safe. Just a couple
of preliminary questions. Your fourth slide, which is the photo, no seal means no
center line?
Mr. Moule: Yes, no center line. Correct.
Councilmember Yukimura: And none of these roads are going to have
center lines?
Mr. Moule: Right, we would propose not having a center
lines on any of these roads.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. The issue of Koloa-Po`ipu Road
congestion, do we have any counts or assessment of that intersection to tell us that it
is a problem? Since the western bypass was built, I presume it is less than it used to
be, but are we monitoring that road?
Mr. Moule: We have not done specific counts with respect
to this project. There have been some Traffic Impact Reports (TIRs) that would have
addressed this and we can look that up and bring that information back to you. My
recollection having reviewed TIRs in this area in the past is that there was not
significant levels of congestion in this area like we are experiencing in other areas of
the island. One (1) more follow-up on the center line issue, we would still put center
lines approaching intersections as we typically do.
COUNCIL MEETING 47 APRIL 20, 2016
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. The Koloa-Po`ipu Circulation Study
might have some data that is maybe six (6) years, or seven (7) years, or even more,
but there may be some data. I cannot remember if the western bypass was already
built. Certainly, there is that cross street that eventually has to open up that would
help too, right? I think we should be concerned whether we are going add more
congestion there, but I would like to know what the baseline is right now. Then what
concerns me is your last photo, which is that intersection of Waikomo Road and Po`ipu
Road. It looks like kind of a safe haven, but only by markings rather than by curbs.
Is that what it is?
Mr. Moule: Not entirely. There is an island already there.
There is already a landscaped island there that we would need to put the walkway
through. Some of it might be striping. It is hard to see in the aerial image from the
previous slide.
Councilmember Yukimura: Do you have any plans for these plastic posts?
Mr. Moule: Yes.
Mr. Tabata: We have pinballers already established.
Councilmember Yukimura: What are they called?
Mr. Tabata: We call them pinballers.
Councilmember Kagawa: Pinballers. Are they like the one that is right
in front of the Kaua`i Humane Society on Kaumuali`i Highway?
Mr. Tabata: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: That is what is called pinballers?
Mr. Moule: In the final design for this, we would
determine how much of that is landscaped and landscapable versus removing existing
pavement to make that shape. We can put in those flex posts on the edge line there
that wraps around for areas that are not landscaped or otherwise sort of protected,
so to speak, for pedestrians from cars.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. It feels like a child walking down
Waikomo Road into that crosswalk that is aligned with Waikomo Road kind of walks
right in the middle of a huge intersection. So it a little scary.
Mr. Moule: Yes, it is not all paved right now. There is
already a landscaped island here, and we would use that and potentially also do some
flex posts around that to delineate that space properly.
COUNCIL MEETING 48 APRIL 20, 2016
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay, and so the cars would only go to the
right coming off of Waikomo Road?
Mr. Moule: When they come off Waikomo Road, they can
make either a left or right as they can today.
Councilmember Yukimura: Oh, it is like a half roundabout?
Mr. Moule: Sort of. This area here is really just to allow
motorists to turn in here, access these parking spaces, back out, and continue to back
out this way.
Councilmember Yukimura: Oh, that is scary. That does not feel good.
Mr. Moule: Right now, you have parking here, this is
two-way, and this is two-way for cars. They come in this way, they can also come in
this way, and come out this way going right, or come out this way going left. This in
many ways cleans it up. It is kind of messy right now. People can physically make a
left turn from here. We have some flex posts in the median to try to prohibit that,
but because they have to make a left into here, it is not quite possible to make it
physically impossible to turn out of there. So you see odd behaviors, especially by
visitors at this intersection today.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay, as long as you keep working on that
one. As far as the cost, certainly before you come up a ballpark cost would be useful.
Is the Kukui`ula fund also available? If you are just taking from your striping fund,
it cannot be more thirty thousand dollars ($30,000).
Mr. Moule: I think the Roads Division budget annually,
or the last year, there is one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) for Safe Routes to
School projects, and that is what we are planning to pull from for this project here.
We are anticipating to use the Kukui`ula and other development fund for the
Southside as part of the match for the Po`ipu Road project, which will be looking at
significant improvements for all users, roundabouts, sidewalks, and bike lanes along
Po`ipu Road that came out of a public process three (3) years ago.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Is the one hundred thousand
dollars ($100,000) for Safe Routes to School is from the Highway Fund?
Mr. Tabata: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. I think those are my questions. Thank
you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kuali`i.
COUNCIL MEETING 49 APRIL 20, 2016
Councilmember Kuali`i: Along the lines of some of the questions of
Council Chair Rapozo and Councilmember Yukimura, the intersection at Koloa Road
and Po`ipu Road by the gas station, in putting this plan together where you know you
are making that Section C one-way and so inevitably more cars have to use that
intersection. Council Chair Rapozo does not get to make his shortcut through the
neighborhood anymore. Are you planning any improvements to that intersection?
What did you mean when you said, "center lines approaching intersections?"
Mr. Moule: To answer your first...
Councilmember Kuali`i: Does it have to do with the turning lane going
left and it would be a longer turning lane so that you can have two (2) lanes turning
in that intersection?
Mr. Moule: At this time, we do not have the maps of the
intersection. We did not anticipate the questions like this, but that intersection
currently has...as you approach the intersection, there is a lane to make a left turn
and there is a relatively short right turn lane. So I would estimate that...and the
road is a little extra wide there. There is so much more than this. But I would
estimate two (2) to three (3), possibly more depending on how drivers position their
cars, cars could be waiting to make a left on to Koloa Road from Po`ipu Road, and a
car could still come up to make the right, which is an easier turn to make because
they only have yield to pedestrians and cars coming from one (1) direction, not two (2)
directions. As far as the center lines that we are talking about, we do not plan any
improvements to that. Any changes to that intersection is part of this project. There
are two (2) future projects that might address Po`ipu Road and potentially including
the idea of making longer turn lanes approaching that intersection. One (1) is that
Po`ipu Road Multi-Modal Project that I mentioned a moment ago. How that
intersection is designed has not been finalized yet, but it potentially could clarify
what lanes having longer turn lanes because there is potentially room for that. The
second would be much longer-term, is the northerly leg of the western bypass, which
is still on the books. It is pretty far out at this point timing wise. It is not scheduled
for construction any time that we know of right now. So it is at least four (4) or five (5)
years out.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Right. But when you talk about this project,
it is still part of a bigger plan, right, as far as the circulation plan?
Mr. Moule: Yes.
Councilmember Kuali`i: One (1) piece affects the other piece, so we
should have an idea of what the plan is for the other pieces. If anything, regarding
pedestrian safety and making improvements to the roads kind of impacts the
diverting cars away at times, such as making this one-way means less car will go on
this road, which means that the people walking will be safer. But also taking into
consideration that it is about the high volume during school, going to school and going
COUNCIL MEETING 50 APRIL 20, 2016
home from school. This high volume not only in the pedestrians, but also in the cars,
right? How are you addressing that? I was wondering if you looked to getting cars
from not leaving the school and heading back that way, but leaving the school another
way? Right now, we have that newer road, right, that goes all the way to
Ala Kalanikaumaka Street, the bypass, but it does not quite go. It ends right there.
There is a little end. I know maybe there an issue of doing a two-way out of that
there, but maybe you could least do one-way to get people leaving school to not come
back into this area.
Mr. Moule: Yes. There were a few questions in there. If
I missed one (1), please ask it again. The last one as far as the road that connects
Po`ipu Road and almost gets to the bypass is Pa'anau Road right along the makai
edge of the school. From what I can tell looking at the past history of the designs of
Ala Kalanikaumaka, it looks to me that the original intent was for that road to
connect, but in the final design, I think what happened is when they did the last
phase of the Pa'anau Village and they extended that road, at that time there must
have been a decision made not to correct the road because at this time, the end of
Pa'anau Road is probably seven (7) feet or eight (8) feet vertically from Ala
Kalanikaumaka. It would make require reconstructing at least one hundred
feet (100) or two hundred feet (200) of Pa'anau Road to make it connect. It would also
make it very difficult to connect the driveway to the last phase of Pa'anau Village. I
would not say that ship has sailed entirely, but even in the Koloa-Po`ipu Circulation
Study...I am sorry, not the Koloa-Po`ipu Circulation Study. The transportation
analysis was done as part of the South Kaua`i Community Plan. That is a different
analysis. The South Kaua`i Community Plan drawing does not show that road
connecting because of the topographical challenges of making that connection.
Personally, I think more connections are better. Street network is a good thing for
users so you can get people around, but it would be difficult and expensive to make
that connection now because it has now been built with that significant elevation
difference.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kaneshiro.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: My questions are similar to everyone's
questions and might be some follow-ups. Is the Safe Routes to School program a
County program?
Mr. Moule: Well, we have a program to do Safe Routes to
School. The State has a program to do Safe Routes to School largely using federal
funds, and the Federal government has a program for Safe Routes to School. They
are parallel programs that sort of work together to do Safe Routes to School, if that
makes sense.
COUNCIL MEETING 51 APRIL 20, 2016
Councilmember Kaneshiro: But in this instance, we are only using County
money?
Mr. Moule: In this case, yes. We are only using County
money because it is a relatively simple and fairly inexpensive restripe. We have
applied for and received funds for projects that require more reconstruction using
federal funds. We just applied for some recent grants and we have not heard yet on
that. We applied for some in December.
Mr. Steinmetz: There is another fund that we might also use
for this, and that is our Safe Routes to School Special Fund, which comes from the
State through the surcharge on speeding tickets that was passed by the Legislature
a few years ago. This is the type of project that we would like to use those funds for
where it is a simple striping project, or not that simple, but there is a striping project
and there is not a lot of extensive paving and construction work. So that is another
funding source, which is the State funding that is given to the County.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: I was thinking anything to do with the schools
and safe routes to schools seems like a State thing. I know we got money for Hardy
Street from the Federal government, and that was part of the Safe Routes to School.
Mr. Tabata: Councilmember Kaneshiro, we get ten
dollars ($10) for every moving violation outside of the school zone and if it is in the
school zone, it is twenty dollars ($20) for every moving violation that KPD issues. We
get some money back from what KPD issues. They do team with us, the Safe Routes
to School Task Force, to assist on walk to school days and try to enforce as much as
possible as time allows, especially in the school zone areas.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: Okay. Hopefully when you folks come back
with cost, you will be able to say whether the County is paying for this or if it is
coming out of a special fund that does not cost the County money.
Mr. Tabata: Every year, we put in money for the Roads
Division's budget and set aside for Safe Routes to School projects of County money,
so we are using that fund to do that. It is a set aside in the Roads Division. Then, we
have the special fund, as Lee stated. We also have funds that come to us from the
Federal government for the Safe Routes to School projects, and those are primarily
for the major infrastructure projects.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: Our first priority would be to use other
people's money first.
Mr. Tabata: Right.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: The Federal or the State.
COUNCIL MEETING 52 APRIL 20, 2016
Mr. Tabata: The money from the State from that special
fund comes to us once a year, so we have been trying to accumulate it. It is in a
special account specifically for that.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: Okay. Then my second question, I know there
is a Koloa Circulation Study and there might be a Koloa Transportation Plan. How
does this relate to that plan? I think in the plan, there was two-way traffic here. Is
the plan to have it be one-way all the time or eventually when we start going back to
the circulation plan...what is the plan? Are we going to adjust the circulation plan
as we go? I am confused on what the direction is.
Mr. Steinmetz: I think maybe it would be good when we come
back to present the circulation element of the South Kaua`i Community Plan and how
this project fits into it. This project was envisioned as part of that overall plan, and
so we could show you what that looks like, what are other connections to the bypass
roads, and the Po`ipu-Koloa Road intersection. We could bring that back and show
you the context of this project within the larger circulation plan.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: Yes. I think with the circulation plan...sorry,
I did not look at it recently. But to confirm if that was always intended to be a
one-way or if it was two-ways, and if we are not following the plan, then what is
justification or plan moving forward to keep it as a one-way or to follow that plan
eventually as funding comes in or whatever it is.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Hooser, go ahead. You have
not spoken yet. I was just going to say that this is going to go to Committee, and I
would suggest that everyone submit their questions as soon as possible so they can
prepare for the next Committee Meeting. I do have some questions as well, but I am
going to reserve for the Committee Meeting. Councilmember Hooser.
Councilmember Hooser: Good morning. Actually, my inclination is to
trust the judgment of these three (3) gentlemen. I certainly do not want to second
guess your expertise and experience on the details of the planning. My comments or
questions might be questions that the public might be curious about and might be
interested in. It seems like this is something we should celebrate and support. If I
remember what you just said a second ago, the community is asking for this. Could
you expand? How do we know the community is asking for this? What is the process
that gave you that conclusion?
Mr. Steinmetz: This really started with our Safe Routes to
School Task Force, which going back to your question, that is a task force that really
is through Get Fit Kaua`i, but the County participates in that. They have
representatives from the schools. We get together and talk about issues and problems
that are coming up. Koloa Elementary School brought this to our attention, as this
is our main route to school and we would really like to see what we can do to address
making it safer for kids to walk to school along this route. So that was the starting
COUNCIL MEETING 53 APRIL 20, 2016
point, and we brainstormed some ideas with that task force, including the option of
making portions of Waikomo Road one-way, which I personally thought the task force
would say "absolutely not." But they were interested in that concept and wanted us
to explore it more and take it to the community. The representatives on that task
force are representatives from the neighborhood, but are also representatives of the
school. Really, the initial idea of this came from KOloa Elementary School. Anyway,
we worked out some concepts through the task force and then took it to the
community. We got community comments back and modified it based on the
community comments that we got. We have invited some members of community and
school to come here. Unfortunately, they are were unable to come today, but could
certainly try to get them to come to the Committee Meeting so you can hear from
them opposed to hearing from us on their perspective of those meetings.
Councilmember Hooser: Did you personally go door-to-door?
Mr. Steinmetz: No, we did not personally go door-to-door. We
created a survey and community members, including Mr. Blake, took the
responsibility of going door-to-door and gathering that information. From that
process...and I do not have the numbers. It was not unanimous, but there was strong
support for this based on the input from that.
Councilmember Hooser: Okay, great. I understand that we are not
going to make all the people happy all the time, but it sounds like a majority of the
community and certainly the school supports this effort moving forward. Would that
be an accurate characterization?
Mr. Steinmetz: Yes, I think that is a fair assessment, yes.
Councilmember Hooser: Okay, great. I think the County
Administration should be applauded for working with the community and moving
forward with this project. I thank you for doing that. With regards to the
implementation, safety is probably the biggest concern certainly for myself and for
most people. Is there any issues with traffic in terms of speed or the speed bumps?
When it is implemented, will there be signage, and will the police be notified to slow
people down? Have you thought about that?
Mr. Moule: We do not plan to do any physical traffic
calming like speed humps with this project. I think the road is posted, I believe, at
twenty miles per hour (20 MPH). Do not quote me on that. It is twenty-five miles
per hour (25 MPH) further up near Big Save. I think it is twenty miles per
hour (20 MPH) in the last bit, but I could be wrong about that. It is posted at fifteen
miles per hour (15 MPH) during school times near the school. I know that much for
sure. So adding additional signs that say "slow down," and that sort of thing is not
something we plan to do. We try to avoid doing those sorts of things because they
have been shown to not have significant effects on how people drive, just simply
putting up signs. So arguably, the restriping, narrowing of lanes, and things would
COUNCIL MEETING 54 APRIL 20, 2016
encourage drivers to travel at the speed limit as opposed to faster, and research does
show that restriping can do that, but there is not significant efforts to physically slow
people down including with this project.
Councilmember Hooser: Okay. Could you again restate what the
appropriate length is? People walking to school, what is the distance we are talking
about?
Mr. Moule: I should know this, but I do not have it. I can
tell you actually, just give me one (1) moment.
Councilmember Hooser: Okay.
Mr. Moule: It is a little bit more than half a mile all the
way from Koloa Road to the school. The students meet at the bank there on the corner
of Koloa Road and Waikomo Road to do their walk on walk to school day. As far as
how far kids walk outside of walk-to-school days, it varies obviously, depending where
they live. But I think that the real goal with this project is to increase the number of
people who are comfortable with their kids walking to school when they live within
that nearby vicinity, especially along Waikomo Road. There is a surprising number
of houses on Kapau Road and Puni Road. It does not seem like a large area because
there are short streets. But if you look at aerial image, there are a bunch of other
houses in that area. Ultimately once you get all the way to Koloa Road, there is much
larger neighborhoods that could potentially walk. How many kids will walk half a
mile? It is a little further, but it is still a ten to fifteen (10-15) minute walk, it is a
doable thing, and more and more parents are doing that where there are facilitates.
That is the challenge. People see a road with just pavement and no sidewalk or
anything else, and they are not comfortable letting their kids walk to school on their
own outside of that walk to school day. So that is the idea here.
Councilmember Hooser: Okay. Thank you again, for your
responsiveness to the community request. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any other questions?
Councilmember Kagawa: Thank you, Chair. If the Resolution passes,
we do all the improvements, and we change two-lane to a one-lane for vehicles, how
do we measure success? Do we use the baseline of how many kids are walking now
and then once we do the improvements, we will come back and say, "Hey, it was a big
success. We doubled our numbers," or do we feel that information is not important
and just because we are doing it, it is better?
Mr. Tabata: The Safe Routes to School Task Force queries
every school. So we can get that number for the Committee Meeting of how many
students do walk to school, how many are dropped off, and how many ride the bus.
COUNCIL MEETING 55 APRIL 20, 2016
Councilmember Kagawa: No. I am specifically asking for the area that
we improving.
Mr. Tabata: That is one of the questions that we can ask
specifically.
Councilmember Kagawa: Okay.
Mr. Tabata: We can have the school help us by getting that
as part of the questionnaire right now, and then we can then query that after.
Councilmember Kagawa: Yes. My question is more like, as we do these
improvements, we just did Hardy Street, and we are doing this one. As we expand to
more schools, I think it would be nice for the governing body to see, hey, this is what
these improvements...
Mr. Tabata: We have the statistics of who walks, bikes,
gets dropped off, and rides the bus right now for all the schools who participates.
Mr. Steinmetz: If I could maybe also add to that. Through the
Safe Routes to School Task Force, we do a survey every year and this is information
that we can bring back that it is not specific to Waikomo Road, but it is the school
overall, not on walk to school day, but just on a daily basis, how many people walk
and how many bike. We also ask them if you do not do that, what are the barriers
that cause you not to do those things? Do you live too far? Do you not feel it is safe?
Are cars traveling too fast? So that is something that we track on a yearly basis. We
are also just starting this year to do on-street bike and pedestrian counts. We are
starting with our Transportation Investment Generating Economic recovery (TIGER)
project area to look at as a baseline, how many people are walking and biking now.
We want to do that on an annual basis to do exactly what you are saying so we can
see if it is increasing as we build the infrastructure because that really is how we
should measure success if people are using it. If we build it and people are not, then
that would not be successful. The issue that we have that is that is labor intensive
because people have to physically stand and count, but we can certainly look at
expanding that and looking at where we are doing these infrastructure improvements
to also do before and after counts.
Councilmember Kagawa: This is my last question. I noticed in some of
these pictures that there appears to be some County rights-of-way abutting the paved
road shoulder. Did we look at the possibility of expanding the pavement so that we
could accommodate both two-way traffic as well as marked sidewalks?
Mr. Moule: That is a good question. We have not
specifically looked at what it would cost on this road. Ultimately, we would prefer a
separated sidewalk that is in the right-of-way outside of the paved area. A couple of
reasons why in this case we have not done that is first off, we see an opportunity here
COUNCIL MEETING 56 APRIL 20, 2016
to do something in the existing pavement without spending significant capital costs.
We are on an ongoing basis doing Safe Routes to School and other projects near
schools that require more capital costs, and for those, we typically pursue the State
and Federal funds. For example, the Po`ipu Road Multimodal Project will look at
improving the walking along Po`ipu Road to get to the other portions of Koloa Town.
Then, the other challenge here is you do have a couple of narrow bridges and culverts,
which would make it difficult to continually have that. So without really spending a
whole lot of money, and we are talking millions of dollars to widen bridges or
hundreds of thousands of dollars to do both bridges would probably be about one
million dollars ($1,000,000) honestly. So you would at least have to bring it in to road
surface at that location even if you were able to build a sidewalk outside. As we
continually apply for grants from the State for Safe Routes to School, we are always
applying for three (3) or four (4) schools each time there is an application every couple
of years. Down the road, we may apply for one for this corridor, but we have been
doing that at other schools in the recent times and the streets for this school.
Councilmember Kagawa: The two-way bridges can be handled with
Olohena Road where we have two (2) yield signs, right, and we have that in multiple
areas on Olohena Road?
Mr. Moule: Absolutely. It does not make it impossible. I
think there is a reasonable project to spend as opposed to tens of thousands of dollars,
which we are looking at for this project of restriping, a few ten thousands of dollars
is what I would estimate off the top of my head, to hundreds of thousands to do a
sidewalk. There is a reasonable project for hundreds of thousands of dollars for a
sidewalk without any bridge touching to do what you are saying, but it is probably
ten (10) times the cost of this at least.
Councilmember Kagawa: Thank you.
Mr. Steinmetz: The other thing that we want to look at is a
lot of people use that swale for parking. So as we look at widening the road or putting
a sidewalk, then we are affecting people's parking. So that was another issue that
came up at the meeting that people wanted to preserve the swale. We are trying to
balance all of those things in terms of cost, parking, and safety as we look at these
projects.
Councilmember Kagawa: That is a great point. Thank you, Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any more questions? Again, they will
be back in a couple of weeks. Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: I just want to be clear as a follow-up to
Council Vice Chair, you are going to do baseline analyses, pre and post, on this
project?
COUNCIL MEETING 57 APRIL 20, 2016
Mr. Tabata: We can try and get the pre-data from the
school via survey. That is the only recourse we have right now.
Councilmember Yukimura: The thing is you have to show that most of the
kids who walk are walking on that route if you are going to use it for this project. If
they are walking from other places, it is not relevant to this particular project. You
keep saying it is so labor intensive to do these counts, so I am asking are you or are
you not going to have pre and post data that we can look at to see whether there has
been improvements or an increase in the number of people walking?
Mr. Moule: At this time, outside of the TIGER project
area that we mentioned a moment ago, we do not have plans to do pre-counts for our
other projects. If you look at this a single project, yes it is labor intensive, but it is
one (1) project and one (1) count, which is easy enough to do. We have many other
projects around the County that we are doing this for, and we are just embarking on
this...we have never done manual pedestrian and bicycle counts. We do not do
manual car counts general speaking. We do car counts by putting tubes or counter
machines out. You cannot do that for this. I do not want to commit to it right now
because we have to look at the resources and how that would affect...if we are going
to do it for this project, we should be doing it for all. We have to look at how that
affects the resources...
Council Chair Rapozo: And that is typically how it works.
Mr. Moule: What was that?
Council Chair Rapozo: That is typically how it works. You expect us
to make a decision without that information is kind of difficult.
Councilmember Yukimura: Why could you not turn it into a school project
with fifth graders and their parents, and train them and get them to do it like an on
the ground...nowadays they are emphasizing project-based learning and have them
do that and have them participate in something like that. As a pilot, yes, we want
you to do is for all projects, but to begin, you can try a project, work out the kinks,
and then maybe apply it elsewhere especially since you are dealing with the school
here and there are fifth graders and maybe their parents, or mentors, or the Rotary
Club, or somebody who could help do that and turn it into a learning experience. That
would be good because we do want to see hard data about the impacts of these
projects. Thank you.
Mr. Tabata: Okay. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any other questions? If not, thank
you very much. I know this is a silly question, but is there any public testimony?
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Chair, we have one (1) registered speaker.
COUNCIL MEETING 58 APRIL 20, 2016
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Go ahead.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Matthew Bernabe.
Council Chair Rapozo: Matt Bernabe. I had hoped to finish our
agenda by lunch, but that is not going to happen.
(Councilmember Kaneshiro was noted as not present.)
MATTHEW BERNABE: Matt Bernabe for the record.
Council Chair Rapozo: Take your time.
Mr. Bernabe: I was just going to point out as a
Councilmember Kaneshiro pointed out, there are other coffers of money that
participate in this program. I understand about the swales and all of that, and I
understand the bridges and what not, but one of the things that I want to point out
as living on the eastside is this model that I see up there with the one (1) lane and
the stripe on the side, it really looks like Fuji Beach in Kapa'a behind the gas station.
I have seen people go backwards on it, I have seen near misses, and the bikes are all
over the place. Sometimes you actually have to go so slow that you are crawling
through there. Just this morning, I was taking a left return turn from the credit
union, and even though we have the bike path by the beach, I could not make my turn
because a bicycle blew right through and I had to actually lock on my brakes. That
was just this morning. This push to have bicycles go everywhere to me, is a hidden
agenda on this because even though there is a walking pedestrian on the path, we all
know that this is geared for bikes. That is why there is no sidewalks. Let us call a
spade a spade. They do not want the sidewalks because they want this multimodal
transportation to prevail long-term. If you took a three (3) feet sidewalks on each
side, you would still have a center lane of whatever it is. As parent, that is a lot safer.
I am appalled that they take the stance that we do it for this one, then we have to do
it for all of them. As the Chair pointed out, that is their job. That is why I am so
angry about the roundabout bike path going up to Kapa'a Middle School, that they
were not caring about the school, but they care about this school.
(Councilmember Kaneshiro was noted as present.)
Mr. Bernabe: Their ways of getting it done is so
inconsistent, and they are pushing this agenda. I might go door-to-door on the street
and get my own poll. Seriously. I might go this afternoon and just knock on doors
this evening. I want to know what the people say. I have friends that live right
around there. I am going to ask them myself. I am not from there; however, with all
of that said, I have to say that one (1) area of the bells and whistles that I like are the
flashing crosswalks. I will praise them for that because that is the one (1) bell and
whistle that I like. Other than that, I do not know. Something is fishy here, and I
will be following rest of the meetings. Thank you.
COUNCIL MEETING 59 APRIL 20, 2016
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you, and happy birthday again. Next
speaker. There are no more speakers?
NORMA DOCTOR SPARKS: Good morning. I am Norma Doctor Sparks. I
wanted to say that I was born and raised in Koloa. I actually walked to Koloa along
the streets that are being discussed today, and I am very concerned about it. First of
all, my husband was asked to teach fifth grade this year by the principal last year,
and so he decided to do that. He did not have any idea about any survey about what
the school thought about changing the route to the one-way. I think that everything
else above the one-way is how we work anyway when we drive that area. When we
see a car, we stop, we yield, and whoever goes first, goes first, especially over that
little bridge. But I do not think that the neighborhood was actually canvased and I
am very concerned about that one-way. I do know if we have to go to the Po`ipu and
Koloa intersection, that it will become more congested, and to have to go through
downtown Koloa is just unbelievable that someone would ask us to do that when there
is already so much congestion right in front of Sueoka Store for example, and then at
the stop sign going up to Big Save or the post office. Most of the children who go to
Koloa Elementary School are actually above the bank. All of those families would
then have to go around and go through the downtown as I talked about, adding
congestion throughout that. I think that the idea of having a safe walkway for
children is a great idea, but the periods of times that children actually walk to school
or back from school is very short compared to the whole twenty-four (24) hours in
looking at the uses of those roadways. I would suggest, as Mr. Bernabe just talked
about, to also look at sidewalks because with sidewalks, we would actually be able to
preserve some of the roads that is being considered to be a one-way. I do know that
there is a really good support for children walking; however, there are some
unintended consequences and I believe that during the Committee Meeting, we
should hear more about those unintended consequences that might be perceived or
thought about so that we can have a better plan for Koloa. I was born and raised in
Koloa, and I intend to live in Koloa for the rest of my time here. I want to make sure
that the people of Koloa are best served. I do want to make sure that the parents
particularly who go to Koloa are surveyed to see what they think. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Anyone else?
Ms. Parker: Hi. Alice Parker for the record. I walked to
school probably a mile and a half and it was not through snow drifts usually. It was
on sidewalks, but this was a more urban area. My daughter walked to school, and
we mothers or parents had to take turns walking the kids because it was an unsafe
area. There was a veteran's hospital and sometimes uneasy minded veterans would
be loose and bother the kids. So we had to walk the kids to school and it was about a
mile. I do not think sidewalks are necessary, but a marked way, the way that they
have it marked there should be sufficient. It is level and as long as it is clearly
delineated from the driving part, I think it would work fine. Thank you.
COUNCIL MEETING 60 APRIL 20, 2016
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Next speaker. Please state your
name for the record.
SUSAN GLANCE: Susan Glance. I walked this path in front of
K61oa Elementary School a few times since the beginning of the year as I escorted my
nephew. They live on Po`ipu Road right across from the Koloa Missionary Church. It
is heavily trafficked during the time that children arrive and when they leave the
school. It is heavily used by pedestrians and if you drive your car from K6loa Road
and make the turn on to Po`ipu Road at the Koloa Chevron gas station, it would be
backed up with traffic almost directly after the Chevron gas station. So it is a
little...you must be alert while escorting children on foot because I have been bumped
this year by a car directly after crossing the street from the school side to the other
side where Waikomo Road enters right after I got out of the crosswalk with the guard
that stands there. I got bumped by a black car. I had to push the child out of way
and kind of give a look to the person because it is pretty obvious that I am there. I
just crossing the road. I always think when I walk that with them, I sure wish there
was a sidewalk there because hence, sidewalks are for pedestrians. It is nice when
they have it all delineated with white paint, but this traffic flow concern that this
other lady brought up, that it is going to back up Koloa Town and the aftereffects is
going to have is a real concern. The one side of the road they have sidewalk for part
of the way, but the other side, they you do not have it at all. You kind of have to jump
down a little foot and a half or two (2) feet cliff thing because there is a topographical
difference. If I had to escort my child every day like my niece does, I would be...she
is there every day holding that kid's hand, walking that street, and the whole area
fills up with pedestrians, children, parents, and the cars. I could really appreciate
the issue of concern for safety for people on the road. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Can you restate how...you said your nephew
lives on Po`ipu Road?
Ms. Glance: Right across from the Koloa Missionary
Church.
Councilmember Yukimura: So you walk towards the school on which side
of Po`ipu Road?
Ms. Glance: Across the road to get to the side where the
Koloa Missionary Church side is because there is a sidewalk kind of starting there,
then go down to where the crosswalk is for the school, we will cross there, get up on
the sidewalk that lines the driveway, pick up the child, and repeat that path.
Councilmember Yukimura: When you were walking, you said you were
bumped. What do you mean?
COUNCIL MEETING 61 APRIL 20, 2016
Ms. Glance: Bumped by a car coming from the traffic
circle.
Councilmember Yukimura: Were you a pedestrian?
Ms. Glance: I was a pedestrian and I had just made it
through the crosswalk. I was very surprised. Luckily I did not get hurt, but how
could they not see me because it was two (2) yards from me, six (6) feet, and then I
am staying in the correct area for pedestrians. I think they were trying to maybe
make the right turn onto Waikomo Road.
Councilmember Yukimura: There was a physical contact between you...
Ms. Glance: Physical contact on my left hip.
Councilmember Yukimura: Between a car and yourself?
Ms. Glance: Yes, and I have the child.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, and you are much...
Ms. Glance: So I am shoving me and the kid to the right.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay, thank you.
Councilmember Yukimura: You are much more visible than a child.
Ms. Glance: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you.
Ms. Glance: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Next speaker.
GLENN MICKENS: For the record, Glenn Mickens. Thank you,
Council Chair Rapozo. Thank you BC. There has been a lot of talk about striping. I
have been trying for years to get Hauiki Road's center striped. I have called bus
companies because they have been run off the road by somebody on the wrong side,
but there is no line down the road. I have been told by the County engineers that
unless a road is twenty (20) feet wide, they cannot stripe it. I do not understand that.
In fact, if you go up Loop Road, it is center striped. It is not twenty (20) feet wide. I
have measured it. It is seventeen (17) feet to eighteen (18) feet wide. For purposes
in the dark and rainy days or nights when people cannot see, you need that center
COUNCIL MEETING 62 APRIL 20, 2016
stripe on the road. Is it or is not it? Maybe Mike can answer that question, whether
the road does in fact have to be twenty (20) feet wide before they stripe it. But if that
is true, then why Loop Road is striped or even putting a line down the shoulder of the
road so you know where the edge of the road is if there are no lights or raining or
something. I think for safety purpose, they can do it, but maybe Mike can answer it.
Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else?
JOE ROSA: Good morning. For the record, Joe Rosa.
Again, I hear the so called staff here sitting down. "I think," "I might," and"we wish."
It is not really solid evidence that something is really planned. When I worked with
the Department of Transportation (DOT) and you wanted a crosswalk in Waimea
Town, we had to go out and be there at 6:30 a.m. to see the crossing that they wanted
by Cookies opposite of the Waimea theater, and then later one there was a further
down by Ishihara Market. Did this office staff get out in the morning and take a
pedestrian counts? Those are the kind of things...hey, get the proof that it was taken
for one (1) week, not a day or so. The people can say again, "Oh, the children this,
the children that," but how many have children that go to school that walk? Those
are the kind of things that may appear in a clear blue sky. Secondly, I know I
experienced that at the signal light at Papalina Road where I use my judgment on a
safety factor to put a highway curb for people making a right turn into the street
opposite of the church there. I look at that as a safety thing. I said when we put a
highway road and paint it white so the drivers can see it because the drivers making
the right turn could sideswipe a child in the open walkaway to go to the road there.
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as not present.)
Mr. Rosa: That is safety devices. Another thing is talk.
Talk is cheap, but even like Waikomo Road, why not put the sidewalks? What is the
right-of-way there? You have an eighteen (18) feet road, you must have at least
thirty (30) feet or forty (40) feet. In the early 1940s and in the late 1930s, there was
sidewalks put in by the late-Yutaka Hamamoto and they called in the sidewalks
supervisor. They put sidewalks from where Isenberg track is all the way to the old
grammar school where the waterworks is. They did it from Puhi until Nohou Road
towards the school there. What is it? What are sidewalks for? Not painted stripes
on the road when there is no safety factors that protect the children from walking.
Those are the kind of things. Talk is cheap. Do something that is going to be there
permanently. An eighteen (18) feet wide road, I am pretty sure you have to have at
least a thirty (30) feet wide right-of-way and you could put three (3) feet wide
sidewalks plus a curb and make it a twenty (20) feet road, which two (2) cars could
easily go up and down. Where is your engineering? You hire engineers that are
probably not familiar with the area and just go on hearsay...
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay, Joe.
COUNCIL MEETING 63 APRIL 20, 2016
Mr. Rosa: ...and what they think is the best.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay, Joe.
Mr. Rosa: Okay.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you.
Mr. Rosa: As I say, I think safety comes first.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you.
Mr. Rosa: I thank you.
KEN TAYLOR: Chair and Members of the Council, my name
is Ken Taylor. One of the worst phrases in the language is "Well, we have always
done it this way." Time has come where we need to take back our streets and make
it safe for children to walk to school. I think staff has done a good job in analyzing a
situation that needs to be looked at and moved forward with. I commend them for
looking at the alternatives. We have allowed the automobile to take over our lives
and it cannot continue this way. Something has to happen, and we are going to see
changes made or recommendations made that are going to be different than what we
have seen in the past. I think this is a prime example of one of those changes. I
commend the Department of Public Works for looking outside of the box for an
alternative. I hope that you will support their recommendation and move forward
with this. Down the road, if for some reason it does not work, we can always go back,
but it is time that we start looking, analyzing, and doing things differently than we
have been doing because what we have been doing has gotten us into a position where
we have created problems for ourselves that need to be addressed now, and this is a
good way to start that process. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Anyone else wishing to testify for
the first time? Second time? I am sorry.
AMALIA GRAY: Amalia Gray. As a parent of a kindergarten
and first grader, I live in Kapa`a, so Koloa Street is not affecting me really. But my
son wants to ride his bike to school and people race down this road with no sidewalks,
Hau`a`ala, which was just completed. There are areas that are twenty (20) feet that
have the line and there are areas that are less than that that and do not have the
line. So most of the time, people are going forty miles per hours (40 MPH). Yes it
says twenty-five miles per hour (25 MPH), but that is forcing us into the mud and
into the overgrown grass where there should be a sidewalk. Maybe if there was a
bicycle line that would help. I use the bike path. I know it goes through a residential
area and it is effective. It is a little confusing sometimes for people that do not know
how to read signs, but for the general public that do, it is very effective and safe. If
COUNCIL MEETING 64 APRIL 20, 2016
this Koloa one could be initiated, maybe in the future something like that could
happen in other school districts like Kapa`a. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Anyone else wishing to testify for
the first time? If not, second time?
Mr. Bernabe: Matt Bernabe, for the record. Our kids
deserve sidewalks. We should look for the money from other coffers that we already
put on record that are collaborative in this effort. The lady that testified that got
bumped is a tall woman, you can see her, she is aware of her surroundings, and yet
she physically got bumped because we have a lot of cars and we have not kept up with
the infrastructure for cars, and at the most critical point that we should also be
focusing on not just bikes and sidewalks, but also cars. We have lost that vision. So
what happens is you have irate drivers. I see this in Kapa'a all the time, finding
alternative routes through either the marketplace or wherever they can get ahead of
the person that is holding them back. That is why the lady got bumped, because the
person had some where to be and they were not going to be there in time. Not enough
time on the road. We are wasting our time driving. If you want to make the argument
that this is an economic thing for families because the more time we spend on road is
less money we make and the more money that we spend. Sidewalks. These people
need to go back and look for some funding. If swales is their biggest obstacle for
driveways, how does Honolulu have sidewalks? I see houses all throughout Honolulu
and they have sidewalks. Look, I know for a fact that drivers make mistakes. If there
is not a clear different curb there, you might have a recipe that is not going to be nice.
I do not want to be on the news, Kaua`i's walk path. Front page. I just think that if
at the heart of the discussion and if it is all about the kids and their safety is at the
top tier, then why are we trying to go the cheapest route? Why are we trying to buy
the cheapest car seat? We should be buying the best one. I think sidewalks are it.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any further discussion?
Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: I am presuming that we will refer this to...
Council Chair Rapozo: The Public Works / Parks & Recreation
Committee.
Councilmember Yukimura: Public Works / Parks & Recreation
Committee?
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. I think...
Council Chair Rapozo: That would be my suggestion.
COUNCIL MEETING 65 APRIL 20, 2016
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. I am the Housing & Transportation
Committee Chair, it could come to mine, too. It is a multi-modal project, but I do not
mind.
Council Chair Rapozo: Whatever you folks want.
Councilmember Yukimura: I do not mind if it comes to the Housing &
Transportation Committee.
Council Chair Rapozo: Whatever you folks decide is fine with me.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay, and I do not have any more discussion.
I think there has been a lot of discussion through our questions and answers, and the
Department of Public Works is going to be getting more information. I am ready to
refer it.
Council Chair Rapozo: I know the motion was to approve, so we need
a withdrawal of that motion.
Councilmember Yukimura: No, the motion to refer has precedence, I
believe.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Councilmember Hooser, did you have
comments?
Councilmember Hooser: Just brief comments. I would support
referring it to the Housing & Transportation Committee also, if the Chair is
requesting it. There is a lot of talk about sidewalks and I just wanted to point out
that what is in existence now is an unsafe situation for children to walk, and the plan
presented makes it safer. Ultimately, if the community wants and there is sufficient
funds available, we can certainly put in sidewalks, but it is a much larger project,
much more expensive, and much more long-term. In my opinion, this would from
what I know about it, makes this situation significantly safer than it is now and it
gets an important point out, that sidewalks may or may not be in future, but this
could be considered an interim step or it could be considered a permanent step, but it
will ultimately make the situation safer. Unlike sidewalks or curb and gutters, this
could conceivably be changed. For example, the one-way configuration resulted in
impacts that were not foreseen. The decision could be amended. I think it is a good
step. Again, I commend the Administration and the department for working with the
community. I think it is very inspirational, actually, that the so-called government
bureaucrats met with people in the community, met with the school, and worked
together to find solutions, and then move forward to implement the solutions. I am
looking forward to supporting the effort as we move forward. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Anybody else? If not, before we entertain the
motion, I do have some questions. I think Mr. Taylor recommended that we approve
COUNCIL MEETING 66 APRIL 20, 2016
this and that we need to think outside of the box. Although I agree, I think for us to
act on a matter that we have no idea how much it will cost, no traffic counts were
taken, we do not know what the unintended consequences will be at Koloa-Po`ipu
Road, I think it is unfair to ask us to prove it. That is not thinking outside of the box.
That is rolling the dice and hoping that it works. That is not what we do. I do not
even now...no ballpark figure.
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as present.)
Council Chair Rapozo: I do not know what it is. To come here and
ask unprepared like that is not fair to us because yes, it sounds really good for the
safety of the kids and of course, everybody supports the safety of our kids. But we do
not know the details. I think that all needs to be done. I will be sending over formal
questions regarding the costs and the accident data that Councilmember Kagawa
requested from KPD.
The other question that Councilmembers Kagawa talked about was that road
where we can see the cracks on the road already. Why would we lay down a whole
restructuring the road and then come back and do it again after we repave? Put it in
the project. If this is where we are going to go, pave the road and then put the paint.
The other thing is the traffic counts. I think it is important for us to know the traffic
counts. We heard from one (1) member of the community that said the husband is a
school teacher at that school, and he had no knowledge of what was going on.
Absolutely no knowledge. I will also be asking for the minutes and notes of the
outreach efforts that we did with the community because this is a major change.
When you take a road and convert it to a one-way, that is going to mess up that traffic
flow. Koloa-Po`ipu Road is bad. We know that. You do not need to live there to know
that. I know that is a big problem. I am more interested in seeing what the impacts
will be because it is the worst time of the day, mornings and afternoons when school
gets in and out, is the worst time of the day. I am also going to be asking you folks to
really consider this before we take the vote on the motion, is do we need a public
hearing on this because it does not only impact the people at the school and the people
on Weliweli Road. It impacts the whole entire Koloa-Po`ipu community, the Lihu`e
community, and everybody that goes down there. So this is a substantial change.
This is a substantial change, and I am asking as I am speaking. Please think about
that because I am going to be suggesting that we do a public hearing.
The County standards...I think we have standards. The reason we have
County standards number one is for safety and liability. If a child gets hurt because
we compromised on the standards because we wanted to do this, what kind of liability
and exposure do we put ourselves in? No what was twenty (20) feet, it is okay to
deviate because we want to put a walkway without any kind of median and without
any kind of division. Now the kid get hurts, kid gets hit, and adult gets hit. Where
does that put us legally because we did not meet the standard of the County? These
are questions that we have got to ask. I do not want to sound like I do not like kids.
But when we do things like this, it is our job and that should have been presented
COUNCIL MEETING 67 APRIL 20, 2016
with this package, and it was not. I am going to be asking those questions because I
think it is important. When we set a precedent like was said so many times, that we
want to use this model for other communities, we do not want to have a model that is
detrimental to the County and duplicate that model. Have we even tried a trial run?
This would not be a problem maybe for a month to make that one-way in the morning,
one way in the afternoon when the kids walk and see what the outcome was and see
what impact it had on Koloa-Po`ipu. How much would that cost? It will not cost
much. We have traffic unit in the Police Department. That is their job. They can
block the road. They can put out the notice, we can do a trial period for a month, and
no cars would be on that road. We will see number one, how many kids really would
do it. This walk to school day or whatever the thing is called, I have not participated
in the Koloa one. I did in Kapa`a. There were people driving from miles away to
participate because it is an event. They are not going to walk on that road normally.
They drove from three to five (3-5) miles away, parked their car, and they all walked
with the parents. They got a nice photo op with a huge amount of people, but at the
end of the day, those people will not be walking to school. How hard to sit there for
one and a half(11/2) hours or two (2) hours in the morning to look at how many people
actually walk to school? We did not do that because we do not have the resources?
We have some issues. I will be sending those questions over. Again, I would suggest
a public hearing because it is a major deviation from what is going on now. It is not
catering to the cars. Cars are a reality people. Cars are a reality. All of the kids who
walk to school, they are not going to drive. They are not going to drive. So you are
not going to impact the traffic flow of these people that need to get to work or get to
where they need to go in Koloa-Po`ipu or Lihu`e for that matter. But people use that
road. I use Waikomo Road quite a bit because it takes away from the Koloa-Po`ipu
mess. That is a mess. Anyway with that, Councilmember Yukimura, did you want
to make the motion to refer?
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. I want to check with the Chair of the
Public Works / Parks & Recreation Committee. Is it okay to refer to my Committee
as a multi-modal or do you want us to refer it to your Committee?
Councilmember Kagawa: You can have it in your Committee.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Chair, do you want to set a public
hearing now or later?
Council Chair Rapozo: I would suggest we set it now. I am not sure
how many people are going to watch this broadcast, but I want to make sure that the
Koloa-Po`ipu community is aware of what is going on because I think of what
Ms. Sparks said, I am concerned that maybe the word is not out and that concerns
me.
Councilmember Yukimura: Staff, do you have a suggestion?
COUNCIL MEETING 68 APRIL 20, 2016
Council Chair Rapozo: The only concern is if we wait until the
Committee Meeting, then you are going to prolong the ultimate action because if we
could schedule the public hearing before the next Committee Meeting, at least we will
have that out of the way and treat it like we normally do with a bill. This is a
Resolution.
Councilmember Yukimura: Maybe we just choose a suitable public
hearing date.
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: We could do the public hearing...we will miss
the 27th. The next would be May 4th, which is a Council Meeting day, and then
Committee Meeting on the 11th.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay.
Councilmember Yukimura moved to schedule Public Hearing for May 4, 2016,
and referred to the Housing & Transportation Committee, seconded by
Councilmember Kuali`i.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any further discussion?
The motion to schedule Public Hearing for May 4, 2016, and referred to the
Housing & Transportation Committee was then put, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. Next item, please.
BILLS FOR FIRST READING:
Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2628) — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND
CHAPTERS 18, 20, AND 23 OF THE KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED,
RELATING TO REVOCABLE PERMITS IN COUNTY DESIGNATED
RIGHTS-OF-WAY
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Chair, we have one (1) registered speaker.
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2628) on
first reading, that it be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be
scheduled for May 18, 2016, and referred to the Public Works / Parks &
Recreation Committee, seconded by Councilmember Yukimura.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. With that, I will suspend the
rules. Who is the first speaker?
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Judith Page.
COUNCIL MEETING 69 APRIL 20, 2016
Councilmember Kagawa moved to amend Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2628) as
circulated, as shown in the Floor Amendment, which is attached hereto and
incorporated here in as Attachment 1, seconded by Councilmember Kaneshiro.
Councilmember Kagawa: This amendment is correcting some
typographical errors.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay, it is just housekeeping. Thank you.
Any discussion on the amendment? Councilmember Hooser.
Councilmember Hooser: Is the Administration going to explain the Bill
itself today at some point?
Council Chair Rapozo: If you want.
Councilmember Hooser: Yes, I would like that.
Council Chair Rapozo: Do you want to do that today or did you want
to do it at the Committee Meeting?
Councilmember Hooser: I would like to do it before I vote on it.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Is the Administration here?
Councilmember Kagawa: Should we vote on the amendment first?
Council Chair Rapozo: If you folks are ready. It is only a
typographical error.
The motion to amend Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2628) as circulated, as shown in
the Floor Amendment, which is attached hereto and incorporated here in as
Attachment 1, was then put, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you very much.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Mr. Tabata: Good morning Council Chair, Vice Chair, and
Members of the Council. The genesis of this Bill that we are bringing forward arose
from community concerns of activities. It all started with activities in Hanapepe
Town with their Friday Art Night and vendors vending in the public right-of-way and
creating traffic congestion, making it unsafe for pedestrians, and making vehicular
confrontations. From Friday Art Night you see it now in Kapa'a Town as Kapa'a First
Saturdays. We are having these types of events pop up all over the island. We were
charged with coming up with something that would be able to have those activities
be somewhat controlled and organized. Lee Steinmetz worked with our attorneys
COUNCIL MEETING 70 APRIL 20, 2016
and came up with a revocable permit program that we can use both in the public
rights-of-way and in the County parks. He has all of the details, and I will turn the
discussion over to him.
Mr. Steinmetz: Thank you. Again, I am Lee Steinmetz,
Transportation Planner with the Planning Department. As Lyle mentioned, there
were a bunch of different activities going on in different places that really prompted
us to a look at our existing ordinances and how we might amend them to clarify how
different ordinances might be used to allow for vending in our right-of-way. The idea
of this really was to simplify and clarify it for everybody that might want to get a
permit for different uses, to align our process with State law, to really work with
community groups that want to do an event like Friday Art Night and Kapa'a
Saturdays, to empower them to what type of event that they want to have and the
County can support that, and to make sure that we have a process that is equitable
islandwide so we are applying the same rules everywhere no matter where this is
coming up.
Council Chair Rapozo, the presiding officer, relinquished Chairmanship to
Councilmember Kagawa.
(Council Chair Rapozo was noted as not present.)
Mr. Steinmetz: I wanted to just kind of give you an overview
of what we are doing by the table that is up on the screen, some kind of different
examples of what is happening, and how we would apply these ordinances. As you
can see on this table, the first issue is vending in County parks. We have the Peddlers
and Concessionaires Permit, which was created specifically for this purpose of
vending in County parks, but there was an issue with the way the Ordinance was
written that sometimes it was also interpreted that it applied to all of our County
roads. There was a certain section of that Ordinance that made it confusing. We
wanted to clarify that the purpose of this Ordinance is for properties that are under
the jurisdiction of the Department of Parks & Recreation. A slight caveat to that,
there is also the issue of roads that are immediately adjacent to County parks.
Sometimes there is vending that creeps out of a park on to an adjacent roadway, so
we are also going to be clarifying that where there is a road that is adjacent to a
County park, we would give that jurisdiction for controlling vending to the
Department of Parks & Recreation because it is really related to the park.
The next issue someone that just starts vending in County right-of-way
without trying to reserve it. So if someone just pulls up into a parking space on a
street and starts vending. We actually had this happen. One (1) example is in the
Lawa`i Beach Road in Po`ipu by Spouting Horn where some snuba operators were
pulling up into a parking space, and did their vending from there. That really created
a problem because they were staging their equipment on the sidewalk and talking to
the people who wanted to do this right on the sidewalk, which meant that people had
to walk in the street because the sidewalk was taken up with their space. We wanted
COUNCIL MEETING 71 APRIL 20, 2016
a better way to control that, and there is actually a State ordinance that already
prohibits vending in the public right-of-way when it creates a hazard or a nuisance.
We wanted to incorporate that into our County ordinance as well using the same
language from State ordinance to be able to control that better, and this is generally
going to be complaint-based. We are not planning go out and look for this, but a lot
of times we do get complaints of dangerous conditions, and we want the authority to
be able to address that.
Then the last area is reserved use of County right-of-way. This is where
someone does not just pull up, but they want to use that space on a regular basis and
they want to reserve it. Another example of that is Truck Stop Thursday that
happens on Rice Street where The Beer Company actually puts cones in the parking
spaces to reserve those spaces for their use. That is an example of reserved use.
Kapa'a First Saturdays has wanted to reserve some side streets to close those off and
have food truck vendors on those streets. So that is another example of that.
What we wanted to do is take the existing Revocable Permit Ordinance and
make that be applicable for those type of uses. A significant difference between the
Revocable Permit Ordinance and Peddlers and Concessionaires Ordinance is in the
Peddlers and Concessionaires Ordinance, every single vendor is required to get a
permit. We wanted to create this where an event organizer could get the permit as
opposed to every single vendor for use of rights-of-way. For example, Hanapepe Art
Night, the Hanapepe Economic Alliance, for example, could be the organizer. They
would get the permit from the County, but then it would be up to them to organize
their vendors so the County does not have to deal with all of these separate permits
from all the different vendors. Of course the vendors are still responsible to pay sales
tax. If it is a food vendor, they still have to comply with State health laws. All of
those things are still required, but the actual vending permit would be through the
event organizer, which really simplifies it for the County. It also means that when
someone is planning a community event, that they have to really work with the
community as a whole because they are going to be representing that community. We
want those events to be community-based and not something that the County is
imposing or something where the County ends up having to play referee between a
couple of different groups, which may have different ideas of what that event would
be. We are also using this, as I mentioned, to empower community groups to take
leadership for the events that they are sponsoring. That is a really quick overview of
how this is organized and the purpose of it.
Councilmember Kagawa: Are there any questions Members?
Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you. Thank you for the overview. I
know you brought up Hanapepe as the model that you are looking at. Would this
ordinance infringe upon private properties and their freedom to have vendors on their
sidewalk? Is that correct?
COUNCIL MEETING 72 APRIL 20, 2016
Mr. Steinmetz: Yes, that is correct. This would only apply to
public property. We really do not have...yes. We are not trying to regulate private
property. Hanapepe is a bit unique because the property lines are really circuitous
and a lot of sidewalks are on private property, so that would be up to the private
property owners to control that. One (1) of the conversations that we had with the
Hanapepe Economic Alliance is if you can get the property and business owners to
work with you and perhaps that group still manages vending within those spaces so
that they can really organize it how they want, but that would be between the private
property owner and whoever the event organizer is to work that out.
Councilmember Chock: In terms of the event permit costs for security,
restrooms, or any other needs, are those upon the permitee as well?
Councilmember Kagawa returned Chairmanship to Council Chair Rapozo.
Mr. Steinmetz: With this revocable permit, there would be
conditions that would be applied. So depending on what the event is and what the
needs are, this would be reviewed by various departments within the County, and
conditions could be written up. Actually, that has been done with Kapa'a Business
Association, where there was a requirement to have security guards. In the case of
Hanapepe, they had to bring in portable restrooms for that event. Those would be
conditions that would be associated with the permit, and there are costs that
organization incurs by having that event. This also gives them the opportunity to,
for example, if they want to charge a fee to vendors to be able to participate in their
event, not to rent the public space, but perhaps to become a member and pay
something. That allows the event organizer to be able to raise some funds to be able
to pay for expenses such as portable toilets, security, or whatever that might be.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you.
Councilmember Kagawa: I have a question.
Council Chair Rapozo: Go ahead, Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: Where did we get the language for this Bill
from? I know I introduced it, but I just introduced it by request. Did we follow
another County's language?
(Councilmember Chock was noted as not present.)
Mr. Steinmetz: Different parts come from different places.
The ordinance itself was already an existing County Ordinance, so we were updating
that Ordinance. The piece related to giving the County authority to restrict vending
when it is a hazard came directly from the State language that was already in place.
COUNCIL MEETING 73 APRIL 20, 2016
Councilmember Kagawa: Alright. The Department of Parks &
Recreation and the Department of Economic Development handles the farmers'
markets, right?
Mr. Steinmetz: Yes, I believe it is the Department of
Economic Development.
Councilmember Kagawa: And the Department of Parks & Recreation.
The craft fairs, Coconut Festivals, and what have you are reserved through the
Department of Parks & Recreation?
Mr. Steinmetz: Yes.
Councilmember Kagawa: Are you now overseeing all of that?
Mr. Steinmetz: No. We are not changing anything about
things that are occurring in parks. If it is in a park or on a road adjacent to a park,
would still be under the authority of Department of Parks & Recreation, and the
permits would still go through Department of Parks & Recreation.
Councilmember Kagawa: Okay. So this is just to give us teeth to enforce
people who do not have permits?
Mr. Steinmetz: Is it to do that, and the missing piece was
vending on public right-of-way that is not a park; vending on a street or vending in a
parking space. That authority would go to the Department of Public Works.
Councilmember Kagawa: Who is going to be the enforcement officer if it
is complaint-based? If a complaint is made to the Department of Public Works or to
Department of Parks & Recreation that somebody is doing some wrongdoing that are
not complying with this ordinance, who is going to enforce that?
(Councilmember Chock was noted as present.)
Mr. Steinmetz: There is a two-phased process, and Lyle,
please add if I get this wrong. Typically what has happened is the first phase is the
Department of Public Works sends a letter to whoever is not in compliance, and that
letter says "you need to stop doing this." If they do not comply, then it goes to the
Police Department to actually issue a citation.
Mr. Tabata: That is correct.
Councilmember Kagawa: Do we need any fines or something that will
kind of help to get the letter to be a workable manner? If you do not have a fine, then
they are not going to listen, right? Do we have a fine or some type of teeth?
COUNCIL MEETING 74 APRIL 20, 2016
Mr. Tabata: We will have to look at that, yes.
Councilmember Kagawa: Okay, thank you. Thank you, Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Hooser and then
Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Hooser: With any new law that we have, I am
concerned about unintended consequences. We had a lot of vendors out there that
have been doing it for years, and I am just concerned that all of a sudden we are going
to pass a law, start fining people, tell them they cannot do it, make them get a permit,
and I do not want to do that. I understand the need for some regulation, but these
people that are selling akule, smoked meat, and flowers on the streets have been
doing it for a long time. I do not think we need to be heavy-handed at all. I
understand complaint-based, but that can also be used as a competitive tool. Could
you address that? How many people are going to be impacted by this that all of a
sudden they are going wake up, going to have to get a permit or face fines, and that
kind of thing?
Mr. Tabata: Primarily right now, a majority of those who
do roadside vending are doing it outside of the County right-of-way. The areas where
we do get complaints is where they are intruding into the right-of-way. So those that,
I believe you mentioned, we cannot prohibit the sale of akule, flowers, lei, and of
things because it is cultural thing and in the Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS). Those
are all protected under HRS; however, the reason for this was from the major
organized activities that needed to be controlled and we did not have a way to govern
anything happening in our right-of-way. Part of it is safety. KPD had some input
and concerns into this, too. To answer, the short answer is I believe that it would not
take away from vending that is happening traditionally because most of it is done
outside of the right-of-way, but those that are in the County right-of-way we get
reports right way, so we work with KPD to deal with them right now. Like Lee
mentioned, the process is we have to send a letter and go through this process of
notification.
Councilmember Hooser: Thank you. This sounds like it is almost
granting an exclusive license to manage Hanapepe and Kapa`a. You are going to
select one (1) vendor and they get to line up all their sub-vendors. Is there any
restrictions or any controls on that? Say I am a vendor and I want to set up in Kapa`a,
but I want to set up on my own and I have to work with this other master licensee.
Is that a month to month or annual contract? How does that work?
Mr. Steinmetz: In most cases, the groups that have been
coming or have been requesting this have been some type of business association,
such as the Kapa`a Business Association or the Hanapepe Economic Alliance that
represents the businesses within an area. They are looking at trying to create some
kind of event that highlights their place. The issue that they have had in doing this
COUNCIL MEETING 75 APRIL 20, 2016
is they want to put vendors in particular locations, they kind of have an idea of what
they want to do, and then all of a sudden a lot of other vendors come in and either
setup where someone else is supposed to set up or do whatever. So they are trying to
create some order for themselves in terms of how their events are organized or people
set up in places where they are not supposed to where it is not safe, and right now
they do not really have a way to be able to control that very well. Really what we are
trying to do is work with these associations to be able to better handle that. In the
case of...and most of these are non-profits. They are really looking at this again to
do some kind of event. If you look at the language, there is certain questions that
have to be asked about who is the organization that is actually sponsoring this? If it
is a for-profit group, for example, that what wanted to do this, then we would actually
have to look at bidding something out so that there is fair competition. It kind of
depends on who is actually organizing the event, how they want to do it, and are there
competitive groups that are trying to do the same thing.
Councilmember Hooser: Okay. My final question for now is County
roads accessing farming communities that are selling produce and fresh food from the
roadside stands there, does this impact those folks?
Mr. Tabata: Only if they intrude into the right-of-way.
Most of them are out of right-of-way. Typically, a right-of-way would be say sixty (60)
feet and we put our twenty (20) feet road in between, and then you have the shoulder.
Anything outside is not included. Primarily, a lot of the vending say in Kapa'a and
Hanapepe, if they are being done on private property, it is not part of this. It is only
if they use the road shoulder or a parking space in the County's right-of-way.
Councilmember Hooser: Okay. My final question is will there be
requirements for the permits? Is there going to be fee, insurance that you have to
provide, a bond, or you have to do whatever? I would imagine a certain amount of
liability for the County to issue a permit saying it is okay to operate your business
here and something bad happens. Will there be requirements that possibly might be
restricting the activity more than people are expecting?
Mr. Steinmetz: There would be insurance requirements.
Again, looking at the nonprofits, they are able to provide that insurance. What type
of agreement they want to make with their vendors, which a lot of them are mom and
pop vendors, high school groups that are coming out and fundraising, or whatever,
that would be between that organizer and the vendors to decide what requirements
they want to make.
Councilmember Hooser: A lunch wagon on the County road, would the
County put insurance requirements or other requirements on that lunch wagon?
Mr. Steinmetz: Yes, I think there would be an insurance
requirement, but again, we really have not seen that coming from individual vendors.
All of the lunch wagons for example, are all on private property. So we actually never
COUNCIL MEETING 76 APRIL 20, 2016
had a request for that to-date. There would be an application fee for the permit,
which we are setting at one hundred dollars ($100) just to have some money to be
able to process it and send it around to the different agencies. The permit itself, if it
is a nonprofit and it meets the requirements, there would not be a charge actually for
the use of the public right-of-way. The way it is set up is whoever is applying could
get it up to a year. If it is a recurring event like Hanapepe Art Night and Kapa'a
First Saturday, those organizers could get the permit for a year and not have to apply
every single week or every single month that they have that event. Again it is a
revocable permit. So if will are ever any issues that come up, safety or whatever, the
County has the right to revoke that permit.
Councilmember Hooser: Great. Thank you very much. Thank you,
Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I share some of the similar concerns and I
think as we work on this Bill, we have to make sure that all the different concerns
are addressed and it covers it. You talked about the lunch wagons and you do not
have an issue because no vendors have requested, but this Bill will spell out for future
requests, if they do request, correct? When you talked about the revocable nature of
it, it is granted at a year at a time and whether it be a large community association
or an individual, is that the same?
Mr. Steinmetz: Yes.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Is it a year-to-year revocable permit?
Mr. Steinmetz: Well, it can be up to a year. If someone is
having a one (1) time event where they want to use a street for a festival or whatever,
they could apply and just have it be for a one (1) time event.
Councilmember Kuali`i: If they had a monthly event, they can still get
the revocable permit for twelve (12) months at a time?
Mr. Steinmetz: Yes.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Not one (1) month at a time?
Mr. Steinmetz: Yes.
Councilmember Kuali`i: If they operated for three (3) months and by
the third month there seemed to be a lot of problems, you could revoke it immediately
and they could not operate the fourth month?
Mr. Steinmetz: Correct.
COUNCIL MEETING 77 APRIL 20, 2016
Councilmember Kuali`i: Or do you have to revoke it on the yearly
cycle?
Mr. Steinmetz: Correct.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Okay. That obviously all has to be addressed.
It does seem that you are just doing a blanket one hundred dollar ($100) fee, and so
it is more about the type of use and not the amount of use. I think the County should
consider the amount of use because I think there is a big difference between a small
operator and a large operator. If somebody is taking the whole town, that is different
from taking one (1) little corner where you park one (1) vehicle, right, but you will be
treating them exactly the same with the exact one hundred dollar ($100) fee. I am
wondering if that is even enough to take care of administration and enforcement.
Probably not. You would have to be handling that some other way in the Police
Department budget or in the Department of Planning budget. I do not know. Those
are all things that I would want to see worked out in this Bill.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any other questions?
Councilmember Kaneshiro.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: I just have a quick question on enforcement
that Councilmember Kagawa brought up. I just want a little bit more information on
it and it can be in the future. But say someone sets up shot at night next to a big
event. I am not sure how you folks are going to know what their mailing address is
to send them a warning. Does it take police to go and ask them a question or how
does that work?
Mr. Tabata: I believe, say if it is the Hanapepe Economic
Alliance, it is theirs to govern, they will say that we have having problems with this
vendor and then we are going to have to address that.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Again, I think they may not know what the
mailing address is either. How are you going to work that eventually?
Mr. Steinmetz: Are you talking about someone who comes to
an event that is not authorized to be at the event?
Councilmember Kaneshiro: Correct.
Mr. Steinmetz: What we are looking at doing, probably one (1)
of the conditions of approval, would be that the people who have signed up and are
registered to be vendors, would have some kind of certificate or something that they
have and could show. The first line would be for whoever the event organizer is to
try to tell people "I am sorry, but you cannot set up here. You were not authorized to
do this...blah blah blah." If that does not work, they could call KPD to come and
enforce it, and what KPD would be looking for is that certificate or whatever that
COUNCIL MEETING 78 APRIL 20, 2016
they have to require them to move. That is kind of what we are looking at, is trying
to get the event organizer to be the first phase of enforcement and then if that is not
working, KPD would be the backup. As part of this discussion, KPD wanted to make
sure there was some kind of condition added to the permit so that they would be able
to identify who is supposed to be there and who is not.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: Okay, because I thought earlier I heard that
we were going send certified letters to the people warning about them being an at
event that they are not supposed to be at, but then I was thinking how do we know
what their address is.
Mr. Steinmetz: That is a little bit different. That was for, the
example of the snuba vendor that is not related to an event and is just a vendor
coming and using public right-of-way where it creates a hazardous condition not
related to the event.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: Again, my logic would be the same. How do
you get the address from the person who set up shop in the parking lot especially if it
is after-hours? If police is going to do that or...
Mr. Tabata: For that snuba event, we went out there, got
the information, KPD helped us, and we issued the letters.
Councilmember Kagawa: Would KPD be playing a big part in the
enforcement?
Mr. Tabata: They have helped, yes, because they received
the initial complaints and came to us, and that also helped us create the ordinance.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Are you saying that the event coordinator or
organization behind the permit will have exclusive rights to figure out who they want
to participate or not participate, and therefore limiting who can be there and what
vendors can be there on that event night as well as a fee that they can collect from
these vendors?
Mr. Steinmetz: Yes. What we would be looking at from an
event organizer is we would want some kind of map of how they want to use the space
so we can understand what they are proposing to do and what the safety issues are
with that. Then it would be up to them to organize the vendors that they want to
come in however they want to do that. In terms of a fee, they can charge a registration
fee. They could say, "You need to be a member of our organization to participate."
They can and decide what they want to do, but they cannot rent out the public space.
It has to be a fee-based however they decide they want to do that. Then they can use
COUNCIL MEETING 79 APRIL 20, 2016
that money to help pay for restrooms, security guards, and whatever the other
requirements are.
Councilmember Chock: My concern is just not getting in the middle of
who can and who cannot between...I mean, competing organizations, for instance,
and public space. I just want to make sure we are not going down that road.
Mr. Steinmetz: Right. The intent is that the organizer would
need to get the support of the community and the businesses in terms of organizing
the event and what the event is. If we start hearing complaints, then we may not
issue the permit. We might say, "Hey, you folks have to go back and work this out
more because we are getting complaints about what you are proposing to do."
Council Chair Rapozo: We are coming up on the lunch hour. You are
saying that a person can come in and apply for a permit to utilize the County
right-of-way, right, and that organizer or whatever can charge a fee for others to
utilize it? Is that what this Bill allows?
Mr. Steinmetz: Again, they cannot charge a fee for use of the
public space. They can charge a fee to participate in whatever the event is so that
they can raise money to be able to pay for security guards to actually put on the event.
Council Chair Rapozo: Can they turn someone away off County
property?
Mr. Steinmetz: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Has the attorneys looked at this?
Mr. Steinmetz: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Did the attorneys say we can do that? I could
come out and get a permit for the parking lot here on County property and say, "No,
sorry. I am only going to let you folks pay me to use the County's space" whether you
call registration or whatever?
Mr. Steinmetz: For an event, yes. For example, when we have
Lights on Rice and the Kaua`i Museum gets a permit to use our parking lot, they
choose which vendors are going to come and use that parking lot.
Council Chair Rapozo: And they can charge?
Mr. Steinmetz: Yes.
COUNCIL MEETING 80 APRIL 20, 2016
Council Chair Rapozo: Wow. Okay, I will check with the attorneys
because seems kind of weird that somebody can profit off the use of the County, but
if they said alright, he said alright.
Mr. Steinmetz: One (1) of the questions as part of the
application is are a nonprofit or for-profit. If you do this as a for-profit thing, that
switches the permit that has to be something that is bid out and there is a competitive
bid process. It no longer becomes something...so really what we are looking at are
these kinds of community festivals that organizations are trying to sponsor to
highlight their community.
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes. I think the festivals, the nonprofits,
when they are doing...I do not think they turn anybody away unless they run out of
space. When you are talking about the town or whether it is First Friday or First
Saturdays, or those nights, those events are being done to generate profits, money,
not to celebrate a festival or an event. This is where people come on the County
right-of-way and private businesses are making money. I think that is where I am a
little concerned.
Mr. Steinmetz: The vendors are making money and that is
why they come. The organizer of the event is not making money because of the cost
of getting the security guards and all of the things that they have to do.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. With that, we are going to have to take
a lunch break because we have a public hearing at 1:30 p.m. that we have to have at
1:30 p.m. We will come back, and I am assuming there will be some public testimony
on this. We will come back, we will do the public hearing, we will finish up this item
and then we will do the Bed & Breakfast (B&B) Bill right after that. With that, we
will be back at 1:30 p.m.
There being no objections, the meeting recessed at 1:40 p.m.
The meeting reconvened at 3:49 p.m., and proceeded as follows:
(Councilmembers Hooser and Kagawa were noted as not present.)
Council Chair Rapozo: We are back at the vendor's bill.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Yes, Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2628) on page 4.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. I believe we were in discussion when
we broke for lunch. Oh, no, public testimony.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: We have one (1) registered speaker.
COUNCIL MEETING 81 APRIL 20, 2016
Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone here wishing to testify on the...I
appreciate your patience, ma'am. I saw you here from this morning. Thank you for
your patience.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
JUDITH PAGE: I am Judith Page. I am the President of the
Hanapepe Economic Alliance. I am going read a letter, but then I also have some
comments that came out of that whole discussion that you folks just had. The
Hanapepe Economic Alliance, its officers, and members, want to express our support
for the revocable permit process that will allow organization to manage vending on
County rights-of-way. Since 1997, the town of Hanapepe has hosted Friday Art Night
each week with galleries, shops, and restaurants open for business, and food and craft
vendors setting up on the street. This event is very popular with both local residents
and visitors to Kauai. Such an ordinance would allow us to improve our event for
the benefit of the many visitors who enjoy it each week, as well as to ensure its
integrity and allow to promote Kaua`i made products by local artisans, businesses,
and manufactures. The Hanapepe Economic Alliance urges the Council to adopt a
revocable permit ordinance for vending on the County's rights-of-way.
Now, I heard that whole discussion and they kept throwing our name around
as one of the people. I wanted to say something about us. We are a nonprofit. It is
an all-volunteer organization. It was organized in 1997. The first thing we did was
put up historical plaques on buildings around town that tell people about the history
of Hanapepe, and also the kiosks in the baggage areas at the airport are ours. We
built them, put them in, and keep them up. We have put on the Kaua`i Orchid and
Art Festival in collaboration where the Garden Island Orchid Society for ten (10)
years. We just put it on in April. We put our first Chocolate and Coffee Festival on
last October. Our second Chocolate and Coffee Festival will take place this October,
and we are working the Kaua`i Soto Zen Temple Zenshuji to collaborate an event as
part of their bon dance on July 22nd. Other than that, we pick up the trash and recycle
every Friday night, otherwise the town would be buried in garage. We landscape the
gateways and we pay for insurance. We only have partial membership, but we do
this for the benefit of the entire town and community. We organize television and
radio advertising campaigns on the visitor stations, and we do other marketing
campaigns.
(Councilmember Hooser was noted as present.)
Ms. Page: We have worked with the County of Kaua`i
and other groups to hold or host community meets and do surveys for them about how
we feel about things. We did a very elaborate thing with Lee Steinmetz and Michael,
whose last name I do not know, about the complete streets project for Hanapepe Road.
We have done a lot of that. In terms of this ordinance, we have already discussed
that we have not a clue as to how we would deal with it. We know that we are the
natural people to do it in town, we assume we are, and we plan to have a series of
COUNCIL MEETING 82 APRIL 20, 2016
meetings for community members, businesses, and all of the vendors who are
interested so that we can come up with criteria.
Council Chair Rapozo: Hang on right there. Is there anyone else
wishing to testify on this matter? You can come back for a second three (3) minutes
after we have Mr. Bernabe.
Ms. Page: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Let me just say it is not Matt
Bernabe's birthday today. I apologize. That is what happens when you trust
Facebook for your information of the day. It was erroneously posted on Facebook.
Mr. Bernabe: I do not believe that.
Council Chair Rapozo: I apologize, Matt.
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as present.)
Mr. Bernabe: Thank you for that clarification, Council
Chair Rapozo. Matt Bernabe, for the record. I would like to first point out the success
of these evenings. I have never been to a Hanapepe one; however, I have frequented
the Kapa'a First Saturday several times and have actually participated, and I will
get into that in a second. The fact that it has grown so big and that we have to
organize it is actually a success, right? It did not collapse because of lack of
participation. With that said, the Kapa'a First Saturday...my daughter is a fighter.
She fights. She holds the title and brings it back to Kaua`i. In the beginning, we used
to fundraise. We sold brownies and musubis. I have a bay leaf tree as a fundraiser.
We made several hundred dollars each time, which went to flying and supporting my
daughter, but it always came at first come first served basis, right?
(Councilmember Hooser was noted as not present.)
Mr. Bernabe: For example, we used to set up in front of
Pono Market. The Kubotas are good friends of mine and they let people on the
sidewalk. Maybe the discussion is do they have the right or do they not have the right
to dictate out in front of the sidewalk. That is another argument. I will say this, I
just recently called for my older daughter that had something to do with Kapa'a High
School. We were not able to use the spot because he already allocated it to some other
people. There is only so much room with so much space. No problem. Had we gone
earlier, he would have been able to "Yes. We do not have anybody in there." With all
of that said, that is hindsight. I support figuring out a system to make this legitimate
and safeguard the County as well, but also, let us keep it going and maybe the permit
has to be a little bit more. Maybe one hundred dollars ($100) is not enough for the
main umbrella, and that would justify charging the subtenants. I do not know. That
has to go through public hearing. I will say this, it is very fun. I like them. I like
COUNCIL MEETING 83 APRIL 20, 2016
First Saturdays. I do not go to all of them. Even when I am stuck in traffic driving
through it coming home from work, or motorcycle riding, or cut and trails, or
whatever I am doing on the north side, I actually enjoying seeing and being stuck in
the traffic. I do not see much negative. Kapa'a Town is dead when it is not the First
Saturday event. After a certain time, there is no traffic. Let us work on this and I
appreciate this coming up on the agenda.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Anyone else wishing to testify for
the first time? If not, ma'am.
Ms. Page: Okay. Judith Page. You should come to
Friday Art Night because it happens every Friday. It happened Christmas and New
Year's this year. I just want to reiterate that we really do want to work with the
community and the private landowners because we feel that some of them do not
know that they are setting up or their property. The landscape in Hanapepe is very
hodgepodgey and kind of crazy. It is hard to tell what belongs to whom. Even though
you are supposed to have written permission from the landowner, we know that is
not happening in every case. We thought that if we could organize this, we might be
able to smooth it out and make it safer and more pleasant for everyone. I do not think
we intend to turn anyone away, but we do want people to recognize that all of the
businesses in town that rent or stores play insurance, property tax, pay electricity,
use air conditioning, and they spend a lot of money. The people set up out front
especially if they do not pay in some way whatsoever are just riding on somebody
else's costs and that does not seem fair.
(Councilmember Hooser was noted as present.)
Ms. Page: I know we do not want to make any money.
What we want to do is cover the trash, recycling, and insurance and add to the
marketing and have some security. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Well said. Thank you.
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there discussion? Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: Thank you, Chair. I am glad to see that we
are trying to help these events have a little organization, order, and rules. My only
fear is that, Council Chair, we dealt with the artesian craft fair. When they
established a set time when they could use certain areas and I think the Department
of Parks & Recreation started opening it up. Then what you had was a similar case
where you have one (1) organizer hiring who they want and at the Council, we were
dealing with this fight between the vendors and the Department of Parks &
Recreation, and they are coming to us and telling us that the process was not a good
COUNCIL MEETING 84 APRIL 20, 2016
process. I know there is no set way of using county parks that is always going to
satisfy everyone, but again, my fear is that the public wants fairness when using
county facilities and trying to achieve that sometimes is the most difficult part
because in everybody's mind, fairness and practicality is not always the easiest to
achieve. Hopefully we can work on this Bill and if it is needs to be massaged in certain
areas, let us do it knowing that things such as the artesian fair has created a lot of
headache, grief, and complaints. In the three (3) years that I have been here, I have
been through some of these complaints numerous times, and it does not stop. So there
is always room for improvement with using these county facilities and trying to allow
community groups to fairly rent it out to people in a fair process. Thank you, Council
Chair Rapozo.
Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? Councilmember Hooser.
Councilmember Hooser: I know we are just starting this process right
now, so we have a long way to go. But hearing the discussion, I do not want to fail to
recognize and applaud those community groups who have taken the initiative over
the years, the people in Hanapepe and Kapa`a, Tahiti Fete, and there is a whole lot
of them. I believe that there a valuable asset to our local community, to local vendors,
local producers, as well as to the visitor industry. We should keep that in mind and
we need to regulate, but we also need to facilitate. Food trucks...I think it all adds to
the atmosphere. It is all small business entrepreneurship. We should keep our eye
on the facilitation aspect of the regulation as well. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. I was just talking to someone else the
other night about how successful art night has been in Hanapepe, and it is because
the merchants have come together to do all those things that need to be done to
promote the night, to organize, and make sure there is a good venue in the town for
it. That is something that is benefiting our businesses, our visitor industry, and our
communities, if done well. If this is something that will facilitate that, I think we
need to do that. I do not think this is the case of one (1) person for his or her profit is
using county property. This is a very different thing to have a community-based
organization that is nonprofit and exists for the purpose of supporting all of the
individual businesses in town. So to the extent that this will facilitate that, I think
this is a good Bill. As Councilmember Hooser pointed out, we are just at the
beginning, so will be a lot of opportunities for input and varied views to come forth.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: I just wanted to add that I am supportive of
this Bill being introduced at this point. I look forward to maybe further work on it.
My biggest concern is that whatever we create, it is a process and system of
inclusivity, whoever is running it, and leading it. I look forward to the strengthened
language moving forward.
COUNCIL MEETING 85 APRIL 20, 2016
Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? If not, I will just say, believe it
or not, I live in Kapa`a, but have not been to the Kapa'a First Saturday, but I have
been to the Hanapepe Art Night in the past. It is obviously a huge success. My
comments in no way were intended for the organized events in Kapa'a or Hanapep6,
but I get concerned. We will take the food trucks on Rice Street, for example. They
have their vending permits, but is that open to every food truck on the island or do
these people have the permit for all year so on every Thursday night, no one else gets
a shot? There is no nonprofit involved there, and I think that is what separates
Hanapepe. What I would like to see, as we move forward into community, I would
like to see the Department of Economic Development here as well in this discussion
because this is a true example of economic development in Hanapepe and Kapa`a, of
putting together events that benefit the local residents as well as the visitors and
provides economic opportunity for so many of the small businesses here on the island.
I would like to see the Department of Economic Development here for the discussion
as well because Councilmember Hooser used the word "facilitate," I think that is the
right term. The County needs to facilitate these events so that it is not a burden, but
the County is a partner. I am hoping that is what we can see. Maybe we can send
something over requesting the presence of the Department of Economic Development
when we have this at the Committee Meeting. Okay, with that, roll call.
The motion for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2628) as amended on first
reading, that it be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be scheduled
for May 18, 2016, and referred to the Public Works / Parks & Recreation
Committee was then put, and carried the following vote:
FOR PASSAGE: Chock, Hooser, Kagawa, Kaneshiro,
Kuali`i, Yukimura, Rapozo TOTAL — 7,
AGAINST PASSAGE: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0.
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. May 18th is the public hearing.
With that, next item.
BILL FOR SECOND READING:
Bill No. 2609 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 8,
KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO HOMESTAYS:
Councilmember Kagawa moved to receive Bill No. 2609 for the record, on second and
final reading, seconded by Councilmember Kuali`i.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Councilmember Yukimura.
COUNCIL MEETING 86 APRIL 20, 2016
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, Council Chair. I know that the
Committee recommended to move to receive, and I also know that based on comments
from around this table, there is an interest in seeing if it is possible to allow some of
the long-standing businesses that have, in good faith, had homestays for a very long
time to be able to continue as homestays. I have worked on an amendment and staff
has indicated to me that I may not be able to amend Bill No. 2619, which is the one
that we sent to Committee, which means I may need to use Bill No. 2609 for
consideration of my amendment, which does include prohibition of homestays outside
of the Visitor Destination Area (VDA). I have a rough draft of an amendment, but I
would prefer, because it is a tricky amendment...it has taken a lot of thought and
conferencing with the legal staff that we have. I would like to work on it further
before introducing it. The County Attorney is going to be reviewing staffs
recommendation that I cannot amend Bill No. 2619. I may be able to amend Bill
No. 2619, but in order to keep this vehicle that I might need, I want to ask that we
refer this Bill back to Committee on May 11th when the other Bill comes up so that
we can have both vehicles. I am not trying to prefer Bill No. 2609 over Bill No. 2619,
which is in Committee, but I am just trying to craft some very challenging
amendments that may need this other vehicle.
Council Chair Rapozo: Would that be a motion?
Councilmember Yukimura: Well, I think...let us see, does the motion to
refer has precedence over motion to receive?
Council Chair Rapozo: It did earlier today, so I am assuming it works
today.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay, excuse me.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: We do have registered speakers also.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. I just want to make sure that we have
the proper motion on the floor.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. If there are questions, I would like
to...well, you can still discuss a motion to refer.
Councilmember Yukimura moved to refer Bill No. 2609 to the May 11, 2016
Planning Committee Meeting, seconded by Councilmember Hooser.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: I have a question for the requester of the
referral. Is the amendment that you are working on related to grandfathering?
COUNCIL MEETING 87 APRIL 20, 2016
Councilmember Yukimura: No. I do not think grandfathering is an
appropriate context. The amendment is to create a class based on a rational basis
that is a legitimate class under the law. I believe that is allowed by the law and that
is what I am working on. I have actually created the wording, but it needs to be
reviewed.
Councilmember Kagawa: Can I ask another question?
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes.
Councilmember Kagawa: So you are working on an amendment to
create a specific class that would allow for the Planning Commission to review
applications for B&Bs outside of the VDA for homestays?
Councilmember Yukimura: For a very small number of people that have
been paying taxes since 2008, have applied for homestay, and things like that.
Councilmember Kagawa: But you said it is not about grandfathering.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, because grandfathering is, as classically
applied anyway, requires that the use was legal prior to being made illegal, and that
is not the circumstance we have here.
Councilmember Kagawa: I still do not understand.
Councilmember Yukimura: It is...
Councilmember Kagawa: I will accept the response.
Council Chair Rapozo: I do not want to get into the discussion of a
potential amendment because that is against the Sunshine Law. She is asking for a
referral to the Committee so can have that discussion at some point.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: I do not have a problem with that. I just do
not want to get into the discussion of a potential amendment.
Councilmember Kagawa: My apologies.
Council Chair Rapozo: No, I think the questions were legitimate.
Councilmember Yukimura: I do, too.
COUNCIL MEETING 88 APRIL 20, 2016
Council Chair Rapozo: The questions were legitimate.
Unfortunately, if the Sunshine Law allowed us, these questions could have been
resolved before today.
Councilmember Yukimura: Anyway, I think I described the general
approach, but I have not given out the details because they really need to be worked
out. So it was appropriate. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Any other questions of the
introducer or discussion before we move forward?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
Council Chair Rapozo: I think you have heard Councilmember
Yukimura's plan is to keep this Bill alive and to deal with an amendment that would
potentially assist those who have been in the B&B industry prior. I am not sure if
anybody wants to testify on that. Right now, the amendment is not on the floor. The
testimony should be directed to the Bill at-hand. With that, Mr. Bernabe.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Chair, we have registered speakers.
Council Chair Rapozo: I am sorry. We have registered speakers. I
apologize.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: The first registered speaker is Alexis Boilini,
followed by Bill Cowern.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. However you want to deal with this.
BILL COWERN: Bill Cowern. I think I will just wait until the
next hearing. That kind of throws a monkey wrench in the whole thing. I do think
it is important to address what Councilmember Yukimura is trying to address.
Thank you very much.
Council Chair Rapozo: Next speaker.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: The next speaker is Alexis Boilini, followed by
Lorna Hoff.
ALEXIS BOILINI: He is kind of right actually. Thank you,
Councilmember Yukimura. I am just going to refer to a couple of things...
Council Chair Rapozo: You just need to please state your name real
quick for the captioner.
Ms. Boilini: Alexis Boilini.
COUNCIL MEETING 89 APRIL 20, 2016
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you.
Ms. Boilini: The present Comprehensive Zoning
Ordinance (CZO) includes nine (9) pages of the chart of structures and uses that
require a permit and what permits are needed. Bed & Breakfast and homestays have
to this day, never been added to the uses requiring a use permit in the CZO on that
chart. Like the timeshares, the CZO had no provisions and still has no provision
completed to deal with homestays and Bed & Breakfasts, and that is why the Council
has been finally creating the standards and the permitting process, which was
promised in 2008 via Ordinance No. 864. The Council purposefully separated out
residents operated alternative accommodations in Ordinance No. 864 because as we
have heard, the Council was not worried about them at the time. All General Plans
from 1987 to 2005 have carried through the same language in their recommendations
and that was that the term "Bed & Breakfast facilities" must be defined in the CZO.
Under definitions in the CZO, next to the term "Bed & Breakfast," it says "see
Homestay, Transient Vacation Rental (TVR), single-family vacation rental, and
multi-family vacation rental." All four (4) cross-references have been defined later in
the section with the exception of the term Bed & Breakfast; that is because the CZO
and you, the Council, are just now developing provisions to deal with them. The
definition of the word "definition" is the act of defining or making something definite,
definitive, distinct, or clear, an explanation or meaning. Cross-reference, on the other
hand, is notation or direction to tell you where to go for more information, and that
is actually what is included right now in the CZO. Ultimately, the legislative body,
this Council, decides what zoning regulations and policies will be adopted and
followed by the community. I found that on page 3 of the Zoning Board of Appeals
handbook. The Deputy Planning Director stated last week on April 12, 2016 in the
Council Meeting that if the use changes, a permit must be applied for. Most of the
Bed & Breakfast and homestays scheduled for contested hearings have been in
continued lawful use for twenty (20) to thirty (30) years. Several have never been
used as a single-family dwelling, only Bed & Breakfast from day one. These uses
have never changed. The Deputy Planning Director stated on January 21, 2016 at a
Council Meeting that homestays and Bed & Breakfasts were instructed to cease and
desist during the intake process. The TVRs in 2008 followed the 1987 CZO, which
allowed a provisional certificate of use until the use permits were approved or denied
a permit, see Section 8.17-10(b) Non-Conforming Use Certificate for Single-Family
Rentals. Today, the CZO finally includes Transient Vacation Rentals, which defines
as transient as a person who rents or using a dwelling unit which is not the person's
primary residence under the Internal Revenue Service code. Suddenly this year, we
had the Planning Department trying to now say that Bed & Breakfasts...
Council Chair Rapozo: Hang on real quick. Is there anyone else
wishing to testify?
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: We have registered speakers.
COUNCIL MEETING 90 APRIL 20, 2016
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. No, I cannot let her go. She can come
back after everyone is done. Ms. Hoff, did you want to testify?
LORNA HOFF: Good afternoon. I am Lorna Hoff, and I am
representing John. He has been working on this all week, and you all have one now.
I just wanted it entered into the record. It is called "Permits and Grandfathering." I
do appreciate what Councilmember Yukimura is moving into. John is a historian and
he went back...he just has it here, the following is a short history as to the birth,
application, and lifespan of the use of grandfathering in the State of Hawai`i as well
as on the island of Kaua`i for the past forty-five (45) years. If you do not use this for
the B&B situation or whatever, I think what John has put together is extremely
helpful. It is kind of a go-to little book. It starts in 1971 and gives all the resolutions;
Resolution No. 66, 1972, Ordinance No. 164 in 1984, an update twelve (12)years later
Ordinance No. 466, and then on to 1987, Ordinance No. 753, the 2000 General Plan
Update, 2000 to 2005 Helber Hastert and Fee (HH&F), Kaua`i County
Comprehensive Zoning Update, 2006 to 2015 Kaua`i Tourism Strategic Plan, 2009
applications for TVRs started to be accepted, then back to 2008, Rule Development
Counsel, and that actually has a manual for residents, 2015, Ordinance No. 987 and
the 2016 to 2018 Kaua`i Tourism Plan Update. This is all in here. John has every
bit of information. He just gave you copies of where he took it from. It is everything
that is for it; the County Ordinances, Kaua`i County Code 1987 and you have
everything. It is just the front covers. So you can refer to all of this, but it is simplified
that it makes you understand where we have been going in our thoughts of lawful
continued operations. In closing, the records of these past forty-five (45) years, 1971
to 2016, reveals a pattern of lack of due diligence, not necessarily on the part of the
general public, residents, and business, but rather on elected and hired staff in the
realm of government accountability. That is not from John or I or anyone. That is
actually from the HH&F in 2005 and the HRDC in 2008. That is actually their
wording. It is not a reflection of what we feel. It is a reflection of what your own
government codes and county plans and policies have come up with. Thank you very
much. I am pleased to see you progressing with this and all the time you spent.
Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Matt.
Mr. Bernabe: Matt Bernabe, for the record. I would like to
start with I am a little concerned. I thought this was a Bill to prevent B&Bs to go
into residential areas, and I do not see that. I just see that it addresses agriculture
and open zoning because if you look at line 2, it says, "homestays located outside of
the Visitor Destination Area." I am assuming that we will be having B&Bs outside.
Now with that said, I am also concerned because at the top it talks about the
2000 General Plan and this is a mechanism to correct some of what happened from
that General Plan, that we are leaving ourselves up for lawsuits if we exclude some
of the open space people who designed their economic development plan for their
business around our General Plan moving here. With that said, I think we should
have a bill that restricts all commercial activity in a residential area, which would
COUNCIL MEETING 91 APRIL 20, 2016
take care of more than one (1) problem because I talked to the Department of
Planning, and they have a problem with other businesses that are in residential
areas, not just B&Bs.
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as not present.)
Mr. Bernabe: But that would solve that and it would take
away the prejudice from this issue. We would be able to address the B&Bs within
the residential area without being so biased. In our history, with us dealing with this
issue is not very good. Obviously, we are here. We are discussing it in the manner
that we are discussing it because we all have to admit that part of this problem is
how we as the County, I am not pointing fingers, but as we as the County have
navigated through this issue. I am also concerned with the language that says they
have to be there for the guests twenty-four hours/seven days a week (24/7) because
that forces them to be a full-time business.
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as present.)
Mr. Bernabe: This is no longer an offset of income. If you
are the farmer and you have thirty-five (35) acres, you need to be physically available.
If they are injured, you are now liable because you are not available because we are
making you earn a concern amount of money before we can put you? These are some
of the things look at some of the things that we are talking about here, or if you are
in the place that is not a farming area, now we have encourage you to expand your
business because you no longer can go and get a regular job. I think when you folks
huddle up, you folks better look at more than what you folks are planning on looking
at, and look at some of these issues and some of the things that I just said because I
think this is a better route. Let us make all commercial activities outlawed in
residential areas. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else wishing to testify for the first
time? If not, second time?
Ms. Boilini: Hi, Alexis Boilini again. Matt made a really
interesting point about the twenty-four hours/seven days a week (24/7) that I wanted
to mention, too. At least my Bed & Breakfast is a twenty-four hours/seven days a
week (24/7) business. I cannot imagine being expected to be at my place twenty-four
hours/seven days a week (24/7) all year-round. I mean, you all have to take vacations,
right? You should be able to have an employee that takes over for you as long as
somebody is there at night. My goodness. I have somebody there twenty-four
hours/seven days a week (24/7) unless they go to the farmers' market, which is
three (3) times a week. But I also go on vacation three (3) or four (4) times a year.
That is my business and I know you all go on vacation too. You go away from your
business. Anyway, I just wanted to continue with a couple of points. You have this
all written out, so I am just going to say in the same January 21st Council Meeting,
the County Attorney stated that "lawful" was the optimal word. In Section 8.17-10
COUNCIL MEETING 92 APRIL 20, 2016
in the 1987 CZO as well as many news articles, clearly explained what the criteria
for lawful is for this purpose, the purpose of these uses. The seven (7) to nine (9)
longstanding Bed & Breakfast and homestays who were never given the legal right
to go before the Planning Commission before being sent into the Hearings Officer
stage, are all lawful under the 1987 CZO, yet still finds that the Planning Department
changed their interpretation of "lawful" only in the cases of the longstanding
residential Bed & Breakfast and homestay operations. Is it legal to place a lawful
business in a purgatorial state without due process until a year after such a notice
with no prior notification or recognition of even the time limit of two hundred ten
(210) days? There is a limit of two hundred ten (210) days from the time your permit
is accepted until you are either denied or approved. If you are not within that period
or if they do not perform within that period, the owner would get an automatic
approval under the Rules and Regulations in Section 91. In the Zoning Department
Appeals Handbook Section 20, page 7, this is a quote I found, "Generally, if equally
convincing points are put forth by the zoning administrator and an individual affected
by the interpretation, fairness dictates that the person most affected by the
interpretation should prevail. In other words where two (2) interpretations are
reasonably equal, the benefit of the doubt should be given to the property owner
rather than the zoning administrator." My hope today is that you carefully think of
the unintended consequences of the actions that are happening today and that have
been happening for the last year and a half. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there anyone else wishing to
testify on this matter? You can come, yes.
Ms. Hoff: Hi Council, Lorna Hoff again. Due to both
John's and my health, we had a little kind of mix-up with our attorney involving him
thinking or whatever our application being pulled and now our application is back in
again. That went in front of the Commission the other day, which they allowed us to
be put back in again. Then, we are deferred for our hearing until November because
of problems with John. Mr. Dahilig mentioned to the Commission that it is kind of
like a third strike against us, and he mentioned that we were given a Notice of
Violation, then a cease and desist, and then a fine of ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
I think this is what upsets John and I, is we were never given the Notice of Violation,
ever. We were just given a cease and desist and they said...I took everything down.
It actually took me over a year to get my website and everything down. I do not know
even know where Yelp came from, but I finally got that off. False statements being
made to the Commission or someone is just what upsets me. I think that is what
upsets John, too. People are led to believe certain things and certain things did not
happen. I think we would feel better if everything was...it is a great world if
everybody tells the truth. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you.
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follow:
COUNCIL MEETING 93 APRIL 20, 2016
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any further discussion? The motion
is to refer this Bill back to the Committee May 11th, which is when the other Bill is
scheduled to be heard. I am troubled by the testimony that we just heard, and I am
not sure how we address that. I am assuming that...I do not know. No, it is not okay.
It is not okay. I think it is something had that we need to look into. I do not follow
the Planning Commission meetings on television, but I would assume that they have
minutes. We are already back in, but we will chat right after the meeting. I do want
to get some information. Anyway with that, is there any other discussion?
The motion to refer Bill No. 2609 to the May 11, 2016 Planning Committee
Meeting was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:1 (Councilmember Kagawa
voting no).
Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. That ends the official meeting
for today. We do have an Executive Session. Let us take fifteen (15) minutes and
report in Executive Session at 2:30 p.m. Hold on, BC. We have to actually get voted
into Executive Session. Clerk, can you read the Executive Session posting please?
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
ES-846 Pursuant to Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) Sections 92-4 and
92-5(a)(4), and Kaua`i County Charter Section 3.07(E), the Office of the County
Attorney, on behalf of the Council, requests an Executive Session with the Council to
provide the Council with a briefing regarding Puhi Metals Recycling Center issues
and related matters. This briefing and consultation involves the consideration of the
powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and/or liabilities of the Council and the
County as they relate to this agenda item.
Councilmember Chock moved to convene in Executive Session for ES-846,
seconded by Councilmember Yukimura.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion? Councilmember
Kane shiro.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: Just real quick. I will be recusing myself from
this Executive Session.
Council Chair Rapozo: Got it.
(Councilmember Kaneshiro was noted as recused.)
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any further discussion or public
testimony?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
COUNCIL MEETING 94 APRIL 20, 2016
Council Chair Rapozo: Seeing none, roll call.
The motion to convene in Executive Session for ES-846 was then put, and
carried by the following vote:
FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION: Chock, Hooser, Kagawa,
Kuali`i, Yukimura, Rapozo TOTAL — 6,
AGAINST EXECUTIVE SESSION: None TOTAL — 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: Kaneshiro TOTAL — 1.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Six (6) ayes, one (1) recused.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay, that concludes today's meeting, BC.
You can go. Thank you very much.
ADJOURNMENT.
There being no further business, the Council Meeting adjourned at 2:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
•
JAD' . FOUNTAIN-TANIGAWA
County Clerk
:aa
Attachment 1
(April 20, 2016)
FLOOR AMENDMENT
Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2628), Relating to Revocable Permits in County Designated
Rights-of-Way
Introduced by: ROSS KAGAWA
Amend Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2628) to correct technical typographical errors
as follows:
1) Amend Section 3 to read as follows:
"SECTION 3. Chapter 18, Article 1, [Section 2] Section 18-1.2 of the
Kaua`i County Code 1987, as amended, is hereby amended as follows:
"Sec. 18-1.2 Restricted Uses.
The County Council may, if it deems necessary for the purpose of
preserving the public health, safety and welfare, restrict the following uses of
any road, street and highway under its jurisdiction by prohibiting:
(a) Use of a loud speaker or sound amplifier for projection of sound
from any vehicle.
(b) Use by a commercial vehicle or by specific types of vehicles or by
vehicle weight, load or size.
(c) Use for commercial, business or other income motivated purpose
for private gain or charitable [purposes.] purposes, unless a revocable permit
is issued by the Finance Director and approved by the County Engineer
pursuant to Chapter 20, Article 5 of this code.
(d) Use for processions or assemblages.""
2) Amend Section 4 to read as follows:
"SECTION 4. Chapter 20, Article 5, [Section 2] Section 20-5.2 of the
Kauai County Code 1987, as amended, is hereby amended as follows:
"Sec. 20-5.2 Exceptions to Bidding Requirement.
The Finance Director may grant revocable permits approved by the
County Attorney as to form and legality, without calling for public
bids, when:
(a) The intended use does not conflict with use for immediate public
purposes; and
(b) There is no reasonable alternative other than the use of public
property; and
(c) The proposed use does not create a nuisance or unreasonably
affect public health or welfare; and
(d) There is no conflicting request for use of the particular public
[property; and] property.
1
[(e) The revocable permit shall be limited to a month-to-month basis
or less.]""
3) Amend Section 5 to read as follows:
"SECTION 5. Chapter 20, Article 5, [Section 3] Section 20-5.3 of the
Kaua`i County Code 1987, as amended, is hereby amended as follows:
"Sec. 20-5.3 Rental.
(a) For use by nonprofit organizations or governmental agencies for
public purposes, the rental shall be one dollar ($1.00) per month. "Nonprofit
organization" is defined to mean an association, corporation or other entity,
organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific,
literary, cultural, educational, recreational or other nonprofit purposes, no
part of the assets, income or earnings of which inures to the benefit of any
individual or member thereof.
(b) For use by others, the rental shall be the fair market rental
value as [jointly] established by the Finance Department [and the
Department of Public Works], or at the option of the user, the rental shall be
the fair market rental value as established by a disinterested appraiser paid
for by the user and approved by the Finance Department.
(c) Improvements to be made by the user that will benefit the
County after the permit expires may be considered in establishing the rent.
However, improvements constructed shall be at the risk of the user and no
damages or claims shall be payable to the user upon termination of the
permit. The user shall execute an agreement with the County specifying the
terms of the use of the property and any mitigation that may be required by
any of the County's agencies. For properties under the jurisdiction of the
Department of Public Works, the County Engineer shall also review and
approve the revocable permit.
(d) When bidding is not required pursuant to Chapter 20-5.2, a
rental fee shall not be assessed for properties designated as County public
rights-of-way.
(e) Each application for a revocable permit pursuant to this part
shall be assessed an application fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00), unless
the applicant is the County of Kaua`i.
(f) Revocable permits issued under this section shall not exceed a
period of one year.
(Material to be deleted is bracketed. New material to be added is underscored.)
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