HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/29/2021 Department of Public Works - Operating & CIP Department of Public Works- Operating& CIP
Honorable Bernard P. Carvalho, Jr.
Honorable Mason K. Chock
Honorable Felicia Cowden
Honorable Luke A. Evslin (via remote technology)
Honorable Bill DeCosta
Honorable KipuKai Kuali`i
Honorable Arryl Kaneshiro
The Committee reconvened on March 29, 2021 at 9:01 a.m., and proceeded as follows:
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Good morning, I would like to call to order the
Committee of the Whole and the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Departmental Budget Reviews. Let
the record reflect that we have a quorum.
On the schedule today, March 29, 2021, we have the Department of Public Works
operating budget, followed by CIP, if time permits. We have allocated today and a portion of
tomorrow for the Department of Public Works as this is a very large department and includes
their CIP budgets.
For today, we will be taking the Public Works Divisions in the following order:
Administration / Fiscal, Building, Engineering, Auto Maintenance, Highways & Roads,
Wastewater, Solid Waste, and finishing with CIP.
As we will do each morning, we will take public testimony at the beginning of the day.
Is there anyone wishing to testify this morning?
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:
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We have no one registered or signed up to speak
today. Right now, I would like to call upon Troy K. Tanigawa, Acting County Engineer, and
the Division Heads from the Department of Public Works to take us through the Department
of Public Works budget. Members, I ask that you please hold all questions until the end of
their presentation.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
MICHAEL A. DAHILIG, Managing Director(via remote technology): Councilmember,
this is Mike Dahilig, Managing Director. I just received a call. Sorry, he is just jumping on.
I will turn it over to the County Engineer.
TROY K. TANIGAWA, Acting County Engineer (via remote technology): Good
morning Councilmembers.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Good morning.
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Mr. Tanigawa: Can everyone hear me?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Yes.
Mr. Tanigawa: Thank you. Just to open up, we have all the
Division Heads here today, to answer or follow up on any questions that you may have. I will
open it up to any questions.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We received the budget synopsis on the front end.
Did we have any questions regarding the budget synopsis? If not, we can go into the
individual Divisions and if we have questions in that Division we can hold the questions until
we reach that Division. I know that there may be questions for Solid Waste or Highways—
we can wait until we get there and ask those. It is up the Members if there are any burning
questions that you would like to ask now. Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you, Troy. First of all, I want to say,
mahalo and gratitude for the important and foundational work that Public Works does—that
really is the bread and butter of the County—making sure the roads and everything are
working. I understand that when I am looking at our vacancies that we might have filled
one (1) of these positions, is that correct for Deputy County Engineer?
Mr. Tanigawa: Sorry, Councilmember Cowden, could you repeat
that question?
Councilmember Cowden: Yes. My understanding is that maybe we have
filled the position of Deputy County Engineer.
Mr. Tanigawa: Your voice is going in and out again, so I am just
going to confirm, did you ask about whether the Department has filled the Deputy County
Engineer position? Is that right?
Councilmember Cowden: Yes. I was hearing that we did.
Mr. Tanigawa: Yes. The position has been filled and we are
anticipating the individual to start in April.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. Can you hear me?
Mr. Tanigawa: Your voice went out again, I did not hear the part
before you said, "Can you hear me?"
Councilmember Cowden: That is all I said. That is exciting that we have a
new team member. When I look at what Public Works is doing, we have so many critical
engineering challenges in front of us. I do not know when we get to learn about our new
engineer, but I am asking at the front end of this question, because I am wondering where
they are going to focus. I see how much need we have in roads, bridges, our floodplain
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management, there are many areas of deep concern, so help me understand how we are going
to be able to move forward, because when we are looking at the vacancy report, we have a lot
of vacancies in Roads and a lot of vacancies in different areas, so every person is needed and
I am wondering what kind of leadership and what kind of experience they are bringing to the
table.
Mr. Tanigawa: First of all, the projects that you have mentioned,
we have engineers assigned to those particular areas, and right now we have some challenges
because of retirements, but we do plan to fill a key position in the Engineering Division who
will address regulatory issues. Stanford retired and was a very experienced engineer that
we will miss; however, we are in a process to fill that position with another engineer. We
have an interim Floodplain Manager who is currently filling needs in that position, but we
will have someone to train the new engineer once the position is filled, to continue to address
floodplain issues; one of those being the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) and any updates
to the Ordinance that will come about when the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) does more changes, similar to what we recently did, but also other regulatory issues
like stock piling permits, to pick up where we left off with Stanford. Other roads types of
projects that involved engineering will be assumed by the Engineering Division, as well. A
position in the Roads Division is being temporarily assigned to the Engineering Division to
accomplish that. So we are making adjustments acknowledging that as we fill positions, we
are going to be encountering challenges, because there are periods that we will be training
new people coming in, but our objective is to continue momentum with a lot of the good gains
that we have made and completed projects and will continue to do so.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. I am raising it respectfully. I would say
our island is almost in an engineering crisis, as highways are falling, bridges are falling, and
even our extraordinary Department of Transportation lead director was saying Hanapepe
Bridge is getting redone even as we are building it. Does our new person have an engineering
background? Is he an engineer?
Mr. Dahilig: Councilmember Cowden, this is Mike Dahilig. Let
me jump in,just because the position that is being talked about is an appointed position that
is exempt and prescribed by ordinance. The person that we are looking at for that position
is going to be focusing on more the personnel operations and labor management side of the
shop. The Public Works Department is roughly twice the size potentially of the Police
Department or the Fire Department, so if you can imagine the amount of personnel
management that needs to be handled within that department—that is what we are looking
at. The individual that we have an eye for has extensive experience in both collective
bargaining and labor relations, as well as an understanding of the operational side of
infrastructure given this person's past work with land management and infrastructure. So
this individual does not specifically have a professional engineering license, but it is has
never traditionally been a person with an engineering license that has been in that position.
At one point,there was actually an architect, as well as an attorney, who were Deputy County
Engineers in the past history of this, so it is not a requirement of the job. What we see this
position really filling is a lot of the things that engineers do not necessarily want to deal with,
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but yet are inherently necessary to run a close to eighty million dollar ($80,000,000)
operational shop.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, thank you. That is exactly what I was
asking and you answered my question. I just wanted to make sure where we are doing an
appointment that it is appropriate for the task at hand and if it is personnel management, it
sounds like it is a good match.
Mr. Dahilig: That would be the predominant on bulk. The
Mayor is really wanting to ensure that there is more hands-on conduit when it comes to a lot
of the blue-collar workers who are in our shop, given the size of the overall Public Works
apparatus.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i, then Councilmember
DeCosta.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Good morning, Mike and Troy. Thank you for
being here and for the work that you folks do. My question on the narrative, the third
paragraph on Solid Waste, you talk about an additional $847,300 is requested for the closure
of the Kekaha Landfill. Are you building up a fund, so when the time comes in June 2027,
all the money is there to do what you need to do? If that is the case, what is the total you
need, by when, and are we on schedule?
Mr. Dahilig: I am not sure if the County Engineer's camera is
frozen, but let me jump in here quickly. Councilmember Kuali`i, as you may recall from the
last Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) there was a finding relating to the
calculation of the actual moneys that were being put away for the closure and that the most
recent study needed to be used as a way to calculate the closure costs and there was a huge
delta that you are describing in your question, so is the root of that increase in the amount,
is that we, in fact, were not, according to the actual analysis, that we were not putting away
enough, so that is where you are seeing that increase based off of that finding from the
auditor. In terms of those specific amounts, I can turn it over to the engineer for that kind
of analysis.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Okay. Then, on page 8, the last part of the
narrative, you talked about the operational highlights, this one is also Solid Waste, the third
bullet is, completed Kekaha Landfill expansion of Cell II. So with that completion, the life of
the landfill is extended until when?
Mr. Tanigawa: The life of the landfill would be extended at that
point, seven (7) years. Expansion Cell II, added seven (7) years of capacity to Kekaha
Landfill. That capacity started being used in late 2019, so that leaves us roughly with about
six (6) years or five and a half(5.5) years of air space remaining.
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Councilmember Kuali`i: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Follow-up from Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: This is about the landfill.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Troy, you may have to mute your screen when we
are talking—it might be feedback. Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I believe it will be next week, unless the schedule
changes, we are going to have the Navy presenting to us on the Homeland Defense Radar,
which is going to be directly adjacent to the landfill. I would like to know what the cost is for
a new landfill, because when we talk to them—and I have already spoke with them about
this and I believe Director Dahilig, you were on the phone with at least one of these calls on
the meeting—they are going to put a twenty-five (25) foot concrete base that is very large, to
keep the inundation away from any of their equipment. So this is directly adjacent to the
landfill, so if we did have a big wave, that is going to flood all of that water onto our garbage
pile. So I am going to ask them to pay for a new landfill. It is a $1,900,000 piece, so even if
they can contribute...I have had about five (5)hours of conversation with them and they were
not dead set against it. They did not say, "No." They did not say, "Yes." You were on one of
the calls. If we have the kind of impact that almost $2,000,000,000 development happens in
that immediate space, I want to give them our wish list and the vulnerability to the landfill
is significant if we have a surge wave come, plus there is very significant demolition of
property around there and the construction of this size is likely to put things in our landfill.
They have not had a plan. Director Dahilig,you were on at least part of that one conversation
where they suggested they could perhaps put it on a ship and take it away to California or
something. But I think, if they end up being here, they need to partner in what that impact
would be, so I am asking for some sort of loose budget, so they have an idea, because I will be
asking them. Director Dahilig, I am sure you have talked to them more than the time that
you and I were talking to them together; do you have a sense relative to that impact on the
landfill?
Mr. Dahilig: Thank you, Councilmember Cowden, for the
question. At this point, they are still undergoing the environmental process that specifically
relates to the radar. We fully intend to go through the environmental process and provide
comment and those impacts in terms of what they may be to the area as well as the island
should be enumerated in any comments, including those that you would like to submit as
part of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) scoping process. At this point, if it is
an actual specific cost for an overall landfill, we have those in hand, in terms of what it costs
to put together a new landfill, so they can give you those costs just as a barometer for how
much it would cost to construct something like that. However, in terms of an actual exaction
or impact fee, we have not gone through the process of actually looking at what we would ask
from the United States (U.S.) military if they were to site the radar there. It is clear, that in
the previous conversations you and I have had with military officials that they are amenable
to discussing how they can mitigate impacts. I think if we can put anything together that is
reasonable for their evaluation, it would be something as a package that we would like to be
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hand-in-hand with the Council on, in terms of articulating what those impacts are. So I think
anything is on the table and we can certainly get you some background information in terms
of what it costs to actually put together a landfill.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, because it looks like...I have been following
all of their communication and this is their number one choice and it looks like at first they
were getting funded, now it is looking like they very well might be funded. So when they are
making a decision that they consider what those impacts are, because when you look at how
big and how heavy those pieces of equipment are going to be going over the bridges from
wherever they bring it in, which I would assume is Nawiliwili, it is likely to have a serious
impact on our infrastructure and I know that our Department of Transportation said they
felt that the Hanapepe Bridge would be able to handle the load, but we are seeing that the
Hanapepe Bridge has been behind schedule and we do not know where else we might be
having problems. So, if we are going to entertain this, I want us to benefit, rather than have
extra crumbling infrastructure and anticipated problems that are not agreed on ahead of
time. So I believe that will be next Wednesday and I want to be able to give them a thorough
understanding of what our bridge and road situations are, because if we need to design to be
prepared to bring all of this stuff in, now is the time, not two (2) or three (3) years from now.
Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you, Council Chair. Good morning, Mike,
Troy, and everyone. I have a few...maybe more of an explanation of the scenarios here and
then, one (1) question for Troy to clarify. First of all, with the Solid Waste, Mike, this might
be for you, do we have a confirmation on the vertical expansion? We are in the plans to do
that, am I correct?
Mr. Dahilig: That would be part of the CIP budget.
Councilmember DeCosta: So we are going to do the vertical expansion that
is going to buy our landfill in some lifetime, am I correct?
Mr. Dahilig: Based on preliminary estimates it seems like that
will add on an additional four (4) years, roughly.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay.
Mr. Dahilig: If we go vertical. We already started doing
community sounding and some discussions with the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF)
leadership on that, but we believe it will buy us some buffer room, given that the pace of
negotiations for Ma`alo has not quite materialized to...at least with the landowner to get that
authorization, so we would make it prudent for us to make sure that we build in some buffer
and that is where the vertical expansion would come in. Sorry, I am a little winded on that
one.
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Councilmember De Costa: That is all I wanted to know, just a simple "yes"
question, if we are going to do a vertical expansion. The PMRF base is okay with the vertical
expansion with their idea of doing this new radar system out there?
Mr. Dahilig: We did not contact the commander. At this time
the leadership has not raised any concerns with that proposal.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay. Now, back to Councilmember Cowden, you
were saying that this PMRF is a done deal, they are going to do it, because I heard the
community has a lot of say in this and the community has opposition, so I feel like we are
negotiating with the base and our community does not want that radar system out there, so
I think we should hear from our community first, right?
Councilmember Cowden: Of course we should. Early last fall, I was
bringing up to them all of the challenges that would be faced in the community from housing,
roads, landfill, and left-hand turn lanes and stop lights; bringing all of that up is part of what
their scoping and awareness should be and when they did this project, if they were to be here,
what their impacts would be, because it is not easy for me to get excited about that
implementation.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you. I know we have a lot of satellite
technology today, so it might actually change and we are not sure if we are going to actually
have this being built at the PMRF base. Troy, one thing I wanted to ask you, I believe we
are moving an engineer from Roads into Administration and I believe that position would be
under you, am I correct, Troy? Troy, that position would be under your governance, correct?
Mr. Tanigawa: That is correct.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay. This position would be well used
throughout the County with different services and projects and infrastructure, not only in
Roads, but for all of the Divisions under Public Works, correct?
Mr. Tanigawa: That is correct.
Councilmember DeCosta: So our new Deputy County Engineer will be in
good hands considering that we have a new position in the Administration who can oversee
many of the engineering projects, correct?
Mr. Tanigawa: The planning stages is assurance that we have all
of our engineering needs covered.
Councilmember DeCosta: Perfect. Let us not forget, that the common
worker, Labor I, Labor II, and Labor III, has an impact in how we do our engineering. The
engineers do most of the paperwork and the plans, they come out to the jobsite, but it is a
team effort among all of our employees to get the job done safely, correctly, and I believe we
are in good hands. Thank you very much.
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Committee Chair Kaneshiro: I had a follow-up on the position moves. I just
wanted a little background, there is some consideration when we move positions from a
General Excise Tax (GET) or Highway Fund to the General Fund, then the position ends up
being paid General Fund. Obviously, there is a balance if you move a position from the
General Excise Tax Fund or Highway Fund to the General Fund, then it opens up more
money to be spent on roads, but did you folks think about that consideration? I know
sometimes we want to push everything into the Highway Fund and General Fund because
those are specific funds that we get money for;we get highway money, we get General Excise
Tax money, and in this case we are moving positions back to the General Fund, but I can
understand if that position is going to have a wider overview over not only General Fund
items, but Highway and GET Fund items. Can you give me a background on moving the
position out of funds that we get paid like the General Excise Tax?
Mr. Tanigawa: When positions do duties in other areas that are
not particularly involved with Highways, we have different funding mechanisms that can
contribute. In Public Works, a lot of the work that we are looking at this coming Fiscal Year
would involve Highways and Roads, so at least the projection for now is that position will be
doing primarily that work to make sure we keep our momentum with CIP projects, as well
as the GET Fund expenditures.
Mr. Dahilig: Specifically, Position 826...we can confirm that
based on your discussion, it is being moved from a 201 Fund to the General Fund. That
concern on liability, based on what we are looking at for the May 8th submittal, if a split-fund
scenario makes sense, we can definitely relook at that funding mechanism, rather than it be
fully-funded by the General Fund, if that is what you are suggesting.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Yes. If we are able to put it in the General
Fund...I am sure that in our Engineering Division, they keep track of the time that they
spend on Highway Fund projects, or G.E. Tax Fund projects, and then we end up billing it
back to the specific fund. I just want to make sure that we are aware of where the time is
being spent. Obviously the G.E. Tax Fund is a large fund that we want to put as much costs
into. We have that money. I can see, and I have heard in the past, when you put a position
just in the Roads Division, you want them to do a little bit more, but they are handcuffed by
the fund that they are in. If you want them to do work for the entire Department, it becomes
more difficult. I see the rationale for it. Councilmember Carvalho.
Councilmember Carvalho: Regarding the landfill, the Ma'alo location, and
Mike, I know you mentioned there are still some issues. I just want to clarify that that is
still a location, because we have this seven-year period...what are the plans and is the Ma'alo
location being worked on? Are we working with the landowner or the State to continue
discussions? I just wanted to get an update on that specific location. That is what was
supposed to be the overall plan.
Mr. Dahilig: Just to confirm where we are with two specific
critical path items to have the Ma'alo Landfill move forward...there is again the agreements
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with the Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC), as well as the Board of Land and
Natural Resources (BLNR) that we still need to resolve. That willing landowner and the
relinquishing of the Executive Order on the property is what we need to pursue with both of
those State agencies. The second is the proximity to the Lihu`e Airport. It is within the
radius that poses concerns with the aviation authorities at the State and Federal levels.
Until we can get assurances from them that they will not hold up the permitting process
based off of their needs to safely maintain operations at the Lihu`e Airport, that as well as
the willing landowner item are the two (2) critical path items we are still resolving at this
point in time.
Councilmember Carvalho: So discussions are forthcoming with that, right?
Mr. Dahilig: I would say they are ongoing.
Councilmember Carvalho: A follow-up to the transfer of positions, knowing
how important that is as we continue to provide the resources that are needed within each
department/division, specifically the purpose of the transferring of the position...I see it here
in your synopsis, Troy...the right-of-way issues, the policies and protocol for projects...I think
that is very important. Could I get clarification on what those positions will look into? As
we move forward, you and I know that there are critical areas within the whole Department
of Public Works, Engineering Division specifically, that needs additional support. Perhaps
you need even more support in certain areas as we are discussing some of the critical areas
such as roads, right-of-ways, et cetera. I just wanted more clarification on that position.
Mr. Tanigawa: For the transferred positions, we have priority
projects that need to be done. This includes bridge repairs, bridge replacements, road
resurfacing, road reconstruction, road improvement projects, et cetera. An example would
be the project coming up for Kawaihau Road, the "peanutabout." Those projects have more
development requirements than others. Our federal aid projects are more complex because
they have a different format for development that needs to be followed to ensure that we
qualify for federal funding. The list of prerequisites before you can even get funds obligated
is more extensive for these federal aid projects. Our various projects have different
timeframes and different requirements that they will follow. We will make assignments to
consider the experience and training level that our engineers and our project managers have.
We in the administrative levels will support those personnel to make sure that they get what
they need to get the projects done. That is pretty much all we can do. We have vacant
positions that we need to hire engineers into. If we do not fill them, then there are only so
many projects that we can do at a time. When we have a shortage of personnel we will look
at the different projects, prioritize, and get those high-priority projects developed, procured,
and constructed. Some of the projects that are lower priority may end up falling by the
wayside. I hope that answers your question.
Councilmember Carvalho: Yes it does. I just want to clarify that those
projects are moving forward, but that you just need additional staff to get them done?
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Mr. Tanigawa: Our objective is to move projects. We do need
positions filled. That involves competing with the private sector. The private sector has
taken away some good personnel that we had in engineering positions. There is a challenge
there. There are different ways that we can overcome those challenges such as working with
our Department of Human Resources and Administration. We will continue to try and
overcome those hurdles.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: With G.E. tax and the increase of moneys we are
receiving with that, I just want to be sure that we have the positions available, that we are
prepping for enough manpower to spend down those moneys, et cetera. In the past, it is a lot
more moneys than we have had in the past. In the past we would spend two million dollars
($2,000,000) every two (2) years. Now we are looking at seventeen million dollars
($17,000,000) in road projects this year. We are moving projects out of the Highway Fund. I
just want to be sure that that Division and the projects are not going to be affected by any of
these positions moves. I hope that the County is going to benefit by the position moves and
that the projects are going to get completed. The question when passing the G.E. tax was
whether we have the capacity to actually complete all of these projects. I want to hear the
Administration's commitment that these position moves are not going to affect us being able
to move these projects along.
Mr. Dahilig: Yes, that is our goal. We understand that the
money that is coming in based off of an increased tax to everyone across-the-board given that
it is a general excise scenario. We need to make adjustments to spend that money timely and
responsibly. What is clear is that the old structure was not conducive to getting those projects
out. We have had to essentially play "catch-up" in being able to push personnel here and
there to make up the human resources gap. Some of these moves are being made to better
optimize that oversight and management of these projects. That is our commitment. It is
the Mayor's goal to make sure that we are spending these moneys annually and on a timely
basis with the best value to the taxpayers. That is what we attempting to do with this
structural optimization.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: I am also concerned about the landfill. From start
to finish, a new landfill will take about eight (8)years, which is what I believe you told us. Is
that a correct number?
Mr. Dahilig: Based off of previous environmental critical paths,
including permitting and construction, yes, roughly about eight (8) years.
Councilmember DeCosta: We have approximately seven (7) years left on our
landfill with vertical expansion. Am I correct?
Mr. Dahilig: Based off of Troy's previous comments, that is
correct.
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Councilmember DeCosta: If I do the math, after seven (7) years, we have
one (1) year to move into this new landfill area. I believe the ongoing talks with the airports
and the Federal government needs to solidify a decision soon. If we go another three (3) to
seven (7) years on ongoing discussions, we may not have a landfill sited and in place.
Mr. Dahilig: That is exactly what we are attempting to buy
time on with his vertical expansion. We want to make sure that we are not caught in that
scenario in year seven. We have been pushing both of those items towards resolution. They
are critical path items. If we do not have the buy-in from the landlord, which is the State, to
give us the property, or we have a federal preemption issue with aviation interference types
of situations, then the site becomes untenable. We are going to move at the clip that we can
so that we do not lose ground on the critical path timeline.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you for that. From moving the Chief of
Field Operations over to Administration, we also have an assistant Civil Engineer position
that we are moving also. Could you clarify a little bit about that? How will that person play
a role in some of the project management that is going to be happening.
Mr. Tanigawa: I just wanted to do a quick update to the
timeframe that we were talking about regarding the Kekaha Landfill, then I will go to the
next question. The vertical expansion will give us roughly an additional four (4) years,
possibly a few months more. That, coupled with our existing airspace capacity,we are looking
at a little more than nine (9) years of remaining airspace once we get the vertical expansion
approved. As far as your next question, sorry, can you repeat that again?
Councilmember DeCosta: We are moving an assistant engineering position
over to a project management position. With the large funding and projects we have coming
up in the pipeline, I was wondering if you could clarify how that person would be allocated to
those job responsibilities.
Mr. Tanigawa: The two (2) movements from the Roads Division
involved an Engineer VI position that went to the Engineering Division. Under the
Engineering Division's guidance and direction, we will work to fill that position. Once that
staff comes onboard, that staff will assume various projects, including the road resurfacing
projects. The other position moved from the Roads Division was the Division Chief position.
That position came to the Administration Division. We are looking to fill that position,
hopefully with an engineer, that will fill a higher-level decision-making person on the road
resurfacing projects. One thing that was not adhered to as much as it should have was the
updated design standards for our roadways. This involves striping, resurfacing, and
reconstructing of certain roadways and improvements. This position will function at a higher
level so that there is coordination with the Engineering Division and with our road
maintenance needs to ensure that our repaved and resurfaced roads are updated to include
the drainage improvements, striping improvements, shoulder widening, curb and gutters,
crossing areas with rapid flashing beacons, et cetera. Basically, we should be using updated
technologies to make our roads safer and more usable by varying modes of transportation.
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Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you for that clarification. I wanted to make
sure that I follow up on these curb and gutters. That is concrete work, am I correct?
Mr. Tanigawa: Correct.
Councilmember DeCosta: We are looking at short funding the Bridge
Maintenance Worker I, who plays a key role in some of the concrete projects. Am I correct?
Mr. Tanigawa: Bridge Maintenance Worker I...we have been
cleared to fill that position. We are working on it as we speak to complete the recruitment
process and the remainder of interviews and rankings to fill that position.
Councilmember DeCosta: Perfect. At first, we were told that it was going to
be dollar-funded or short-funded. Discussing this with Mike Dahilig, I felt it was important
to give our construction crews the manpower they need. It goes to show how our
Administration works with our Council and people to make things happen. Thank you very
much.
Mr. Dahilig: Sure thing.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any additional questions? If not,we can
go through the actual detailed budget. We can still ask questions regarding that particular
division. If not, we will go through the Administration budget. This begins on page 178. I
believe a lot of our questions were already answered. The Administration budget mostly has
the moved positions in it. We have already addressed those. Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: I am looking at the information and it appears
that there was a drop in Regular Salaries from 2018-2020. That is impressive. I am hoping
that we are saving some money somehow. Would you like to chime in on that? It seems like
we are saving close to fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000).
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: What page are you looking at?
Councilmember DeCosta: 178.
Councilmember Cowden: It looks like it actually goes up.
Councilmember DeCosta: I was only looking at the first three (3) years. In
2020 it drops down. In 2021 it was even further down. In 2022, it went back up.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: In 2022, the salaries went up because of the
positions moved into Administration.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay, I got that. Thank you.
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Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any additional questions on the
Administration budget? If not, we can move to Fiscal. Page 181. It is basically only salaries.
Are there any questions related to Fiscal's budget? It did not move. Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: When we dollar-fund our Workers' Compensation
and our Unemployment, where is that made up? We pay for it out of unexpended budget
from other line items. Scott answered the question, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Next, we have the Engineering Division. Sorry,
Building is on page 187. Are there any questions for the Building Division? The Building
budget is basically the same. We will go to the Engineering Division which is on page 183.
Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: This has probably already been answered, but I
am trying to get a look at how many of our engineering positions are filled and how many are
still vacant.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: There are three (3) vacancies right now. Position
numbers 1434, Engineer II, 1061, Engineer VI, and 1426, Engineer III.
Councilmember Cowden: Are we having a hard time getting those filled? Is
that correct? We were just learning that unsurprisingly, the private sector was picking up
most of these positions?
Mr. Tanigawa: That is correct. One high note is that the recent
recruitment, we were able to get a number of new applicants. We are in the process of
transferring lists to our Divisions and they can start the interview process.
Councilmember Cowden: Are most of our new applicants coming from
somewhere else, or are they our own people graduating? Where is the sourcing from? Are
there any from on-island?
Mr. Tanigawa: There is a mix. We have not had on-island
representation among recruits.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Carvalho.
Councilmember Carvalho: This is for the $75,000 for the Grant-In-Aid
program. I am just trying to remember what that was for? Sorry, I went back to the
beginning. That is on page 145. I went backwards.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: That is on page 179 for the bottom page numbers.
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Mr. Dahilig: That is for the soil conservation grant that is given
annually.
Councilmember Carvalho: That is the same grant, got it.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We can go back to page 184. Are there any final
questions for the Engineering Division? Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: For Position 1426, Civil Engineer III, on the
budgeted amount, it is showing $54,096, is that partial funding? Is this position paid by the
Highway Fund? No, I am sorry, if it is in here, it is General Fund. Please explain to me if it
is shared budgeting or what is going on with that.
Mr. Dahilig: Position 1426 was originally a Civil Engineer VI
position. That was budgeted in last year's budget at $112,650 so it has been downgraded.
The SR rating has been downgraded, but the position number remains the same. That is
why you are seeing it at that budgeted amount. That is the entry step for an engineer at that
level.
Councilmember Kuali`i: So the $54,096 is the full salary for the Civil
Engineer III level.
Mr. Dahilig: That is correct.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any additional questions for the
Engineering Division. If not, we will move on to Auto Maintenance. Blue tab, Auto
Maintenance.
Councilmember Carvalho: Page 273.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: Troy, are you handling the Auto Maintenance
questions, or is your Superintendent going to be answering them.
Mr. Tanigawa: We have Mike Tresler,who has been working with
the Auto Maintenance, as well as Russell Izumo for more technical questions.
Councilmember DeCosta: I notice we have almost eight (8) positions that we
have not filled in our Auto Maintenance Division. We know that maintenance of our
equipment and vehicles are key to our success. When those vehicles or equipment shut down
or break down, it has an effect on overtime. Are we planning on filling those positions? When
do we plan on filling those positions? Do we have the same problem as the Engineering
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Division in getting qualified people in the position with the qualified certificates to do the
job?
MICHAEL H. TRESLER, Acting Deputy County Engineer (via remote technology):
Was that question directed to me or Mike Dahilig?
Councilmember DeCosta: I do not think you have the control over hiring. It
is probably for Mike Dahilig. It is Mike Tresler, sorry. I know it makes your job and Russell's
job difficult if we have vacancies. Are we planning on filling those positions?
Mr. Tresler: Yes,we are planning to fill the positions. We were
granted approval to continue recruitment. We obtained the list for both auto mechanics and
for the heavy equipment mechanics. This position was vacated by a retirement and we waited
until we filled the Superintendent position. The position is now filled and he is doing very
well. We are moving on filling those positions. It is critical that we fill those positions so
that we can function. The Auto Shop is challenged with the continued growth of our fleet
over a number of years. The little or no growth in positions and resources there have been
difficult. We have implemented a training program. Russell is an excellent mechanic. He is
very good at the electronic side of things and diagnosing, especially our newer equipment,
where electronics play a bigger part of our operations. Our tractors and other equipment all
have this electronic feature. We are going through the necessary training now. He is helping
with the professional development of our current heavy equipment mechanics. That is the
update for the Auto Shop. We are definitely going to fill those positions. We have a very
hard time filling the Working Supervisor for the heavy equipment side of the shop. We have
had a number of people step-up from the floor to that position, and in all cases, they ended
up going back down or transferring out of the Division. We learned that there is someone
capable, who is interested, so we are going to go out again for that list again. We just did put
it out, but that one came back with no responses. I think we will get all the positions filled.
I think we dollar-funded the Machinist position, because now days, most of the parts are
manufactured. There is still a need for us to machine tools and we have a couple of employees
who has those skills. That position is dollar-funded. I thought that position was going to be
"T-funded" because that position needs to be temporarily assigned as well to do that work.
The other welder that are trying to hire...we are actually trying to come up with a hybrid
position so that we it can be more functional and not just focus only on welding. We want to
create a hybrid position with welding being a majority of that job. That position can function
to assist in other areas of the Auto Shop. That is the plan going forward.
Councilmember DeCosta: I wanted to ask you something. A light bulb went
on in my head. This hybrid welder position—great idea. Can we incorporate some of the
machinist skill-based level into that hybrid position? Then we can collaborate and get that
position filled, because I think that is an important one. I also want to tell you, Mr. Tresler,
I have heard good things about our automotive shop, with Russell and those below him. It is
not only done by Russell, but he is doing an excellent job. I want to thank you for the many
hats and roles that you have played. You have stepped up to the plate. I do not know if we
properly compensated you, but I know a "thank you" means a lot. Thank you for what you
have done. I would like to know about those positions in the mechanic shop. I know it is a
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little hard when people step up and then step down. The correct support system we give that
person when they step up is crucial, so they do not feel overworked or overburdened with
responsibilities—the family, the support system, all working together to support that person
when they take that position. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I just have a couple questions regarding the
amount of workspace. I know our Lihu`e Baseyard for doing mechanic work has remained the
same for probably at least three, if not four decades. Is that correct?
Mr. Tresler: Yes, that is correct. Either last year or the year
before, I think it was even a CIP item that we were looking to acquire land or to expand or
find another area to relocate, but that was a big "wish list" item. Yes, it is true that we do
not have the space, because the mechanics need the areas to safely conduct their work, so
that is a challenge. We are trying to take a holistic approach and particularly the Mayor has
made it one of his policies that we need to maintain our equipment better. It starts with our
employees who utilize the equipment, to utilize it properly, do all the preventative
maintenance steps in their pre-trip, post-trip, follow-up, and treat their equipment like it is
their own, because it belongs to the public. We have made some headway there, but we need
to do a lot better because we need to eliminate avoidable accidents and damage to the
equipment. Accidents happen. That is why they are called accidents, but if we can do that, it
will reduce the pressure on the auto shop as well. Morale is a lot better there now, but when
you get a constant deluge of solid waste equipment in the shop, it is no fun for them. I have
been doing it for a number of years now and it has not let up, so we are really trying to work
with our other divisions so that we take much better care of equipment, we take necessary
disciplinary actions when equipment is damage—we are doing a better job that way. We will
see once we get fully staffed again and see how efficient we can be and hopefully reduce some
of their work and then be more aggressive on our current maintenance, which Russell has a
plan for. I think we should see a better impact. I do not know what the future holds as well
as adding additional stalls for the work base there, but at some point in time in the future,
we are going to have to get that addressed.
Councilmember Cowden: How about the Kapa'a Baseyard? It seems like
that is pretty big and that does not seem densely used. Is that an area where we can move
some of this? I know it costs money to move things, but when you are talking about getting
new space, maybe that space...I see some of our heavy equipment over there. It looks like it
is just parked. Do we do any repair work there or is it just parked there?
Mr. Tresler: You raise a good question. We go out and do
repair things in the field where they can be diagnosed and repaired out there. That is our
preference. We could possible look at that. We have a paint booth out there that we use for
that. Part of our landfill staffing, we had a couple mechanics that were slated to take care of
the landfill equipment and when they were not working on that, they could also work on some
of the solid waste equipment, so that was part of a solution that could be followed through on
and add in mechanics and they have some space there. They could take care of the landfill
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equipment and more solid waste equipment. It is pretty far out in Kekaha, but that was one
part of the solution and then Iguess we could look at the Kapa'a Base and as an expansion
p Baseyard
for equipment. Then you spread out the supervision of these different areas, so that
becomes a challenge, but I think if that is what is available, then that could be solutions for
base space.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you for the little discussion on that. I agree
if the landfill and solid waste equipment was able to be addressed in Kekaha that right there
at the landfill that that might make good sense. I know they were doing some. Thank you. I
just wanted to make sure that when we crowd our people because there is not enough room,
it might be part of our retention problem for our morale problem if there is not enough space.
Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: My question is somewhat related to what
Councilmember Cowden just talked about. On page 274, the line item R&M Building
significantly increased to $66,000 and you have a $60,000 line item for "Rust Abatement."
When I was a teenager, I had a summer employment job at the repair shop here in Lihu`e, so
it is easily over fifty(50) years old. Is this a one-time thing or are we having to plan to make
money available to extend the life of that repair shop? Can you tell us a little bit more about
what this $60,000 would do and how long will it last and if we have to do other investments
to make that asset last longer, because as you were saying, the "wish list" is to find more
land. That is probably a few years out.
Mr. Tresler: That "Rust Abatement" is a follow-up from an
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspection that we received. We
took care of the other identified weaknesses that OSHA pointed out. This other one was a
part of that, but the person was nice to us not to fine us for that portion. That should extend
a good five (5) years of life for the auto mechanic side of the building. I would hope for longer.
I am sure there are going to be more maintenance required in the metal structure of things
in the future. That is part of our maintenance that is also doing things that we need to correct
to maintain a safe working environment for our mechanics. We just completed adding a
mezzanine at the auto shop to give us more storage space for tires and so forth, so that will
free up some yard space for us. That is going to be very helpful. We need to resolve a forklift
situation, but I am sure we will get that managed. We are going to have continuing
maintenance issues there. Fortunately, we have some skill levels in-house that could help
address the other issues. I think we will be good for a little while and it is like an annual
inspection and then we need to make sure we stay on top of the buildings and probably the
next thing that was identified was the repainting of the buildings to keep them in good,
working order. I hope that answered your question.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Yes, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions from the
Members? I have a question. It is regarding the "Integrated Business Services" line item
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under "Other Services." Can you explain that item again? I know it was on the budget last
year.
Councilmember Kuali`i: What page?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: It is on page 274, under"Other Services."
Mr. Tresler: That is basically having a Napa Store on-site. We
are following up; it is taking a while. I finally sent it to the Attorneys, I have more work to
do on it, but basically what it is, is having a supply shop that comes in and takes over our
inventory, get to know the business, carry all the right inventory, even high-priced items that
we would use maybe two or three (3)times a year, reducing the pressure and financial burden
of inventory. It will shorten the downtime of equipment, because those parts and supplies
would be made available. We also included the Transportation Division, Fire Department,
and Department of Water in the solicitation. It is parts and supplies. When you are working
with a company like Napa, they have a nationwide inventory and buying power, so we
basically get the parts, if we are using Napa parts, and supplies at their store cost and not
their retail price. That is the cost-savings there. There is a cost for services for providing
that, but certainly having parts available that we know is used on a daily, weekly basis right
there, and even parts that are used monthly or unusual parts that they could acquire much
quicker, either works, MO that is really important for reducing the downtime of equipment
when they come in, taking up base space waiting for parts, and so forth. The City and County
of Honolulu has been using this, Hawaiian Airlines uses this, and Pearl Harbor has been
using this for years now...we went to see the operations and they are very successful. They
have expanded these types of services in the City and County of Honolulu. It is used a lot
across the continental United States. I am hoping to get that going.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: That sounds like a good strategy for us to be using.
I am curious, and this could go across any department. I did not focus on it yet. How much
has the increase in shipping impacted our budget? Has it been something noticeable or has
it been slightly? I know we had the 46% increase inter-island, I am not sure how much
Matson has gone up. Has it slowed down? Does it cost more? I do not see a jump anywhere
in our budget.
Mr. Tresler: Certainly,it has an impact on the cost of parts and
supplies, but I cannot really point out a significantly noticeable amount where we are going
to increase the budget by 20% or 30%just yet. We have had slow increases keeping up with
just the cost of parts, for instance, inclusive of shipping. I think we are making do with that.
Again, in the future if our budget is not sufficient, then we will come back and adjust that,
but right now we have noticed increases and we are used to high shipping costs. Especially
when you need to fly things in on the second day and so forth, that adds to the cost. Part of
our job is to be able to either get these things stocked properly or be ahead of the game so we
do not need to run into situations where we have to fly these things in overnight, which will
drive the cost up for the parts. We will keep an eye on it, definitely.
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Councilmember Cowden: Thank you. It might really be a question for Troy
when we are getting big pieces of equipment and pipes and things like that. I still did not see
any significant jump. Are we getting big pieces of equipment? We usually do, but I am not
seeing...I know we just received a bunch of new trucks.
Mr. Tresler: Replacement program...I think that is part of the
goal is to smooth that curve, because if you are in a replacement program, we have a list of
replacing equipment, we continue, and so we receive heavy equipment, solid waste trucks for
the Parks & Recreation Department and for the Roads Division and for other divisions and
departments. It is not like, "We are so desperate, we need twenty (20) truck tractor trailers
all at once," so then you will see a spike in that. I think as county fiscally from the past and
we have continued that program throughout the county. Something that popped up was the
landfill, right? We took over the operation. We had to rent equipment and then we had to
add, you would see a little bump in that because we had high-priced dozers and compactors
and other construction equipment that needed to be acquired, otherwise you will see falling
off of lease payments and then the new one stepson, and with interest rates—you will not see
the high bumps and spikes, it is pretty smooth from year to year.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions for Auto
Maintenance from the Members? If not, we will move on to Highways and Roads. Page 252.
Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: I wanted to double-check on the "Premium Pay,"
and I am assuming that is part of overtime as well. Then, you went down significantly in
"Other Services" down to $60,000. I just wanted to confirm the use there or what might have
cycled out.
Mr. Tresler: To answer your first question, yes, that is part of
the overtime. The second question, part of the cost...this is where we previously had the road
repaving budget. That has been transferred to G.E.T. That is what we are using the G.E.T.
funds for the $17,000,000. That is why there is that $2,000,000 decrease.
Councilmember Chock: Okay. Going back on the "Premium Pay," is that
a collective bargaining piece?
Mr. Tresler: I believe so.
Councilmember Chock: Okay. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember De Costa.
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Councilmember DeCosta: You folks have a rental for the Roller and Grader
of$200,000. Can you explain that? Is that a yearly cost or is that a certain cost for a job site,
number, or is that something...
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: That one is in the Solid Waste Division.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay. I will wait until then to ask the question.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions from the
Members? Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: The Roads-Administration is different than the
Roads Division, right?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We are in the Roads Division, but we have
Roads-Administration, we will have each baseyard...
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. I have a broad question and if it needs to
be answered somewhere else...I am wondering on our broken bridges or our breaking or
struggling bridges, I have the CIP piece here; can I just know what the priorities are? Which
bridges come first? Do I talk about that later in the CIP?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: You can ask that now.
Councilmember Cowden: Which bridges are at the top of the list? Which
bridges are you focusing on first?
Mr. Tresler: When I was on mute, I was explaining that we
have a biennial bridge inspection, we consider it projects, but that is what it is. It is
eighty/twenty (80/20) funded by Federal Highways. We do the inspection for the qualified
bridges and we do it bienniallyand sometimes theyrun through the next year, but basically
gcall
Y
we hire consultants to inspect our bridges and through the rating or issues found, then that
is how we come up with a priority list for that. We just recently...with the G.E.T. funding
where you go to fund our inspection of our County bridges and culverts. As we are going
through the inspections, you have noticed that we have had some emergency shutdowns in
places like Anahola and other weight limit reductions and on a couple bridges and so as we
go through these, this will help us prioritize what bridges are in need of immediate attention.
That is how we are prioritizing or coming up with the program to establish that priority. In
the past it has been basically where we noted or there have been complaints or we do certain
inspections. We already have ongoing designed work for repairs for Koloa Bridge, Kiipu
Bridge, and Hanapepe Bridge, which is also part of the federal program.
Councilmember Cowden: As I am looking at the rain falling out the window,
my understanding is that Hanalei has flooded again. I live in a certain state of anxiety when
the rain is going. Waipake Bridge on Ko`olau Road...I do not know if that is getting any
attention, but there is so much high-end houses being built in there and big trucks going
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through there. For twenty (20) years, that bridge has been in what is considered "poor" to
sometimes "fair" condition. That is a bridge that I think we need to think about, which is on
Koolau Road. I mentioned on Thursday about maybe looking at putting an Acrow bridge at
Kalihiwai and when we look at Hanalei, I do not know if you have driven to Hanalei yet, I
know it is a state highway, but it is a little stressful driving where water is running across
the road. We are going to have to be proactive in looking at alternatives in how we are going
to be able to keep our community functioning. That is a big question for right now, but
Waipake seems like that is long overdue, on Ko`olau Road, and the North Shore—we need to
figure something out, so we are not on the boat regularly. When you do get your priority
bridges, I would like to see a list. That is something I would like to see every six (6) months,
just as a status of where they are at, because Kapahi, Kahuna Road, and all of that area up
in there is constantly demanding attention.
Mr. Tresler: It will take us a while to go through the County
bridge inspection list and I think Michael Moule already has information on the bridge that
you are asking about. If it is a County bridge, certainly it will be inspected and then the
recommendations will be made to engineers and Troy and we will take appropriate actions.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: That is a question we can send over in writing and
when you have the information, you can send it back. If you want to look, in particular at
Waipake Bridge or the bridges that Councilmember Cowden asked, if you have any
information on that, we will put it in the question that we send over.
Councilmember Cowden: I can send over all of that information, because I
was looking at it. I will send it to you. It looks like it needs attention.
Mr. Tresler: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I will send over this question in writing too, but it
is basically a suggestion and asking someone to follow up with potential federal funding from
the recent American Rescue Plan Act. There is a"Coronavirus Capital Project Fund Section
604" that provides $10,000,000,000 and the moneys are going to the states and each state
will get a minimum of $100,000,000, but then they also put some moneys aside for rural
communities and communities with households living in poverty. I just want to make sure
we follow up. I know we have our CIP moneys and our Bond moneys, but let us make sure
we maximize a go after whatever type of funding we could get from this recent passage from
the Congress. The hope too is that the next bill on infrastructure will also bring us additional
moneys. Maintenance of bridges across the country has been sorely lacking and now is the
time in this next funding cycle to go after whatever we can, because there is not too much
money that we can spend to get caught up. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember De Costa.
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Councilmember DeCosta: I want to piggyback on my two (2) colleagues,
Councilmember Kuali`i and Councilmember Cowden. Lawa`i Valley has some extensive
damage, and I am not really sure, but I will follow up in writing. I am not sure if the County
owns the bridge or the bridge is private or is it part of our County easement? Lawa`i Valley
and Waimea Valley had damage. I will do a little bit of the legwork to make sure that the
east back to the west from Lihu`e gets remembered also. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions from the
Members? If not, let us move on to the Hanapepe Baseyard. Do we have any specific
questions regarding Hanapepe Baseyard? Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: This happens at Hanapepe, Kapa`a, and Hanalei,
where under "Other Supplies" there are significant amounts that is described as "Road
Maintenance Materials." For Hanapepe Baseyard, it increased by $199,999, $200,000 from
the dollar previously. Because the G.E.T. funds—the revenues are lower than expected due
to COVID-19, are we now just for one year trying to cover some of these expenses with
General Fund moneys? Is that what is happening here?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: It is still in the Highway Fund, but they just
moved it from...
Councilmember Kuali`i: They moved it from G.E.T. to the Highway Fund,
I am sorry, not General Fund.
Mr. Tresler: What happened was the prior year we actually
moved it from the Highway Fund to G.E.T. and now we are moving it back.
Councilmember Kuali`i: The intention is to stay back or is it just for this...
Mr. Tresler: I am not sure. I am pretty sure that is where it
should be.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I was just thinking maybe it is because of revenue
shortfalls, but there probably is revenue shortfalls in the Highway Fund too.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I see our lease amount went up a little bit. Are we
getting a new vehicle? Are we getting something new there?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: It was a new dump truck.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. Is everybody happy enough at the
Hanapepe Baseyard? Is that staff happy?
Mr. Tresler: Yes.
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Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions for the Hanapepe
Baseyard? Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember De Costa: Do we have a temporary assignment (TA)
supervisor position out there or did we fill that position?
Mr. Tanigawa: Are you talking about the District Road Overseer?
Councilmember DeCosta: Yes.
Mr. Tanigawa: Currently, we have someone TA from within.
Councilmember DeCosta: Do we plan to make that person permanent?
Mr. Tanigawa: There are plans and it is actually in the works to
fill that position on a more permanent basis.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you.
Mr. Tanigawa: Recognizing that the public is watching this and
there were questions about how safe our bridge on Ko`olau Road is, I got some feedback from
our Engineering Division and speaking directly from recent bridge inspection report, that
bridge is in "fair" condition, so it is safe to travel, however that bridge is a little damaged.
There is going to be an upcoming project to complete that repair, but overall the bridge is
safe to go over, as posted.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you so much. This was brought to me by
people right along the road.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions for the Hanapepe
Baseyard? If not, we will move on to the Kapa'a Baseyard. Any questions for Kapa'a
Baseyard? Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I look around at everything all the time, I cannot
help myself. That one does not look that heavily utilized. It is a good, big space. What is the
chief function there?
Mr. Tresler: It serves as the hub for our Roads Division and
also serves as a baseyard for Parks; Solid Waste also uses that baseyard. There is a lot of
utilization. In fact, Kaua`i Police Department(KPD) also is using it as a temporary substation
as the armory is being repaired.
Councilmember Cowden: Yes, I do see that.
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Mr. Tresler: There is a lot of usage there. It is a nice sized
space, but it is highly utilized.
Councilmember Cowden: Maybe that is just the comparison, because there
is enough space to do the work and it does not look crowded. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions? If not, we will
move on to Hanalei Baseyard.
Councilmember Cowden: I have a comment to them. I went to the
presentation on how we are planning to be updating the Hanalei Baseyard, and it is really
exciting. That is mostly with FEMA money that is going to be paying for that, but it should
be substantially strengthened, so I do not see that on the budget here, but maybe it is coming
out of the different moneys. Is that why I do not see it here? Oh, CIP. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Further questions? If not, we will move on to
Signs and Roads Division? Page 267. If there are no questions, we can move on. Roads
Maintenance-Other, page 269. The budget remain flat.
Councilmember Kuali`i: On page 270, "Other Services." When I look at the
budget, it says $400,000 in original budget. The Mayor's request for this new cycle, the last
column$400,000, but the second column"Adjusted Budget" $934,867. What does that mean?
Does that mean we budgeted $400,000 and we had all these unanticipated expenses and we
are needing to spend that much more?
Mr. Tresler: A lot of times the budget reflects carryover from
the prior year that was encumbered.
Councilmember Kuali`i: So that is why the third column is saying so far
$548,000 has been encumbered and some of that $548,000 even includes things from prior
years?
Mr. Tresler: Yes, for example, if something does not count in
the prior year, it carries over and then when you pay for it, then it gets expensed.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I would think that with the added storms and
rains and everything, that potentially we had additional work to do in this area, but is it
because of those available encumbrance moneys that we are able to budget at the level and
keeping it at $400,000?
SCOTT K. SATO, Deputy County Clerk: Accounting for rain and weather events
are held in a different set of accounts.
Councilmember Kuali`i: On a separate matter, in the narrative, it said
something about overgrown vegetation and trees from private property, it is a strain to our
budget. Can you say a little more about that? Along County roads, there is private property
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that has trees and vegetation that is coming into the roadway and then we, obviously, just
clear it because it is for road safety, but in fact it is the private property owners that should
be clearing it?
Mr. Tresler: It is an ongoing challenge and it has kind of come
to the forefront recently, but we are also dealing with Hawaiian Telcom. KIUC is very clear,
we cannot touch anything near the power lines, because they are trained and they have the
people to do it. We do not. It is an ongoing issue in the County right-of-way with Hawaiian
Telcom and I think we were looking at some proposed legislation to give us assistance. It has
become increasingly taxing and a burden on our Roads Division, but we have to deal with
situations where if there are trees that fall from private property onto public property then
we have to deal with it. We wanted to make clear a mechanism where it would just be that
we could have more "teeth" so to speak for enforcing tree trimming on private property. That
will"open up a can of worms," but I think something needs to be done and I think we will be
in further communication with you folks in the near future.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I am going to request in writing maybe some type
of follow-up report, because even if it is "opening up a can of worms," if it is as said in our
narrative, it is creating a strain to our budget, then I want to see the numbers and be a part
of supporting a potential solution, so when you talk about potential legislation. I just want
to see the numbers and what is right is right. I want to support that going forward. Thank
you.
Councilmember Cowden: I want to echo what Councilmember Kuali`i is
saying. An area that comes to my mind is an area between Koloa and Lawa`i, certainly along
stretches in Hanalei and many other areas, the hau is literally resting in the Hawaiian
Telcom lines. It is a constant challenge. If it was not laying against those lines, it would just
be laying on the road or soon enough it will be and these are large stretches. I am sure for
whoever owns that land, cutting that hau is not something that they have in their budget
either, but somehow we need to take a holistic approach to it. We are discussing holistic
approaches relative to the watersheds with hau and Albizia trees, but the hau is dangerously
close to the roads and certainly I believe those are Hawaiian Telcom lines. The reason why I
know that is I regularly call KIUC, especially if I see little sparks going on in the lines. I am
told it will not catch a fire there, but I think we have a problem. It does need to be looked at.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any further questions?
Councilmember DeCosta: I am puzzled. I need more clarification. It is a
financial burden, private owners have their foliage coming onto our County roads, but in
defense of the homeowner, if they were to cut the branch and it falls on the road and traffic,
that is why probably a lot of the homeowners do not want to attempt to clean the foliage
without some type of traffic safety to ensure there is no traffic or a branch falling on the road.
You said a holistic approach would probably be the best way.
Councilmember Cowden: I think I framed my statement to these folks,
clearly enough in a question, because the question is if you had an estimate of how many of
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these areas is less an individual homeowner and it is normally acreage that has wild growth
on it. Do you folks have a ballpark thought? Is it 5% of our roadways, 10%, 20%? It is not
50%, but there are a lot of areas where it is acres and acres and I would not know who owns
it. I am sure the TMK would say. It is not someone's yard that I am talking about. Do you
have any idea?
Mr. Tanigawa: We have a crew that does that type of
maintenance. They are not able to address all the areas that have to be addressed. There is
so much work to do. They address the areas that become priorities. Many times, that type of
project comes up based on complaints or,calls regarding concerns. We do not have an
estimate, to answer your question directly, for all the areas that have this type of issue, but
we are "the Garden Island" and vegetation from guinea grass to hau trees to Albizia trees—
is pretty wide spread. Our crews do the best they can to prioritize and get to the areas that
are safety hazards to traffic and address first, by priority.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you. I am not holding our road crew
in...like they are not doing a good job. I am just trying to for the public, for us, for everyone
to recognize how big the challenge is. I went and looked at the Olohena Bridge and the bridge
that is downstream from that around the bypass. I got out and I looked and took pictures
around both bridges. The hau and the trees are pretty much growing right out of the
streambed and it really affects the flow of the water. It is almost any little bridge or culvert
that you might look at—they are filled with all this overgrowth and I think it is from decades
of not having a land management system that has the individuals out there helping. We only
have a small team, but I just want to recognize publicly that the vegetation overgrowth is
substantial all over the place. Somehow, we need to work with the State and private
landowners to fix it.
Mr. Tanigawa: Recently, we started communicating private
landowners' responsibilities for maintaining stream channels. We sent letters out to
homeowners on the section of Opaeka`a Stream above Opaeka`a Bridge. There were
longstanding complaints about concerns relating to flooding based on the lack of maintenance
of the stream channels. We did some research working with our Engineering Division and
the Office of the County Attorney to develop this letter. It went out and we were able to get
some results. People started maintaining the stream channels. I guess some people do not
have the financial resources to hire people to do that type of work, generally speaking like
you said, decades of neglect created fairly large scopes of work for these people to get the
stream channel back to the condition where it allowed stormwater to be properly conveyed
without flooding conditions. Progress was slow but there continues to be progress and I think
as we expand on this effort and try to address private property, we will continue to have
success. I think most people are responsible and once they are aware of their responsibilities,
maintaining their private property, particularly in the stream channels, they will do so. But
like I said, a lot of timeseo le do not have the resources p to get it done quickly. Progress may
be slow, but we will make sure that we keep those private property owners on track.
Councilmember Cowden: I appreciate what you are saying and just
throwing one more little piece out there, out in Ha`ena, for example, right now all along that
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back fence, there is a lot of flooding and some drainage channels are needed. What I think
has happened is the water runs off the cattle pasture and now in recent years, it is hitting
these slab-on-grade houses that have been built, so it backs up the water. I went out there
and took a bunch of pictures of all these cut trees and things like that that have washed up
on the cattle fence and even dead animals wash up on the cattle fence, as all the rain is
flooding out. That is less roads and more engineering. But again, it is in that floodplain
management strategy that we have with the slab on grade and the raising up of the properties
all along the fence line. The roads back there is like a swamp and has a smell to it. There is
a problem there and I think the community meeting and community plan used to work
because the water used to rush out some way, but now when it is against an embankment of
houses, it cannot do it. There is about a 4-feet of height in that grade along those houses—
that is a problem. Not your fault, but we are going to be needing to think about that somehow.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: I wanted to touch up on the hau bush, the stream,
the river ways—sometimes the hau bush holds back some of the water, but it also holds back
some of the earth. Do you folks look at Ko Road in Hanapepe Valley, I believe it is a county
road. The hau bush was removed and with the large flooding that we had, the river actually
dismantled parts of the stone bank that our County road sits on. Granted, I do not have an
engineering degree, but I know that from my generations of knowledge from my grandpa
folks, the hau bush has roots to hold soil back and helps the earth not be removed during
large flooding. I know there are branches that have to be clear for the path of the water, but
sometimes clearing all of the invasive hau bush is not a good thing. I think working together
with the engineer with his or her degree and then with the common Worker I or Worker II
can say, "Hey, let us not remove all of it because it will ruin some of the earth that might be
removed." Working together to get things done. Thank you. Let us look at Ko Road in
Hanapepe Valley before we lose our County road.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any further questions? If not, we will move on to
General Excise Tax Fund for Roads-Administration. I think a bunch of our questions were
already answered regarding the positions. $17,000,000—Other Services, is the Islandwide
Resurfacing amount. Two (2) vacant positions that are six-month funded in that division.
Any questions? This is the last for Highways and Roads. No further questions, we will take
a caption break and we will come back for the Wastewater Division. Ten-minute caption
break.
There being no objections, the Committee recessed at 10:58 a.m.
The meeting was called back to order at 11:10 a.m., and proceeded as follows:
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Welcome back. Next up, we are on Public Works,
Wastewater. We will go straight into the budget, we are on master page 336. Are there any
questions from the Members regarding the Wastewater budget. Council Vice Chair Chock.
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Councilmember Chock: Jason, I just wanted to know more about the
consulting services you folks have identified in your budget—it is a nice chunk. I wanted to
hear some details about what it is it covers.
JASON KAGIMOTO, Chief of Wastewater (via remote technology): Do you have
any particular questions or do you want me to discuss what the consultant service budget
line item in general?
Councilmember Chock: In general. I see close to $1,000,000 budgeted; I
just wanted to see what the outcome is that we are seeking to achieve.
Mr. Kagimoto: Sure. If part of the question is related to the big
increase compared to last year, the main reason for that is, basically what we have done is
moved a lot of the line items from Contractual Repairs. Basically, in reevaluating the budget
for the past several years, we have kept the line items in the same budget line item, but in
doing this budget we have reevaluated to make sure that they are falling in the right budget
account. So a lot of the items that were previously in Contractual Repairs have been moved
to Consultant Services, which is the more appropriate budget line item, so a lot of that is
falling into a lot of our ongoing needs based on our regulatory work. You will see the bigger
line items are for instance are National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
permit monitoring. Our NPDES has a lot of required sampling, monitoring, and reporting
that needs to get done and we hire a lot of that consultant services work out of that budget
that requires contract work that has the services taking place in the ocean. We have other
ones that are related to other biological testing, our permit well evaluation, pretty much
predominately based on our regulatory needs. We have other things in here for instance that
fall under services that we get from consultants for the maintenance calibration of our
equipment, service contracts, and items like that for our overall operation maintenance of
our facilities.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you for the explanation. My only other
question was about the positions that you are wanting to fill, I think it was an electrician
position, I just wanted to see if you had an update into how that is coming along and what
we can anticipate. I know you are shorthanded.
Mr. Kagimoto: Thanks for asking about our positions. We are
basically filled in all of our positions except one (1). Unfortunately, we had an opening in our
maintenance mechanic position and that position had four (4) positions within it and our
electrician, we only had one (1). So with the position vacancy, we are stuck with the choice
of filling it with the maintenance mechanic again, then still being short on the electrical side.
The hope long-term would be that we would be able to get a new position overall, so that we
could remain with the four (4) maintenance mechanics and add an electrician position, but
with the current economic situation, it seems unlikely to happen in the near future, so having
this vacancy was our...we needed to make a judgment call as far as, what is the best way for
us to move forward for the division. Basically, what we did was reallocated our maintenance
mechanic position as a plant electrician, so it is definitely a loss to our manpower needs on
the maintenance mechanic side, but the overall gain that we would have by having two (2)
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plant electricians is important enough that we deem that was the best decision to make, so
essentially now we will have three (3) maintenance mechanics and two (2) electricians, and
as you have mentioned, one (1) of them should be, hopefully posted to be hired within the
next week or so. Essentially, with the two (2) electricians we will have much more stability,
we will be able to have standby for our plant electricians to make sure we have twenty-
four/seven (24/7), three hundred sixty-five (365) responsiveness from that side. So being that
our utility has those types of demands, we will be in a much better position by having the
two (2) plant electricians.
Councilmember Chock: I appreciate it Jason, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I might not have completely understood that last
answer. I am looking at that Consultant Services number for nine hundred forty thousand
dollars ($940,000). When we see these as consultant services, you were just answering that,
I think you are speaking to this as all of the stuff that we are contracting out, where in the
past we did not, that is why there is such an increase in that number.
Mr. Kagimoto: Yes, sorry, let me better explain that. They
previously, outside of a few line items, were all within Contractual Repairs, so in last year's
budget, what you were seeing was we had another budget line item that is called Contractual
Repairs and all of this work was line-itemized in the last one. Essentially, all we did was,
save for a couple of line items, we moved them from Contractual Repairs to Consultant
Services since it seems like that was a better fit for them.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, I see, I understand now. The sludge
disposal, we have been doing that for a long time, is that roughly the same rate, we are
carrying it forward, this two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) to throw it away at the
landfill. At one point, we did it at Grove Farm Company, Inc. or something.
Mr. Kagimoto: In the time I have been with the County that has
been our situation. We have disposed of our sludge, which is the solid waste portion of our
treatment process. We have disposed of that at the Kekaha Landfill and we pay tipping fees
for that. That line item, if I recall correctly, I think we have decreased it a little bit. We are
currently working towards...and I appreciate your comment about throwing that money
away, because we can and should be doing better with that and we have been working with
the Department of Health (DOH) and they have given us a grant that we have been able to
better assess our situation. I think overall, for our Division we do pretty well with the water
side of our by-product from our treatment plants, but the solids side is where we could really
gain some benefit, both for us and for the island, as far as the issues with the landfill. We
are currently doing that and budgeting for that because at this point we do not have anything
finalized, but we are looking into possible options of doing Class B biosolids reuse. There are
two (2) types of biosolids that are regulated by the State, Class B being the second highest
quality, and Class A being the highest quality. We basically are producing at our biggest
treatment plant, which is our Lihu`e Treatment Plant, we are already producing Class B
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biosolids, in terms of quality. We have not been permitted to do so yet, because we are still
looking for an end user, but we are looking into things that include composting or other ways
we can use this Class B biosolids from Lihu`e, and if so, then we would definitely prioritize
that over putting it in the landfill and that would be a benefit both for decreasing our waste
sent to the landfill and decreasing our tipping fee costs. The assessment that we had done
has laid out a program that will allow us to get to Class A, which would require more CIP
projects, so that is likely at least five (5) years down the line before we can get to that point,
but in the meantime, we are trying to push for Class B at our Lihu`e Treatment Plant.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta, then Councilmember
Evslin.
Councilmember DeCosta: Jason, thank you for everything. We hear only
good comments about you and what you are doing out there with your people, so thank you.
I am glad within your department you folks are able to shift that position around and get
that second electrician, because I believe the problem was coming through traffic during the
Kapa'a time or going through a job site and the traffic was holding back by only having one
(1) of our electricians all over the island. We need a hybrid electrician/mechanic position
there. I know that is a multi-skilled position, but maybe one day we will have that on our
wish list. I wanted to ask you about page 337, there is a lease item there. It has been
consistent from 2018, 2019, 2020, and in 2021 it jumped up to almost five hundred thousand
dollars ($500,000), I wanted to know what was that large jump in that lease. Is that an area
of land that we leased?
Mr. Kagimoto: If you look on the master page 344, that shows all
of the itemized amounts that fall under that lease. Basically, it is all equipment. Several
years ago, this would be the third year, so two (2) years ago, we purchased a number of
equipment, and that was trying to help spread out the capital of costs of these equipment so
that it would be a little bit more in line with the use of the equipment and the revenue that
we get per year. So as you can see, there are seven (7) or eight (8) or so, generators, bypass
pumps, a new filter, and things like that, so pretty much all of it is equipment that we
historically have purchased under the R&M Equipment budget, which was coming up at the
capital all at once for some of these larger equipment items, we were able to get them under
a lease, so that we could spread out the costs over five (5) years.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay. We are going to be able to obtain that
equipment lease-free after the five-year lease, correct?
Mr. Kagimoto: Yes, exactly.
Councilmember DeCosta: We have our three (3) mechanics who are going to
be maintaining it, correct?
Mr. Kagimoto: Yes.
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Councilmember DeCosta: The last question I wanted to ask you was, how is
that monetary figure that we pay Hartung Brothers to take our water for the alfalfa? Did we
get that price down a little from the last meeting that we had with you? I believe we spoke a
little bit, it went from $60,000 a month to $25,000 a month, did we get it down any more?
Mr. Kagimoto: Yes, we are still trying to finalize that number.
There are a number of moving parts to that, but yes, we have not finalized it yet, but we are
looking at a much lower number in the realm of the high $20,000, low $30,000 kind of
number, but yes, we have not executed that yet.
Councilmember DeCosta: Just for the community, when we do develop our
"Waimea 400" master plan and have agricultural farmers in that area, would that cost go
down further if we would be able to now have farmers use that water out there in the
"Waimea 400" area, is that a possibility?
Mr. Kagimoto: Yes. There are a couple of things related to my
answer. Yes, right now. The goal is to be able to use recycled water amongst that four
hundred(400) acres, so a lot of that would be to agriculture and there are different agriculture
uses and having the possibility of having other farmers used different plots of land and be
able for us to provide water to them, but also definitely help provide to farmers and it would
also help to provide us with cheaper alternatives for end users. The other thing, we are in
the process of building the R-1 reuse system, so that will also be taking a huge portion of the
supply of water, so that system would allow us to water the Waimea Athletic Field and keep
it as green as possible. Once we get that built, the majority of our water will be going towards
that and it will probably be online and we just closed bid on that. Probably by the Fall of
2022, we will have that system online, so at that point, we will providing water primarily to
the park, then after that, the remaining water allocation will be available to put on the four
hundred (400) acres in agriculture and whatever that may be.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you very much, Jason.
Mr. Kagimoto: You are welcome.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Evslin.
Councilmember Evslin: Thank you, Jason, for being here and for all the
work that you folks do with very tight and limited resources. Something that we have talked
about a few times is potentially the need for a long-term study to help identify future areas
of potential sewer expansion. Both so the County has prioritized areas where we can know
where to prioritize future efforts and also some homeowners adjacent to sewer lines know if
or when they are ever going to get sewer expansion and if not, then they can go ahead and
invest in septic. It is something that I have heard a number of times from people is wanting
to add on an Additional Rental Unit (ARU) or something, but not wanting to put down a
bunch of money on a septic system, because they think they might get sewer. As far as I can
tell from going through the budget, you folks are not going to be engaging in a study this year
to try and do that long-term master plan, right?
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Mr. Kagimoto: Not yet. We do not have a project that is
specifically set up for that. What we do currently have is, we are currently in the assessment
phase for two (2) facility plans, so that would be for our`Ele`ele and Lihu`e service areas. So
those facility plans, we will be looking at our plant capacity, it will be looking at projected
future developments and those types of things. So it will include it, but it will not be
specifically focused on all of the details that we would like by having a special project for it,
but as you have mentioned, that is a very big need for us to partake in and a very big need
for the community to be able to know if they are in an area that is close to our existing sewer
system. What I can say is, since I have been here in the last seven (7) years, in terms of
budget and constructing our own sewer line, that has not been done. We have acquired new
collection systems based on other developments that build the sewer system for their needs,
then they convey it over to us, so we have increased our facilities in that regard, but we have
not built one in the near future or in the recent past. So what we are looking to do in the
near future is to look at these things and especially in the Wailua/Kapa`a area, that are
identified as one of those areas per the DOH, it is a priority area to get rid of the cesspools.
So we are looking at those areas, because it seems like the system was built to be able to
handle more than we currently had built, so those would also, I think what you are alluding
to,is to help offset some of the costs for our community members to convert their own systems
from a cesspool to a septic system, but in the current budget, we do not have a project
specifically allocated to do that.
Councilmember Evslin: With the facilityplansfolks
you are engaging in
for Lihu`e and other areas, will that potentially identify areas in existing residential
neighborhoods that could be areas of future expansion?
Mr. Kagimoto: Yes.
Councilmember Evslin: Okay.
Mr. Kagimoto: I will say another thing for the Lihu`e area, for the
past several years, the Administration has given us money to work on sewer line assessments
or to do closed circuit television inspection (CCTV) inspection for both our sewer lines and
our manholes, so that has, in some ways, been the first step. We have started that program
and we have been able to assess a bunch of our sewer system in Lihu`e, which will then allow
us to take the next step and figure out, if and when we are able to go and expand our system,
what is the condition of our existing system, what is the capacity of those kinds of things.
Although, we have not specifically directly done it, we are gaining more information to be
able to allow us to perform those things more efficiently when we are able to get that
budgeted.
Councilmember Evslin: Okay, thank you. I know there is some overlap
here with the State and the Department of Health (DOH) study that you referenced that I
think identifies some priority areas on Kaua`i for cesspool conversion. I know there is at least
some talk of possibly some State funding towards a similar type of study to try and identify,
hopefully, priority sewer expansion areas. Have you heard anything regarding there is a
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potential with the State trying to fund the study along those lines for Kaua`i? So expanding
on the DOH study...I think we have talked about, because the DOH study just looks at
environmental impacts, whereas from a County priority there is a lot of other priorities in
trying to figure out sewer expansion including geography and zoning density, et cetera. Do
you know if the State is looking at trying to do a study?
Mr. Kagimoto: Personally, I am not aware of one. I would assume
for them, they would prefer that it would be more so done on the County level, but I know
your folks interest in helping out the community and seeing what options are available, so I
can check with the State folks if they are doing so. But I would assume their study was more
so trying to figure out from a State perspective if they are doing so, but they would be hoping
that on the County level for our needs would be performing our own study.
Councilmember Evslin: Last question along these lines, then I have
two (2) other questions. If you folks have the funding for it, is this something that you could
manage forming out a study along these lines?
Mr. Kagimoto: Basically, what that would come down to is we
would need to hire a consultant. We have two (2) engineers in our office; myself and another
one. There is a lot of work that we need to get done on a day-to-day basis, supporting the
operations staff, helping with building permit review, regulatory things, so yes, ideally we
would get more manpower to be able to accomplish these things a little bit easier. But in the
meantime, we definitely do our best to efficiently try to take care of these things, so if we are
able to get money for those types of things...for the most part we basically have the mindset
that anything we can get helps it get done—we will find a way to get it done, so likely that
would be done by hiring a consultant and us managing them as far as getting that project
done.
Councilmember Evslin: Thank you, Jason. Two (2) other questions. I
believe it was last year already, time has lost all meaning recently, but we had your folks
proposed fee increases, which were really...reorganization at least, and I think part of the
intent there was to ensure that we could do more preventative maintenance and make sure
that we are not falling behind the ball in things that lead to the line breakage by the Lydgate
Treatment Plant a few years ago. Given that those fee increases did not happen due to
COVID-19 and they are not happening again, do you feel like we are heading in a not so good
place, as far as preventative maintenance goes and at some point are going to have to climb
even higher to try and get out of the hole here for deferred maintenance and maybe other
needs that you folks are facing?
Mr. Kagimoto: Let me see, what is the best way to answer this?
Basically, we fully acknowledge that we have years of deferred maintenance that we are
trying to make ground upon. I think we are very appreciative of our current Administration's
support we have been getting. At least in my time here, there has been an increased amount
of support and we have been able to make ground on the issues that we have. As you have
mentioned, we provided the results of our rate study and I think it was about a year ago,just
before we got into last Fiscal Year's budget discussions we presented that to the Council, then
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the pandemic made our economic situation for the island as a whole a little tough, so we have
since put that on hold. But yes, the rate study incorporates costs to especially make up for
things like our loans, so we construct all of our upgrades through these State Revolving Fund
(SRF) loans that we get through the State that allows us to absorb or be able to afford to do
more construction projects than having to come up with the capital upfront. A lot of our
construction projects are in the realm of$3,000,000 plus, so the only way that we realistically
could do is spread it out and not cause so much of a rate increase for our customers is to be
able to take on these loans. It has been a number of years, the last rate increase was before
I came to the County, which was more than seven (7) years ago, so we are trying to get there,
but in the meantime, as best as the Administration has been able to, they have been
essentially giving us more General Fund money to be able to account for our needs.
Obviously, we are in a situation where we are trying to make it for deferred maintenance. In
some ways, there is never enough money, but we are doing better than we have been,
especially given our current situation, economic-wise.
Councilmember Evslin: Thanks. Back to my original questioning, how
much would a study, trying to identify future expansion areas and a "30,000 foot overview"
master plan for expansion, how much do you think a study like that would costs?
Mr. Kagimoto: I guess it depends on how detailed it could be. I
think on the low end we could be looking at a ball park of$100,000. To do more detailed look,
it would probably be in the realm of$250,000 and the reason for the higher cost is because
the evaluation of not just where we can put sewer, but then it will also have to be evaluating
on a capacity standpoint, what is downstream as it gets towards the treatment plant. For
instance, if you wanted to service a neighborhood, it is not just what it would cost to build
the sewer system there and what would the dimensions or capacity need to be for that new
neighborhood, it would also have to be, what are the downstream effects as it connects to our
system as it makes its way for the sewer system. Are the sewer lines big enough? Is the
pump station big enough? And all of those types of ripple effects. Basically, the way our
sewer system works is the further away from the treatment plant you get, the smaller the
diameter gets. So a lot of the evaluation is the further away the developments are, the bigger
possibility that we would have capacity issues, in terms of connecting to smaller portions of
the system before it gets bigger and be able to take on more capacity.
Councilmember Evslin: Thank you. Last question, it shows here that you
are saving $100,000 on electricity, could you explain where that savings is coming from?
Mr. Kagimoto: I guess a lot of it has to do with us replacing a lot
of our equipment from our construction projects that we were able to accomplish and also
when we budgeted for equipment we have been able to replace it with high-efficiency
equipment. We have been trying to be more conscious in the operation of our facilities, but I
guess there are a lot of these little wins that we are hoping adds up to more. Also, all of these
items is the reality of our budget constraints and we are just trying to do better, so we
probably would not want to be as optimistic on that if we were not in the economic situation
that we have with the budget. We are just trying to do the best we can with what we have.
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Councilmember Evslin: Thank you for all the work that you folks do. As
you once told me, it is not like we can shut off our wastewater system when there is an issue
and I think you folks more than any County Department, all of our success as an island is
built on top of the work that you folks do, so I appreciate all your efforts here and we will
keep talking. Thank you, Jason.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: Jason, again, I will echo what my colleague
Councilmember Evslin said, only positive praise with your folks' department and coming on
board from the private sector, we really appreciate you, Jason. You have mentioned Lihu`e
and `Ele`ele as our top priority places and I know Lihu`e is probably our biggest growing
community. We have some undeveloped agricultural lands that we hope to put into
residential use someday. I am a little worried about the Wailua Treatment Plant at Lydgate
being so close to the ocean with sea level rise and of course, a lot of the maintenance that you
have talked about the rust and the salt breeze. Sooner or later, we are going to have to look
at possibly moving that out of the area, or at least putting it in a better area to be compliant.
What are your thoughts on that before I move to my next question?
Mr. Kagimoto: Okay. There are definitely benefits that would
result from being able to relocate the Wailua Treatment Plant. A lot of the reasons based on
what you have mentioned, and I know that when Councilmember Carvalho was Mayor that
discussion started and there has been the stated interest on the County's side—In my
opinion, the biggest things that would be hurdles through that would be the extreme cost
that would put on the County. It is something that over time needs to be done. First, it needs
to be evaluated to see what that plan would look like and the short-term things, as you have
mentioned with the facility plans that we are doing, yes, we are doing one for Lihu`e and
`Ele`ele, the next step would be to make progress on those facility plans, budget to do facility
plans for Wailua and Waimea, then the Wailua one would definitely be looking at what is our
long-term plan. In the meantime, we are tasked with maintaining and operating our Wailua
Treatment Plant, which requires us to continue to upgrade it, so until we figure out what our
long-term plan is, our current goal is to do everything we can to continue to operate and
maintain our Wailua Treatment Plant. What we are trying to do is look at some of the
upgrades that we are doing to make sure that as best as we can, if and when the treatment
plant needs to move, some of these projects that we are doing, are we able to repurpose or
take some of the equipment with us, so we are not just looking towards the future in terms
of continuing to buy equipment or repair equipment and replace things at our current spot.
The goal would likely be in a year or two in parallel with discussions to move the treatment
plant itself is on our side what we can do internally is budget for the facility plant, have that
plan look into what are the options, what would that even look like as far as moving it and
get our sense of cost, then we can see what the reality is as far as what kind of debt the
County will need to take on to do that.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thankou. There is fundingout there from the
Y
government that we can help you folks with and we have had that conversation pieces and
we will continue to have it to help you folks and find our County some money. Also, I wanted
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to ask you, with the Wailua mountain, Kapa`a, Kapahi, Kalaheo, `Oma`o, Lawa`i—those are
all high-elevation land areas and usually, if we believe in the aquifer system the water does
percolate down makai. Those areas have not been mentioned and those are probably your
most crucial areas where the sewer or even the leach field beds go into our watershed tables
like Councilmember Evslin said. Is there a long-term plan to one day make Kauai a full
sewer system island or is that a facade that might not happen?
Mr. Kagimoto: Ballpark right now,we service about a third of the
island-30% to 35% of the island compared to what the Department of Water services, in
terms of just customers. There are several private utilities on the wastewater side, so maybe
combined we are looking at more like 35% to 40% of the island is what gets served. A good
amount of the island is on some type of IBS, whether that is cesspool, septic system, or some
equivalent system, so there would be a lot of benefit by having more expansion, whether it is
by the County or by the private side to lessen the amount of IBS systems on the island, but
with that becomes the huge amount of investment that it would take on whoever that may
be. So on our side, it would be the building of the infrastructure, building the treatment
plants, pump stations, sewer systems, it would be the manpower increase that we would
need, so although the benefit is there and that is where we should be heading and making
progress towards, the likelihood of us building a new treatment plant, in my mind anyway,
it is pretty far down the road. Right now, our main goal is to focus on investing in our existing
sewer system to address a lot of the deferred maintenance that we have had, so that we
can...basically, I do not want us to "bite off more than we can chew." I want us to make sure
that we get our existing facilities, where we want them to be before we start looking to
expand—that we are doing a better job at what we are currently doing. There would be
benefits as far as the DOH side, the priority areas that they have mentioned is on our side
that we can mainly impact is the Wailua/Kapa`a area. So at some point the Kapa`a/Kapahi
will probably area be something that needs to be discussed as far as one of the lower-hanging
fruit where we can be able to expand our service system and help out some of these places.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you, Jason.
Mr. Kagimoto: You are welcome.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Hi, Jason. In the narrative in operational
highlights, it talks about the completion of improvements to the Hanamd'ulu and the Kapaia
wastewater pump stations, and addressing older equipment and allowing for higher flows. I
am curious about the Wailua pump station and based on its location by the intersection by
Coco Palms, how it is being impacted by the State's widening of the road and are you having
to then invest in upgrades or repairs to that station?
Mr. Kagimoto: For our existing pump station near Coco Palms,
the State will essentially provide another lane on the highway, but at this point, the main
impact is one of the telephone poles that is currently outside along the side that will be
relocated within our facility. Other than that, we are not giving up any space for our existing
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pump station. The highway will essentially be right up to our fence line, so as far as the
impact, it will be less space or less room to have a little bit of a buffer around our pump
station, but as far as within the existing footprint, we will not be impacted too much.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Thank you.
Mr. Kagimoto: You are welcome.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Carvalho,
Councilmember Carvalho: Just to follow up, Jason. I appreciate
Councilmember DeCosta bringing it up again. Can we go back to Lydgate just overall, and
the reason and importance of relocating that particular facility mauka in partnership with
Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) and that was a whole discussion we had at
that time. More importantly addressing the whole sea-level issue that we have talked about
before. My question was with following up to Councilmember Evslin who put it on the table
about the study, is this something that we can include in this discussion funding there or if
we can seek funding in partnership with others to get this study going so we can look at
relocating that Lydgate Wastewater Treatment Plant up mauka and open the door for more
opportunities there in partnership, as well. Is that something we can connect with what was
mentioned earlier?
Mr. Kagimoto: The short answer is, "Yes." At this point, we do
not have a project that will do so and I do not want to give the false impression that it is going
to be something that we are working on this current fiscal year. So if we have budget for the
Lihu`e and `Ele`ele facility plants...it was a year ago, if we get into next year's fiscal year
budget, then that would be several years in advance and then we would be able to work on
Wailua and Waimea and that would tie in and amongst that project we would be able to look
at those types of things. The other part of it is, if you just look at the amount of projects that
our division takes on, if you look at the amount of construction work that we do, it is a very
overwhelming amount of work that we do within our division especially given that on the
Administration side,we have just two(2)engineering positions, on the field side, for instance,
we only have one (1) electrician at the current time, we are going to be losing a mechanic to
be able to allow us to get another electrician. So what I am trying to say is, we can always
do better and we always reflect on that, but at the same time, I feel with the given staffing,
we are really pushing the envelope as far as what we can do. I know our current
Administration has been very supportive and hopefully we will get to a point where we can
increase our staffing more, but I do not want to over-promise the amount of work that we can
take on since I feel like we are beyond the envelope as far as what we can realistically do
from a sustainable side, but there are many things that we know we need to improve on that
we need to do at the Wailua Treatment Plant and looking into relocating that and the cesspool
situation—all of those things are definitely things that we need to be doing and we know are
important to us. Hopefully, with our manpower, we can keep up with the timing that they
need to get done in.
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Councilmember Carvalho: I just wanted to put it on the table again so we can
at least talk about it and maybe look at resources one over the other, however it works, but I
think it is very important that we continue to explore every single way to look at this chance.
One more question Other Services, for that$200,000. I know that you have mentioned sludge
disposal at the landfill, is this a recurringthingor how does it work?
P
Mr. Kagimoto: That is basically our tipping fee cost and if I had
to guess, approximately Lihu`e, being that it has the highest flows, it probably accounts for a
ballpark of 40% to 50% of that tipping fee cost, so if we are able to...as I was mentioning
previously to this as far as being able to divert that would allow us for some cost-savings.
But until we do so that budgeted amount is our tipping fee costs and we pay that for solid
waste for our sludge disposal.
Councilmember Carvalho: Okay, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I also wanted to thank you and your whole staff,
you folks do a great job. Most of my questions have been answered. I have a peripheral
question, so I can either ask it offline or send it written or I will just frame it—it might be
easy for you to answer. I have had at least five (5) different companies come with alternatives
for managing wastewater and I wonder if they come to you. I am always suggesting that
they talk to you, there are incineration toilets and the systems that basically create R-2
without having to put much space for a leach field. Do these companies come to you? Because
when I am thinking about when we are trying to do things in fresh areas, maybe we can have
community-based or neighborhood small system-based systems or even when it is remote if
we can use these incineration. Do they come to you? I do not know why they come to us.
Mr. Kagimoto: They do not come to us. The most appropriate
place for those folks to coordinate with is the State Department of Health. For us, we are in
charge of our municipal facilities. The State are the ones who permit the individual
wastewater system (IWS) with the cesspools and septic systems and I think they will do
things like composting toilets and those types of things, so to get those permitted use on the
island that is not connecting to our system the State Department of Health would be the ones
who would get that permitted—they would be the most appropriate ones you would like to
talk to.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. I think that they talk to those groups.
Sometimes they have it, but I guess why I am bringing it up to you and when we are talking
about a study is just as we move towards a new methodology and like what Councilmember
DeCosta said when we have these highland wastewater systems, they percolate down even if
it is just a leach field, so just throwing that out there that at some level when we are looking
at a study, maybe we look at these alternatives too, but we do not have to go deep here.
Thank you.
Mr. Kagimoto: Thank you.
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Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you for that Councilmember Cowden. Just
like Councilmember Cowden said, it is very important. That small wastewater treatment
center, in a community of fifty (50) new.homes coming up, is it possible to have a system in
itself that stands alone for a sewer treatment, is that possible?
Mr. Kagimoto: Yes.
Councilmember DeCosta: I kind of know that because the Robinsons put
something like that in the Plantation Camp.
Councilmember Cowden: Yes.
Councilmember DeCosta: So that is a possibility in the future if we develop
with private landowners.
Councilmember Cowden: His dad has a good system.
Councilmember DeCosta: Perfect. That could be something to look at in the
future if we want to develop some kind of habitat housing for the County. We could put this
cost on the developer.
Mr. Kagimoto: I think one of those things that is an age-old
question, is it better to have...that is a big discussion right now is centralized versus
decentralized systems, the benefit of having decentralized systems is you would have less
lengthy infrastructure and it would be more specific to these areas and then when you are
dealing with smaller flows, then you would have smaller horsepower equipment, which would
be more energy-efficient and those kinds of things, but on the flipside, what you would get is
more facilities that need to be maintained. There are obvious benefits that would have by
servicing smaller neighborhoods and being able to do things like that from a construction
standpoint and it will be easier to get these things budgeted. But how we move forward or
evaluate those things, we would still need to have those, if the County were to own them,
they could be privately owned and operated, but if the County were to own them, then it is
figuring out the manpower requirements, the licensing for having the appropriate operator
overseeing these types of things to make sure they are operated correctly.
Councilmember DeCosta: Do we have a price on what it costs to run a sewer
treatment plant for about fifty (50) homes? Do we have a cost breakdown?
Mr. Kagimoto: Not at the moment. We do not have any facilities
like that. I would assume it would not be too bad. There are private systems that service
smaller populations that are about that size. For instance, shopping centers or those types
of things that are not in our service areas that have a little package treatment plan that
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services them. It is possible to get those costs, but we do not currently have them and I do
not know off the top of my head.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you, Jason.
Mr. Kagimoto: You are welcome.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Jason, I have a general question. I was Googling
for an infrastructure map for Kaua`i, just to see our wastewater and the thing that popped
up came from www.arcgis.com, is that what I can rely on? Basically, the Wailua Treatment
Plant at Lydgate, the service area is predominately east of the river, what is west of the river
is just the hotel, the golf course...a few things.
Mr. Kagimoto: Yes, that is correct.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Then Lihu`e has its own plant. Do you know what
is it, 90% or 10% or how it breaks down, as far as who it serves?
Mr. Kagimoto: I am sorry, 90% or 10% between?
Councilmember Kuali`i: East of the river and west of the river.
Mr. Kagimoto: I am sorry, your side is on mute.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Just the basic geographic east of the river and
west of the river. The overwhelming majority is north and east of the river, right?
Mr. Kagimoto: Yes, for the Wailua area, is that what you are
talking about?
Councilmember Kuali`i: Yes. Is this the map I should use or does the
Wastewater Division have a map?
Mr. Kagimoto: We have maps. To answer the first question, I
would say it would probably be about 90%/10%, if not 95%/5%. You basically named all of
the ones that we service on the south side of the river—it is the condominiums, hotels that
are south of the Wailua River, it is the golf course and the correctional facility, otherwise we
are servicing, the rest of the flow to the Wailua Treatment Plant is basically from Wailua
River all the way to...I cannot think of the name, but the road that goes up to Kapa'a High
School from the highway and goes up to Mahelona Hospital. We basically service along the
highway. We do not really diverge off of that, so that is our service area for the Wailua/Kapa`a
area. As far as your question about the GIS, it is probably best to reach out to me, we have
GIS files that we use to provide to our consultants as they do work. I will say though, that
since I have been here, because we do not have GIS on my computer, so a lot of that stuff gets
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done through the consultants and then they provide us with their reports, which includes
updated GIS stuff, so I do not use that on a day-to-day basis, we basically are looking our
record drawings, so we look at those types of things, we look at the as-builts for what was
constructed for our projects, so that is more so what I use, but I do understand the importance
of GIS, I think for us, the biggest issue is if we have...that is basically the way the industry
are engineering it or planning and all of those types of organizations as a whole is working
towards. There is a lot of benefit that would be had towards doing so. I guess for us, given
the current situation with our utility,if we are going to be able to ask for"x" amount of money,
we are going to ask for that money to be able to replace things versus setting us up for more
better user interface, I guess I would say.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Is the potential relocation and the future of the
Wailua/Lydgate treatment facility so far off that you have not even considered potential
locations? I am curious too, based on the volume that is north and east of the river, if any
future location would move it east and north of the river, closer to the clients.
Mr. Kagimoto: Basically, the conversation as I have mentioned
that was initiated when Councilmember Carvalho was the Mayor and at that time the idea
was to move it mauka of the highway, still south of the river, but since then there has not
been...I guess we still have to do more assessments or all those types of things to look at that.
That is a very good point as far as having to get across the river in terms of our flow, but as
far as possible other sites that would be north of the river, I am not sure what kind of options
that would be.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions for Wastewater?
Councilmember Cowden: I have one question for Councilmember Carvalho.
Can I ask him that?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: On Wastewater? Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: When that proposal was made on the DHHL land,
what I recall was all those maps had the map of the highway where Lydgate is, the intention
was to develop the DHHL lands for Hawaiian Homes and that is why that property was
selected somewhat, correct? There were big maps of how everything was going, so
Councilmember Kuali`i, that is why it had that location.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions for Wastewater?
If not, thank you, Jason. We are going to move on to Solid Waste.
Mr. Kagimoto: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Solid Waste is on page 302. Councilmember
DeCosta.
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Councilmember DeCosta: Councilmember Kuali`i, did you want to go first?
Councilmember Kuali`i: No, you can go first.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay. Who is at Solid Waste? Allison.
Mr. Tanigawa: Councilmember DeCosta, we have Allison here.
Councilmember DeCosta: Hi, Allison.
ALLISON FRALEY, Acting Solid Waste Chief(via remote technology): Hi.
Councilmember DeCosta: Regarding Other Rentals and Indirect
Costs/Central SE on page 306. I wanted some clarification on those prices there, it says,
"Rental of a roller," $66,000. "Rental of a grader," $144,000. Then you have "R&M
Equipment" of$131,000 and Indirect Costs/Central SE $900,000. Those are quite a bit large
numbers and I wanted to know on the equipment side, is that for a yearly rental or how are
those funds being used? And explain to me what the Indirect Costs/Central.
Ms. Fraley: Are we looking at the lease equipment fund? I am
sorry, what page are you on?
Councilmember DeCosta: 306.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Other rentals, the roller and the grader.
Ms. Fraley: Okay. The roller is $66,000 a year to rent, is that
what you are foreseeing? I am sorry, my budget does not have that same page.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Yes, the roller is $66,000 and the grader is
$144,000.
Ms. Fraley: Yes, so we would need to rent those items while
they are being ordered, because it takes about a year to purchase them and we need them for
operation of the landfill.
Councilmember DeCosta: Do you folks have the price on a brand new roller
and a price on the brand new grader? I did some homework and I have some prices, but it
could be just mainland prices that I do not have the shipping costs integrated, but can you
tell me, what is the cost of a new roller and a new grader for the landfill?
Ms. Fraley: Yes, let me just pull up those files really quick. I
have the price of the new roller at $314,000 and the price of a new grader at $460,000 and
those would include shipping, that is what I was told when I got the estimate.
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Councilmember DeCosta: Do we get several estimates? I did a little bit of
homework myself and my grader was half yours with $200,000 without shipping and my
roller was about $80,000 to $100,000, so I am wondering do we use only a specific company
here in Hawai`i or do we try to shop around?
Ms. Fraley: That included shipping, which is actually a large
part of the cost sometimes, when it comes to equipment, so I am not sure if your estimates
included the shipping to Kaua`i.
Councilmember DeCosta: What is the percentage of shipping for overall
costs? Is it 30% of the equipment? How does it work? I know they go on tonnage.
Ms. Fraley: I do not have that breakdown detail for you right
now. I can certainly get it for you. I just was told that would be the price including shipping,
so I would be happy to get you the breakdown.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay. The last question I wanted to ask you
before you answer the $900,000, when we order this new roller and new grader, did our old
roller and old grader break at the same time and did we not have a maintenance log that
would state five (5) years, the lifespan of the piece of equipment or seven (7) years, it seems
we have been down a whole year, and that is quite a bit of money that we have to put towards
renting it if we would have had something purchased before our equipment broke down.
Mr. Tanigawa: Councilmember DeCosta, if I would just interject.
Can you hear me okay?
Councilmember DeCosta: Yes, Troy.
Mr. Tanigawa: As far as the grader, I believe based on the
decision-making this past budget year, we are not going to be buying a new grader. There is
a budget for a smooth drum roller, the amount of$314,000 that Allison quoted is located on
page 309.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay.
Mr. Tanigawa: So we are going to have to rent that grader and
that rental cost is the anticipated periodic rental cost when a grader is needed.
Councilmember DeCosta: Troy, the cost of$144,000 is that a yearly cost for
the grader?
Mr. Tanigawa: Yes, that is the anticipated annual rental cost.
Councilmember DeCosta: If we rent it this year and next year, we are going
to be close to $300,000 correct?
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Mr. Tanigawa: Correct, if you combine it and we actually rent it
and that turns out to be our actual cost, we will be close to that amount.
Councilmember DeCosta: So within a third year of renting it we could
probably buy a brand new grader at $450,000.
Mr. Tanigawa: Yes.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay. Can you explain to me the Indirect Cost
Central SE line item of$900,000?
Mr. Tanigawa: That indirect cost is actually a cost for internal
budgeting purposes. That line item is not moneys that the Solid Waste Division can use.
That central service cost goes to the other supporting agencies.
Councilmember DeCosta: Agencies that support our landfill, am I correct?
Mr. Tanigawa: Yes. That number is determined by our
Department of Finance, which is the budget that goes towards the support service groups,
the Department of Finance, and other supporting agencies.
REIKO MATSUYAMA, Director of Finance (via remote technology): This is Reiko
Matsuyama, and I am able to share information. That number is basically a reimbursement
to the General Fund. A number of our General Fund employees support the Solid Waste
Fund and other funds. For example, the Purchasing Department, Department of Finance,
Accounting, they all do things for the Solid Waste Fund. We get an actuarial evaluation
every year that tells us how much we should reimburse the General Fund.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you for that clarification, Reiko. I am done.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Yes. On page 306, under "Other Services," I
asked this question earlier and Mike answered a little regarding the $847,000.00 for the
closure of Kekaha Landfill Phase II. Mike told us about the Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report (CAFR) finding that we were not putting away enough money. If you have it now, you
can answer...if not, you can answer in a follow-up. My question was: 1) How much money do
we need to put away each year; 2) what is our plan to being prepared in June 2027? That is
to only close Kekaha Landfill Phase II. That is only one (1) part of it, and I believe that is
coming first. Is that answers for a follow-up in writing? When I asked earlier, I believe Mike
said to ask again during the Solid Waste discussion.
Mr. Tanigawa: Councilmember Kuali`i, thank you for the
question. I do not have that figure amount right now. If you can follow up and list your
questions, we are able to provide that number for you.
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Councilmember Kuali`i: Okay, I will do that. In that same area regarding
"Other Services,"...I am sorry, Allison.
Ms. Fraley: I am sorry, I was on mute again, excuse me. By
the year 2027, we need to make up $10,900,000. We will provide all of that in writing, but
basically the estimated closure cost is $26,200,000. We set aside $15,400,000 and we need to
make up $10,800,000 by 2027. We can provide the detailed information in writing.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Thank you, Allison. In that same area of"Other
Services," the narrative talks about an increase of $120,000 and it talks about a new AV
Residential Vehicle Pick-Up Program from the Mayor, but I do not see anything budgeted.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: It is going to be in the Recycling Division.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Okay.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We have Disposal, Collection, and Recycling.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I see two (2) different amounts. Halehaka GCCS
Repairs. What is GCCS?
Mr. Tanigawa: It is a gas collection system.
Councilmember Kuali`i: It is being dollar-funded because there is surplus
from this year that is being encumbered to cover it, so that you do not need to budget for it
next year? Is that what that is?
Ms. Fraley: We are doing the repairs this year. We have a
consultant onboard who is drafting the scope-of-work, and we will be making those repairs.
We do not anticipate needing the funding for the next fiscal year.
Councilmember Kuali`i: You are doing the repairs this year with this
year's money?
Ms. Fraley: Correct.
Councilmember Kuali`i: The hauling of soil is another situation where you
are doing it this year with this year's money, so you will not need $500,000 next year?
Ms. Fraley: Is that the Puhi Metals Recycling Facility soil?
Councilmember Kuali`i: Yes.
Ms. Fraley: Yes.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Okay, thank you.
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Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
•
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you. I have two (2) questions. On
page 306, "Other Services," I noticed we have consulting fees for $700,000 for the Kekaha
Landfill. Is that the consulting fees to do the vertical expansion? Is that what the consulting
fees is going to be used for.
Ms. Fraley: No, it is to maintain compliance with our Solid
Waste...
Councilmember DeCosta: You got cutoff Allison. Can you explain that
again?
Ms. Fraley: Yes. Our consultant maintains compliance with
our Solid Waste Permit for the landfill. They do the quarterly groundwater sampling and
recording. They do our State Department of Health Permit for compliance, documentation,
annual reporting, they monitor the leachate, they do monthly inspections and logs for
leachate, they do special waste management services, and they also provide office
management services out at the landfill.
Councilmember DeCosta: Is this a corporation or a single entity/single
person?
Ms. Fraley: It is Geosyntec Consultants, which is a consulting
firm.
Councilmember DeCosta: The soil cost of$350,000 for the Kekaha Landfill.
Is that soil that we are buying, where is that soil coming from, and who is selling us that soil?
Ms. Fraley: It is through Kekaha Agriculture
Association (KAA) and the Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC). They are
providing access to land nearby where we are harvesting the soil. The price is$5.20 per cubic
yard.
Councilmember DeCosta: Is that price comparative to other companies? For
example, Gay & Robinson (G&R) to sell us soil and the hauling cost from Makaweli to the
landfill might be higher than the hauling cost from ADC. I know that ADC charges a lot for
water maintenance, which is the reason I believe Hartung Brothers Hawai`i, LLC uses our
water. They pay a high fee for ADC to manage their waterwaste. Are we able to get cheaper
soil if we shopped around, did we shop around, or are we giving ADC the $5.20 per cubic
yard?
Mr. Tanigawa: Councilmember DeCosta, thank you for the
question. We have been trying to do this over several years. We have been trying to identify
soil sources for daily cover. Unfortunately, resources are not available for that part of the
island. We have gone to G&R. G&R has offered soils they had stockpiled in their settling
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pond. When farming sugar cane, they used a lot of rat poison. Testing was done and it was
found that the arsenic levels and other heavy metals were higher than what we can typically
use for daily cover at the landfill. I am not sure why it was that way for G&R and not for
Kekaha Sugar Mill where we were successful in getting settling pond soil. That was the case
that came out and they do not have any other available sources they are willing to give up
soil. We are getting a fairly good deal from ADC at $5.20 a cubic yard. We are trying to
exercise that opportunity to the greatest extent possible. We hope that it will last the
remaining duration that we are out in Kekaha.
Councilmember DeCosta: Troy, can you tell me how long ago the soil with
high rat poison arsenic samples were taken from ADC and G&R.
Mr. Tanigawa: We have not been able to take anything from G&R
because of the high arsenic.
Councilmember DeCosta: Troy, when was the study done?
Mr. Tanigawa: I would saymaybe about four (4) years ago is
Y g
when we inquired about it. When you combine the hauling cost with the cost of the sale of
material, it was higher than what we are paying now through ADC and KAA.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay. I know that arsenic is poisonous to human
beings. However, can the soil from G&R be used for farming?
Mr. Tanigawa: It is in their settling ponds. I do not know if they
have been taking the soil from the settling ponds to redistribute on their land. It was an
existing stockpile that they had.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay. I was concerned if they were moving it
around. Thank you very much.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions from the Members?
Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: Allison, our former manager who left who was
working remotely, he did environmental services for us in the last budget. Is he still helping
us?
Ms. Fraley: Yes. His name is Zahid Kahn, who is helping us
in an engineering capacity being that we have not been able to secure a Solid Waste Engineer.
We have attempted several times to hire a Solid Waste Engineer and we changed the hiring
level, and we still have not been successful. Until we have an engineer in place, we have
been assessing it through 89-day hires; whether we need to keep Zahid onboard and in the
capacity of engineering-ranked technical assistance.
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Councilmember Cowden: I have gratitude to Zahid for continuing to help us.
Where would I see him on this budget? Is it in"Other Services"?
Ms. Fraley: Mike, correct me if I am wrong, but I do not think
he is in the budget. We have vacant positions that we are using to cover the cost. Mike
Tresler, do you know?
Mr. Tresler: Is the question regarding Zahid?
Mr. Tanigawa: For Zahid's position, we are using salaries.
Councilmember Cowden: Do we know what that is?
Ms. Fraley: His cost?
Councilmember Cowden: Yes. I am curious what it is. I appreciate that he
is continuing to help.
Ms. Fraley: I believe it is approximately $80,000 a year.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. I was just curious.
Ms. Fraley: He does not have the same benefits as a regular
employee. He does not have fringe benefits.
Councilmember Cowden: He looks over our work and if we need a signature.
Is he routinely involved?
Ms. Fraley: Yes. I manage his work. He reviews all our
technical reports from our consultants before they are turned in to ensure it is technically
sound, et cetera. He helps us with planning, disaster response...we had a lot of rain problems
lately.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: Yes. Allison, how many years have we been
purchasing soil at $5.20 a cubic yard from ADC?
Ms. Fraley: This started when we stopped the contract with
Waste Management. Before, Waste Management managed the soil hauling. January 2020
is when we started to purchase soil from ADC.
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Councilmember DeCosta: Prior to that, where was that land management
division getting their soil? What was the price that they were paying for soil or were they
getting it for free?
Ms. Fraley: Prior to that, it was managed by Waste
Management. I believe they were getting it for a lesser price, but they were told that the
price would increase significantly. That price was going to increase no matter who was in
charge. That is my recollection. I was not in charge at the time, but I recall those discussions
when Lyle was onboard. Mike may have more information.
Councilmember DeCosta: Is Mike available?
Ms. Fraley: Mike Tresler?
Councilmember DeCosta: Yes.
Ms. Fraley: Do you remember, Mike?
Councilmember DeCosta: It seems that Mike is the go-to person every time
there is a question. I know that. We might have to create a hybrid position for Mike Tresler.
Ms. Fraley: He is the go-to person for sure.
Mr. Tresler: I am sorry, I missed the last part of the question.
Ms. Fraley: The question was about the soil cost before we
took over the landfill.
Councilmember DeCosta: Hold on Allison. I also asked if the soil was free,
because I heard that we might have gotten it free up until 2020?
Mr. Tresler: No, Councilmember DeCosta. I believe we paid a
monthly fee of$1,000 for road maintenance and the soil was $1 per cubic yard.
Councilmember DeCosta: So, the cost increased by $4 per cubic yard?
Mr. Tresler: Yes, plus other costs.
Councilmember DeCosta: Wow. Thank you, ADC. No farm products, but
high land, soil, and water costs. Perfect.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: On page 307, line item "Loans." There is a huge
increase from $200,000 to $900,000. I know in the narrative we had the $645,000 to repay
State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan obligations. When I look at the breakdown, it shows
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Kekaha gas collection, Kekaha lateral, and transfer station upgrades. It says fourth year for
the first one, second year for the second one, and first year for the third one. I would think if
this is a new loan payment, only the first year would increase the line item because prior
years were being paid. Is this an annual amount that is due? Can you explain and break it
down, or you can get back to me later if you do not have it now.
Mr. Tresler: Councilmember Kuali`i. That seems to be a little
confusing. However, the first year was a small amount. When we completed the project, the
payment terms change rather than principal and interest. It says second year, but it is the
first full year of the loan repayment. That is why it could be a little confusing. The transfer
station upgrades is an ongoing project to address our NPDES violations and doing the
necessary upgrades that we are required to do. We have been doing a lot of planning,
designing, and permitting work. We anticipate that we may have interest to be paid back to
the loan program this year.
Councilmember Kuali`i: The $645,000 amount is part of both items for
Kekaha—Kekaha Gas Station and Kekaha Lateral Expansion. Is it buried in the $800,000?
If you add the two amounts $256,000 and $550,000 it would be the fourth and second year.
Mr. Tresler: It was two (2) different projects.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Okay, thank you.
Mr. Tresler: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions uestions for Solid Waste
Disposal? Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I appreciate you bringing up the notice of
violations that need to be addressed. In my mind, I hold space that we may have a few
requirements that will not come down on the County when we need to redesign the transfer
stations. I stay aware of Act 73, buffer zones, and we are hoping for the best. I want it to be
acknowledged and remembered that it is not completely resolved. Thank you for your work
on that.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions? If not, we will
move onto Solid Waste Collection. Are there any questions for Solid Waste Collection? I did
not have any questions. No questions? We can move onto Solid Waste Recycling.
Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Regarding the item I mentioned earlier, can
someone give us an overview on that item? On page 318, under "Other Services," New AV
Residential Vehicle Pick-up Program—$120,000.
Mr. Fraley: Yes. This line item came out of the Mayor's
Abandoned Vehicle Taskforce, as a means for addressing part of the Abandoned Vehicle
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Program on Kaua`i. This would be a program that would allow low-income households to
properly dispose of vehicles. For example, for vehicles that are completely broken down on
their property, the car needs to be towed, and the people do not have the means to tow them.
The program is budgeted to process approximately four hundred (400) vehicles per year, and
properly dispose them at Puhi Metals Recycling Facility. Hopefully this will impact KPD's
program ,which also hauls five hundred fifty (550) vehicles from public roadways every year.
Councilmember Kuali`i: This program is managed by you, and how does
the public access this?
Ms. Fraley: We have not started it yet. We need approval.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Yes, moving forward, what is the plan?
Ms. Fraley: I believe the Solid Waste Division would manage
this program. That is my understanding, my colleague Keola Aki has been the Mayor's
Abandoned Vehicle Taskforce and wrote up the program. It is my understanding that we
would manage it, we would promote the program, do it for a certain amount of time, and if
you need more details, we can provide that in writing.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Yes, please. Thank you.
Ms. Fraley: Okay.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
follow-up. I asked this before, but it is
Councilmember Cowden: I have a pmy
understanding that our interisland shipping is getting expensive. The purchase of the
carefully crushed vehicles...shoutout to Puhi Metals Recycling Facility for doing a good job,
and they are great partners. Is the County going to have to contribute more? What is going
on with that? At some point, is the cost going up? Is there a plan and can you give us an
overview?
Ms. Fraley: Yes. We had discussions with Puhi Metals
Recycling Facility. That is one of the contracts that is impacted by the shipping increase.
When we negotiated the contract with them several years ago, for a very long term being that
it is a ten-year contract, shipping costs are very different and so is the metals market. We
have been in discussion with Puhi Metals Recycling Facility regarding justification for cost
increase. They are telling us the cost is higher, but we need ample justification to be able to
provide that information to Council for approval. We did not get it before budget came up,
so we do not have that. I can tell you for the tire recycling program, you may notice that the
price increased from last year because of the shipping costs. It is affecting the recycling
programs, but it is affecting the metal recycling more.
Councilmember Cowden: I have been noticing new vehicles driving around
on the road. I have not seen numbers that car sales are up, but it looks like it is. Have you
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noticed that? When I look at these vehicles, I think to myself that these vehicles are big,
what are we going to do with all of them? I look at the new vehicles when they arrive,
eventually they might end up abandoned on the side of the road.
Ms. Fraley: I have not heard much of that from our contractor,
but I agree. If the vehicles are bigger, it is obvious the cost to dispose them is going to
increase.
Councilmember Cowden: Are we looking at vehicle sales? Are we looking
holistically at this problem? How many rental cars will be coming to the island and how
many new vehicles are being sold? If we are thinking about the future if we have a purchase
cost for these disposals...we need to know. If they are arriving here, somehow they have to
go away. Even if the cars are crushed, what are we doing with them?
Ms. Fraley: As I said, the Mayor had an Abandoned Vehicle
Taskforce. That may have been something that they have been working on. I can check with
them to see if I better answer to your question.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions from the
Members on recycling? Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: I am not sure if you are able to answer this
question,Allison, Mr. Tresler might have to answer this. That was an inside joke. There are
a lot of abandoned vehicles, car parts, rear ends, tires, rims, et cetera. It seems that it is not
on County roads or County property and it is on private or State property. It seems as if
people slide it onto County property, and all of a sudden the County is responsible for picking
it up and taking it to Puhi Metals Recycling Facility. Is the amount of$120,000 where it says
Residential Vehicle Pick-Up Program, would that qualify for someone who has some kind of
land who pushes the vehicle(s) onto County road? Is that what this money is used for?
Ms. Fraley: My understanding is that it is for low-income
houses. In my neighborhood, there are people who have a lot of cars in their yard, and they
never get rid of them. My understanding is that it is for the people who do not have any other
way to get vehicles off their own property. This fund would take care of that and not
something that is on the roadway, which is what our Abandoned Vehicle Program is for.
Councilmember DeCosta: Do we have a price of what the County charges?
For example, large landowners or State that have abandoned vehicles that needs to go to the
County facility.
Ms. Fraley: They are charged $60 a vehicle to do the
paperwork to process the disposal.
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Councilmember DeCosta: What about the scrap metal that comes off the
vehicle, but does not have a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) or any current registration?
Is there a price for that? How is that taken out of County areas?
Ms. Fraley: There is a fee schedule at Puhi Metals Recycling
Facility charges commercial pricing for metal, and for residents it is free disposal. I am able
to pull up the price chart while we are talking, it is on the Kaua`i.gov webpage.
Councilmember DeCosta: You can send it to me later, you do not have to pull
it up now.
Ms. Fraley: Okay. There is a chart, and I can provide you the
price schedule.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay. Thank you, Allison.
Ms. Fraley: Sure, of course.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions? My plan is to
finish this, we will take a lunch break, and come back for CIP. Are there any final questions
on recycling? If not, we will take our lunch break, we will be back in one (1) hour, and we
will finish up with Public Works CIP.
There being no objections, the Committee recessed at 12:44 p.m.
The meeting was called back to order at 1:51 p.m., and proceeded as follows:
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Welcome back. Next up, we have the Department
of Public Works, Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) budget. I am going to suggest that we
use the sheets that were provided to us. If you look towards the middle of it at the top, it lists
each Department/Division. We are going through all of the Divisions of the Department of
Public Works. We will start with Auto Maintenance. Is Wade online?
Councilmember Cowden: Where does it say that?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Auto Maintenance projects on the top of the sheet.
Auto Maintenance only has three (3) projects. Two (2) of them are already completed. Are
there any questions for the Auto Maintenance projects? One project is on-hold.
Councilmember Cowden: Is that the middle project?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Fuel Tanks-Hanapepe. Council Vice Chair Chock.
Councilmember Chock: The Auto Shop improvements was a multi-year
project that was supposed to look at the lack of space. That has been a big issue. As we
continue to grow, has the status of the need been addressed? Or are we still overcapacity in
terms of space and operational need?
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Mr. Tanigawa: The Auto Shop is crowded. They are able to digest
the workload right now. Our fleet has already grown. If it continues to grow, then we are
going to have to look at other ways to meet the space needs. At least for the upcoming year,
we are going to be okay. This is something that once our new Shop Superintendent can fully
assess everything, then we can come back to the Council to discuss the space needs in more
detail.
Councilmember Chock: I realize that this is not the year to ask for any
master plan. My understanding is that we had a master plan in terms of need. I cannot
recall what that amount was. It would be good for us to keep an eye out on what that target
is.
Mr. Tanigawa: We will look into that. If you would like to include
that in the written questions, we would be happy to respond to that.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden, then Councilmember
DeCosta.
Councilmember Cowden: I am looking at the next page.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Let us finish Auto Maintenance first, then we will
move on to the next page. Are there any further questions for Auto Maintenance? If not, we
will go to the Building Division projects. Councilmember Cowden, then Councilmember
DeCosta.
Councilmember Cowden: When I see Helicopter Hangar p g and KFD
Helicopter Hangar Pad, those are basically the same project, correct? That is down near
Nawiliwili or the Niumalu area? Where is this Honsador location?
Mr. Tanigawa: Honsador is near Kapule Highway when you take
the turnoff across from the Vidinha Stadium entrance, that is where the Honsador site is.
You go through the entrance and down the road about a mile or so. That site is currently
being looked at as the primary location for the new helicopter operations. There is some
planning that is taking place. That budget is to the hangar and site improvements so the
system is anchored properly.
Councilmember Cowden: When do you think that will be done?
Mr. Tanigawa: I do not have the timeframe on that. That is
something that is being developed with the planning work being done.
Councilmember Cowden: The police training building and the Kapa'a Police
Station. That is going to be up high near Mahelona and where they do the boxing near the
hospital? Is that correct?
Mr. Tanigawa: I believe for that development, either Keith or
Wade could provide a little more detail.
Councilmember Cowden: Yes, please, provide more detail.
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WADE LORD, CIP Manager (via remote technology): I am sorry, what was the
question again?
Councilmember Cowden: We have the Kapa'a Police Station, that is the one
at the Mahelona Hospital area. For two hundred sixty-five thousand dollars ($265,000) we
are just doing the design, is that correct.
Mr. Lord: That is correct.
Councilmember Cowden: Have we received approval for that land? It is
State land correct? Did they say we could have it?
Mr. Lord: We are working with the Hawai`i Health Systems
Corporation (HHSC) right now.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: With the Adolescent Treatment Center, we have
an appropriation balance of twenty-six thousand five hundred ninety-nine dollars ($26,599)
and the second one was nineteen thousand nine hundred ninety-five dollars ($19,995), that
was just to finish off the completed project, is that correct?
Mr. Lord: That is correct.
Councilmember DeCosta: We will owe no additional moneys...that project
will be paid off, is that correct?
Mr. Lord: That is correct.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any additional questions on this page?
I have a follow-up question on the Helicopter Hangar Pad. Is it a certainty that we are going
to move the helicopter to the Honsador site? How much money have we spent previously on
putting it at the airport?
Mr. Lord: I will have to get back to you on how much has
been spent to-date. The current plan is to try and locate it at the Honsador site. We feel that
we could do it cheaper, but there are questions that have to be addressed between our
Building Chief and the manufacturer regarding structural engineering design and meeting
current codes. There has been a change in the codes since the hangar structure was acquired.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Will there be any challenges with the airport with
putting a helicopter hangar pad near the airport, but not on airport lands?
Mr. Lord: Not that we are aware of.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Carvalho.
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Councilmember Carvalho: The Kapa'a Police Substation up at the Mahelona
property. We talked about that for a while. There is also a training facility that I hope will
remain there. That includes the Ocean Safety team. The current location at the Kapa'a
Stadium, will all be relocated up there. I think that is a great opportunity and it would be
great to see this project move forward. There has been a lot of discussion regarding that.
The KPD Training Building-KPAL, that is another one right out here that is going to help
with youth athletics. I just wanted to follow-up on that project.
Mr. Lord: Doug is working with the Police Department
leadership and an engineering firm for the design on that. They did a space utilization study
to try to understand the needs of that campus complex. Originally, the complex did not
foresee having the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney in that building. With the addition of
the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, it became tight. What they were looking at was how
to best utilize the campus and fit all the pieces together. There was a meeting earlier this
month with the design firm and they have some preliminary recommendations. Doug asked
them to go back and price them in phases. Putting the training facility towards the current
area towards the end of the site which is now the end of the parking lot and empty water
detention area.
Councilmember Carvalho: I just wanted clarification on that project and the
location. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any additional questions on this page?
If not, we can move to the next page. There are only two (2) additional projects for the
Building Division. These projects have already been completed, or have moneys that would
move elsewhere. Let us move on to the Engineering and Roads projects. Does anyone have
any questions?
Councilmember Cowden: I just need a minute to look at it again.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Council Vice Chair Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Aliomanu Road. I know that it has been an
ongoing challenge. My concern has always been the rising sea level, the integrity of this
particular road, and what we continue to invest in. I also recall that moving it more mauka
was not an option for us because of costs. What do we expect to gain out of repairing this
road with the seawall, if what we are experiencing and what we know about the seawall
degrading the rest of the shoreline? It is similar to the bike path that we are currently talking
about. It seems counterintuitive. I was just wondering if you might have a response to that.
Mr. Lord: Maybe Michael Moule can speak to the more
technical side of that as I cannot. Michael Moule, are you available?
MICHAEL MOULE, Chief of Engineering (via remote technology): Yes, I am
here. Was that the Niumalu Bridge project?
Councilmember Chock: Aliomanu Road in Anahola.
Mr. Moule: Aliomanu Road, okay. Sorry, I heard Niumalu
and I heard seawall and I got confused. I got it. It is an issue that it is right along the
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shoreline. The design of that particular project is such that it is a sloped revetment rather
than a seawall that is being built. The idea being that that will have less impact on the
nearby areas because rather than reflecting the waves, it absorbs it somewhat. We are aware
that this is an issue. This project is not fully funded in this CIP budget at this time. I am
seeing a small amount. It is a project that we want to keep moving on because we have gone
through a process of alternatives to provide access to the residents in that area. The
alternatives are pretty challenging. Going mauka, we enter DHHL properties. It is not
something that was...the last time we had public meetings about this a few weeks ago, DHHL
and residents within those properties did not want to see that road connected somewhere
else or realigned mauka into those areas.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: The Complete Streets Safety Improvements,
would that include the Safe Routes to School in Hanama`ulu. There was an issue about a
child getting hit on her way to the bus. That was several years ago. We were trying to
address that. Did that get completed? I do not think so.
Mr. Moule: No, there has been no specific improvements in
that particular location. We do have a Safe Routes to School project for King Kaumuali`i
Elementary School, but that is not what is listed here. That is a federally funded project that
is actually about to have funds obligated for it. Construction would likely start later this
year. That is not that particular location nor is it the project that you see listed here on this
list.
Councilmember Cowden: What is the project listed here. It says, "Funding
used as opportunities arise."
Mr. Moule: These are CIP funds that have been sitting there
for a while. We use this to do small improvements like minor crosswalk improvements when
those needs arise. The amount is relatively small. That is down from what it used to be. We
have been using those funds throughout the years.
Councilmember Cowden: On that Hanama`ulu one, there are some federal
funds, and those people will eventually get what they were asking for right there?
Mr. Moule: The federal funds do not address the location
where that crash occurred a couple of years ago.
Councilmember Cowden: So, we do not have a plan for them?
Mr. Moule: We do not have a project planned for that
particular location. We do not believe that particular crash was indicative of anything
significant or special about that location versus other similar locations in the neighborhood.
It is not that close to the school.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i.
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Councilmember Kuali`i: I am not sure what order these are listed in, but
the bridge in Anahola near the beach park, that is out of commission now, correct? It was
inspected and was determined to be unsafe. Would that be something that would be included
here?
Mr. Moule: Most of the bridge repair projects are being funded
by the G.E. Tax Fund funds. Those were the ones that appeared due to recent inspections. I
believe that also includes the Anahola bridge project. That would not show up in the CIP.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Okay.
Mr. Moule: Perhaps Mike Tresler or Wade could confirm that.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden, then Councilmember
Carvalho.
Councilmember Cowden: Where is the Twin Reservoirs road?
Mr. Moule: Twin Reservoirs is not a road. It is a pair of
reservoirs that is located near Olohena Road, Waipouli Road, and Hauiki Road. That effort
is an ongoing effort to eventually decommission that reservoir. The only reason the County
is involved in that one along with several of the reservoirs in the Wailua or Kapahi areas is
because the road in the area is the dam. These were all built by sugar cane companies a long
time ago. We own a part of the reservoir because we own the road. Twin Reservoirs is among
them. We are among seven(7) owners of those reservoirs. We are working with those owners
and a consultant to develop a project to eventually decommission those reservoirs. We want
to breach them so that they cannot hold water anymore. They have been drained for at least
ten (10) years not long after the 2006 disaster at Ka Loko. The Ka Loko Reservoir was the
one that was breached, as you all remember. Since that time, many reservoirs have been
drained and they are not used. This includes all of the ones that the County is involved in
where we have roads that create dams. We are working on those to decommission them.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, I know exactly where you are talking about
now.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Carvalho.
Councilmember Carvalho: The $192,000 you repackaged that project? This
is for Olohena Road Phase I and Kawaihau Road.
Mr. Moule: I am sorry, which one was that?
Councilmember Carvalho: One hundred ninety-two thousand four hundred
thirty-two dollars ($192,432), Collector Roads Improvements. You repackaged that for the
two (2) projects, Olohena Road Phase I and Kawaihau Road. Is that the "peanutabout" or
the roundabout on Kawaihau and of course Olohena Road Phase I. Are we on the right page?
Councilmember Cowden: It is on the first page of Roads, halfway down.
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Mr. Moule: Sorry, I was on mute. Kawaihau Collector Roads
is not the "peanutabout." That project is on the second page, the second one down. That is
where the matching funds are for the Kawaihau, Haua'ala, Mailihuna Complete Streets
Safety Improvements project. That project has been bid and we are looking to award that
project and give the notice to proceed this week, if it has not happened already. I just came
back from vacation. That should be happening soon. It should go to construction in June.
That Collector Roads project that you mentioned, that is for Olohena Road. This is a project
very similar to what we are finishing up right now on Maluhia and Koloa Roads on the south
side. This project will be to reconstruct the pavement, resurface Olohena Road, reconstruct
pavement, as needed, as well as shoulder widening improvements to improve the usability of
that road for all users and strengthen the roadway as it has a lot of potholes. That project is
scheduled to be funded with federal funds this year with construction starting early next
year. There is a second phase that is going to handle the Olohena Road and Kukui Street
area right in Kapa'a Town. That is a couple of years out.
Councilmember Carvalho: Okay, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Do we have any other questions on this page. If
not, we can move on to the next page. Are there any questions for any of the projects on this
page? Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: The Wa'a Road Drainage, did we decide not to do
that?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: That is on the following page. Councilmember
DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: On the Kilauea Road/Kolo Road Resurfacing
Safety Improvements. It says the Project Manager is Lee S. It resolves possible right-of-way
inconsistencies. Could you explain that to me? Is it an easement right-of-way? Do we not
own the road and they are trying to get us to maintain or pave it? Do we own the road or
jointly own the road with other landowners? Could someone explain that?
Mr. Moule: We own the existing right-of-way for Kilauea
Road. There is a segment of Kilauea Road where there is a strip of land next to the existing
pavement and is the segment from roughly Titcomb Street down to Mihi Road. It is the long
straight portion of Kilauea Road past the last subdivision. It goes past Kahili Quarry Road
and the new agricultural park there. The survey provided by the consultant that was hired
on this project hired, which was hired by Federal Highways Administration (FHWA), had the
property line at one location. Other documents that we have from local surveyors show the
property line at a different location. We are working on resolving that. Just this week there
were some E-mails about an old roadway dedication that may not have been finalized. It
came across my desk and I believe it relates to this. We believe that we have that property
that will allow us to improve that sidewalk. We still have not finalized that resolution.
Whether or not we own that strip of land, we feel comfortable enough that we will build this
project one way or another. It just sits a little better if we had that land.
Councilmember DeCosta: If we do not end up getting that right-of-way or
own that piece of property, then whoever does, do we enforce that they contribute costs to
improving that surfacing area? Or do we absorb those costs?
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Mr. Moule: If we do not own that property and we are not able
to obtain it for a low cost to the County as a dedication, then we would just avoid using that
portion of the property. It is off to the side of the existing road. It is not where the existing
road would be. It would mean that the improved sidewalk that we intended to build would
be closer to the existing road like it is now. It would just be widened a little bit and would be
made of concrete instead of asphalt.
Councilmember DeCosta: How dangerous for the community would that be
having the sidewalk right next to the roadway?
Mr. Moule: Again, we are fairly confident that we are going to
have that property. Indeed, it would be better to have the sidewalk further away. It is still
not going to be adjacent to the road. There is still going to be some space. We are hoping for
at least five (5) or six (6) feet of space to make that more comfortable to walk or otherwise
access the area by the wildlife refuge.
Councilmember DeCosta: Do we know currently who owns that piece of
property?
Mr. Moule: I do not have that information at the top of my
head. The lot has been divided by condominium property regime (CPR) into several owners.
One or two of them are churches or people related to the churches somehow. The others are
large landowners in the area. They are not successor companies to sugar cane companies as
we usually see in other instances.
Councilmember DeCosta: Have we approached them or asked them if they
wanted to donate the land to the County to improve pedestrian safety?
Mr. Moule: If we determine that we do not currently own that
land, that is going to be our next effort, to ask that the land be donated so that we can build
the project as planned.
Councilmember DeCosta: Perfect.
Mr. Moule: It looks like there were old dedications that were
supposed to happen that maybe did not get finished. If those all get completed on a legal
basis, it will not be an issue.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay.
Councilmember Cowden: Is that where we have the black asphalt trail right
before you get to Kauapea Road, right across the agricultural park? There is plenty of room
over there. That little asphalt trail is actually quite nice.
Mr. Moule: That is the area that we are talking about. We are
talking about trying to improve that from asphalt to concrete. That will not require as much
maintenance. What looks to be plenty of room, when we got the initial survey on this project,
that extra room did not appear to be the County's property. We think that we may either
have it or it might just have some legal issues that need to be finalized in order for us to get
it.
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Councilmember Cowden: Okay.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions for the projects on
this page? Moving on. Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: The Niumalu Bridge Replacement. It says that
the inspection reported that it is in poor condition, the weight limit was downgraded, and a
steel plate was placed over the bridge. $50,000. What is that for? That is not enough to fix
that bridge. Do I have that number wrong?
Mr. Moule: There are two(2)projects listed here. There is the
$50,000 and $275,000 listed just below it.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. For that combined amount, you can fix that
bridge?
Mr. Moule: I could not answer exactly what our current
budget is for that fix. I could not say. It is probably a little more than that, but I do not the
exact figure for that. It may be that we dedicate some G.E. funds for it. We are currently in
the design phase for this project.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Next page. Councilmember Cowden, I think you
had a question on Wa'a Road Drainage.
Councilmember Cowden: I just wanted to understand whether that was
something we decided not to address because of? I am trying to remember where Wa'a Road
is exactly.
Mr. Moule: Wa'a Road is a small road in Lihu`e Town just past
the Texaco gas station on the right just past the banks. It goes down the hill and goes down
to Nawiliwili Valley. The issue there is that much of what needs to be done there involves
the old railroad crossing that is owned by Grove Farm Museum. Technically, they own the
road right-of-way as it goes over that railroad right-of-way, as the railroad preceded the road,
it sounds like. They have plans to make some changes there. It does not make sense for us
to try to address that as a separate project, but rather with them. We have been waiting for
a long time for them to get them to move on what they want to do. There has not been much
action there. This one does not appear to be imminent in need of funding.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: I would like to talk about the Olohena Road
Improvements. I noticed under the status that it appears that we need to have some
agreements that need to be met. It appears we need to meet with KIUC on the utility pole
agreements. When we do utility pole relocations with KIUC and we are going to be doing the
capital improvements on the roadway, do we have to pay them the cost of relocating those
poles? Or do they do it because they are a community-owned entity?
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Mr. Moule: With all utilities, the first $10,000 of utility
relocations is funded by the utility company or cooperative, in this case. After that, the utility
relocation costs are split 50/50.
Councilmember DeCosta: KIUC is owned by the community members. It
would be nice if KIUC would fund the entire project to move the utility poles, instead of
putting the cost back on their members. Those are just my thoughts.
Mr. Moule: My understanding is that is related to the way the
State laws allocates how utility relocation costs should be shared. I am not that familiar with
the law. That is my understand at this time.
Councilmember DeCosta: Do we know how many poles have to be relocated?
Mr. Moule: I do not know off the top of my head. We are still
finalizing those plans. We just received the 95% plans and I think we did some changes from
the last set to reduce the number ofoles to be relocated. That number has literallyjust
p
changed.
Councilmember DeCosta: Do we have a cost per pole or how much $10,000
of the initial costs that KIUC will cover will be able to pay for?
Mr. Moule: I do not have that information. I could possibly
pull up an estimate about what the total utility relocation costs would be. It would take me
some time to find it.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Council Vice Chair Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Related to the Transportation Investment
Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Grant...I know it is closed out or complete, but is
there funding still within somewhere for maintenance as it relates to landscaping or cleanup
along Rice Street? If not, is it just incurred within our Department of Public Works' budget?
Mr. Moule: I have to see if Troy or someone else can answer
that question. I do not get too involved in maintenance. I believe there was a landscape
maintenance period for the contract. That completed within the last month, so it is going to
be turned over to the County very soon, if not already. I do not work directly on the
maintenance side. I cannot address how that is going to be handled.
Councilmember Chock: I know it is not related, but I have been getting
some calls about the upkeep of it. For these roads, I know we had some sort of extension
planned for maintaining them. I am just curious where it ended up. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions on this page? If
not, we will move on to the next page. If there are not questions on that page, we can move
on to the next one.
Councilmember Cowden: The Ho`onani Road, that is where we are doing a
lot of those repairs? That is in Koloa, right?
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Mr. Moule: Yes, these Community Facilities District (CFD)
projects are the ones that are funded by the...
Councilmember Cowden: What is CFD mean?
Mr. Moule: Community Facilities District. I believe these are
funded by a bond for Kukui`ula. All of those projects came out of the South Kaua`i Community
Plan.
Councilmember Cowden: Yes.
Mr. Moule: When that funding became available,we looked at
the South Kaua`i Community Plan and identified some of the pedestrian and bicycle
there. Weput together three (3) concise projects from
improvements that were identifiedg
that Plan. Those are the top three (3) listed on this page. Ho`onani Road is the road that
goes to the Sheraton Kauai. That is where"The Wall"is located between Koloa Landing and
the Sheraton Kaua`i. We were trying to improve the walkability of that area. It is a
pedestrian project.
Councilmember Cowden: That is a nice project. It is going to get completed
or started this year?
Mr. Moule: These projects are ones that we have not started
the design effort on them yet. They are relatively new projects. We are moving forward to
get them completed soon. Earlier this morning we talked about the vacancies that we have
in our Division. We see the "light at the end of the tunnel" in filling some of those. That will
allow us to get some of these projects moving on a faster pace.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Council Vice Chair Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Biennial Bridge Inspections, can you confirm that
the bridge on the Kapa'a Bypass Road past the Church of the Pacific, if that is a County
bridge? If so, I am curious to know if in these inspections, the rubbish, debris, or overgrowth
such as hau bush, is a part of those inspections?
Councilmember Cowden: Do you mean Crossroads Church?
Councilmember Chock: Yes, Crossroads.
Mr. Moule: The Kapa'a Bypass is a State of Hawai`i
Department of Transportation (HDOT) maintained route. It is not a Federal Aid route. If
the bridge is over twenty (20) feet long, it would be a Federal Aid bridge, in theory. The
State would take care of that bridge. If it is inspected now, it would be inspected by the State.
I will say that generally speaking, when we get our inspection reports, they have information
about whether there is vegetation that is affecting the structure of the bridge and whether
that vegetation should be cleared. I would assume that the State's inspection reports would
have similar information. That is not our bridge, so I do not have any other information
about it. I am basing my response as to what we have for our structures.
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Councilmember Chock: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Evslin.
Councilmember Evslin: Ho`olako Improvements, I know we defunded that
previously. I do not think we had a chance to talk about that project during the last budget
session. Could you go into a little overview of what the intent was, and whether it is still
planned for the future.
Mr. Moule: I do not know if there is someone from the Office
of the Mayor who wants to speak about that project as that project came from them.
Otherwise, I can do a summary from what I know.
Mr. Dahilig: We were in a position where we were cash-flush
prior to COVID-19. We had looked at trying to do a land swap with Grove Farm to be able
to expand the footprint of the Kaua`i Police Department building. We also wanted to
permanently expand the baseyard for the Transportation Agency and for gup opening the
P
zoned e areas behind the Molokoa Subdivision for additional development. Where we sit right
now is that the project is not considered a priority given the financial condition of the County
right now. We have not moved forward with any additional discussion regarding that
agreement given our financial standing. It is obviously something that we would love to still
pursue in a better fiscal climate, but at this juncture, we are not in a capacity to do so at this
time to expand that area.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions on that page? If
not, we will move on to the final page for Engineering/Roads. Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: The Hanapepe Moi Road Sidewalk project, I am
assuming that is the part that goes up that steep hill where the houses are not located. It is
on the front end on the early part of the hill before you get to the...
Mr. Moule: Yes, that is correct. It is a project to build a project
on Moi Road from Hanapepe Road up to Kahe Road, the first street that you come to in
Heights.
Hanapepe e e
Councilmember Cowden:
That is steep, and the children and seniors go
down that. There are chicken holes there that seem to be a problem. When will that get put
in?
Mr. Moule: That has been delayed due to our staffing
challenges. In the last month or so, we have been working with another staff member to get
those plans finalized and out to bid. We hope to be able to bid that this year.
Councilmember Cowden: Great.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you. The Speed Hump/Traffic Calming
Program states island wide. We have a few high priority areas. I know one is in the Kalaheo
area going up near the Kukuiolono Golf Course, but I also know that we were also in
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conversation with the Fire Department on whether those speed bumps p p would slow down the
rescue time of their fire trucks. Do you have an update on that? Can we go ahead with our
speed bumps and humps allocation and renovation? Do we still need to correspond with our
Fire Department to ensure we are not violating any safety regulations on response time to
get to the incident?
Mr. Moule: This money has been in here for a while as we
have a Speed Hump Ordinance. If ever someone goes through the process as outlined in that
Ordinance to get speed humps, we need to fund it through these funds. What has happened
in many cases is that the requested areas is what is called collector roads or main roads. The
current Ordinance does not allow for the construction of speed humps on collector roads. We
have drafted an ordinance change and it is being reviewed by the departments. This would
change the Ordinance to allow for that. Within that, there are discussions about those being
reviewed by Police, Fire, Planning, and other departments, so there will always be that
review. There is that review for the current speed hump program and there would be for any
new changes. We are working on that ordinance change and finalizing that to be able to send
that over to the Council later this year. That would then open the door for us to identify
different kinds of traffic calming. We tested speed humps, speed tables, and speed cushions
over by Vidinha Stadium. We have looked at those and tested them with the Fire Department
to see which one would have the least amount of delay. We are starting to figure that out
and are working on that ordinance change so that we can continue to work with the Fire
Department and allow for traffic calming on other roads such as Papalina Road, which is the
one you mentioned in Kalaheo.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you for that.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any final questions on this last page? If
not, we will move on to Solid Waste projects. Can I have an update on the Waste-to-Energy
project?
Mr. Dahilig: We have just completed a Professional Services
procurement evaluation and we should be on target to be able to contract that with an
engineering firm very shortly.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: What is the intent?
Mr. Dahilig: The intent for that is marrying the discussion
earlier today...we have to look at different avenues to try to reduce our waste streams or
divert. Waste-to-energy was something that had been brought up as an alternative to
potentially investigate.. While we continue to work one track on additional landfills, we
continue to look at other options of diversion. This was one option for consideration that we
wanted to investigate to try and see the feasibility of having one on this island. That is where
that money is going.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there specific items that they are looking to
put in there such as green waste, cardboard, et cetera? Is it going to be even larger items?
Mr. Dahilig: We are looking at Honolulu's model of H-Power
and looking at that waste stream to try to mirror what they have been able to accommodate
through that method of refuse disposal. There tends to be a large percentage of the household
waste stream as compared to things like white goods and those types of items. They do a lot
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of diversion also with the green waste based off of their Charter requirements. At this time,
we are looking at the waste stream as a means to create megawatts. It obviously becomes a
balancing discussion of the more waste that is capable of being consumed, the balancing of
the costs will become a consequence of the sale to KIUC in the form of energy. We have heard
anecdotally that it may or may not be feasible. That is why this is meant to be a deeper
investigation that an alternatives analyses that have been laid out in previous in
environmental documents that have been related to landfill siting, et cetera.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Council Vice Chair Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Do you have on-hand what the procurement
amount was for this contract?
Mr. Dahilig: It was for $300,000 for an overall consulting
contract.
Councilmember Chock: The full amount?
Mr. Dahilig: That was what was budgeted as a previous capital
outlay.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: Did you have a conversation with KIUC already if
in case this feasibility proves successful? I know H-Power was produced to burn trash to
make energy. I was just curious as to whether KIUC would buy any of our power. There are
many solar panels on people's homes that do not qualify for energy buyback. The grid is
overloaded right now. How would they make a deal with the County when they already have
too much power going into their grid?
Mr. Dahilig: That is a good question. Ultimately, when we are
looking at H-Power or anything that is going to generate power...when we are looking at
anything that is coming in at a ridiculous kilowatt-hour cost, it is not going to be financially
tenable for KIUC. That is why part of this study is meant to look at the inputs, the outputs,
and what our projects kilowatt-hour cost would ultimately be charged to show whether this
is financially feasible or not. We have commitments from KIUC to at least work with us on
discussing...should the study need information or what is necessary for this to be financially
feasible for them, but it is in line with the target that waste-to-energy is a type of energy
production that is considered renewable under the energy targets set forth in State law. As
part of their portfolio, they are going to already have to move forward to one hundred percent
(100%) renewables as part of the State mandate. This at least checks off one of those boxes
in leading up to that State-mandated requirement. It is hard for us to get any type of hard
commitment from KIUC without being able to talk about the nuts and bolts of the numbers,
and that is what this study is meant to provide as information so we can talk real feasibility
rather than conceptualized feasibility at this point.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden, Councilmember
Carvalho, then Councilmember Evslin.
Councilmember Cowden: A very simple question. What is BMP? Best
Management Practice, Scott told me. Sorry, thank you.
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Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Carvalho.
Councilmember Carvalho: I wanted to follow up with the location and where
we are with that.
Mr. Dahilig: The location of the waste-to-energy project?
Councilmember Carvalho: Yes.
Mr. Dahilig: We would include that in the scope of this study,
not only the feasibility and construction costs, but it would also look at potential sites around
the island. This is not an environmental document per se, this is something to provide that
technical information as to where something like this could be or would be sited. There have
been discussions about the Green Energy facility as being a potential. That was not the
intent of the study. The intent was not to justify taking over that site.
Councilmember Carvalho: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Evslin.
Councilmember Evslin: I am a little confused now. The description says
that it seeks to determine the feasibility of converting the Green Energy plant located near
Kahili to incinerate trash. Has the scope of it expanded to look more broadly at waste-to-
energy and not necessarily just that plant? Is that what you are saying?
Mr. Dahilig: Obviously that is a part of the discussion. It is not
targeted for just that plant. This is not an environmental document to do that. Whereas the
development of a generic facility versus the conversion of a facility, those are items that will
be looked at in the overall scope of the inquiry. We know it is a facility on-island that can be
converted. If we were to focus the inquiry simply on buying that facility, then we would be
limiting the scope of understanding what our capabilities are or whether we actually need to
have facility that can be converted. While out of the gates that may have been the intent as
we have matured in the discussions, keeping it more generic as a cost item and looking at the
waste stream side of things and the requirements to convert that to energy, really becomes
the more valuable elements of the study.
Councilmember Evslin: I thought we had previous studies looking at that.
I do not have that information in front of me. I take it that there has not been a study doing
exactly this?
Mr. Dahilig: For example,when we had Integrated Solid Waste
Management studies put together that are required by State law, there are surficial studies
that look at that, as well as alternative analyses for the landfill. In this particular
circumstance, getting to that granular understanding of what it would take to do so, along
the line of inquiry as to what Councilmember DeCosta was asking, becomes more of the hard
discussion points and data we can bring to the table with KIUC. If we do not have anyone
that is going to accept the energy, we are not going to go anywhere. We have to be able to
sell KIUC on the idea or say that this is not going to make any sense.
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Councilmember Evslin: Is part of the scope of the study looking at...I know
you are saying it is bigger than just the Green Energy plant...that in theory, you could have
a boiler burning green energy and our solid waste stream, so we do not get stuck in the same
place that other municipalities have had with minimum feed stocks that they cannot
maintain with solid waste alone?
Mr. Dahilig: That is exactly the concern that we need to
confirm based off of the tonnage that we are producing on top of the fact that we have a
feedback loop with Green Energy that actually grows stuff to burn. We want to find out
whether that can stand alone as a municipal solid waste (MSW) only type of setup. I think
early indications have indicated possibly not, that we would need to have supplemental
material to either burn or support just MSW only, but that also behooves the discussion that
technology has changed quite a bit over the past few years and part of this inquiry is to see
whether a scaled down version of H-Power could financially work.
Councilmember Evslin: I believe when you were talking about H-Power
you mentioned that they have diversion efforts associated with H-Power. Are there any parts
of the study that look at what those diversion efforts could look like on Kaua`i as it is
associated with a waste-to-energy plant?
Mr. Dahilig: There was one part of the question that I missed
that might be relative to the question you asked. Is it whether it is diversion overall or
diversion specific to H-Power. I just want to clarify.
Councilmember Evslin: Diversion as it would be associated with a
waste-to-energy plant or both. Is it looking at diversion overall? I am assuming it was not.
Will there be an aspect associated with diversion as it relates to waste-to-energy?
Mr. Dahilig: I think it is two-fold. We are not going to stop
pursuing diversion efforts as it comes to more enhanced recycling and those efforts. Allison
and Ben have educated us time and time again internally about the value of making
investments in things like construction recycling, clothes recycling, et cetera. If we only
pursue waste-to-energy as a diversion or total waste management solutions versus looking
at these other aspects. The timeline for us on landfill airspace remains static. Our goal here
is to keep trying to expand our event horizon whether by diversion or through a total new
waste solution. That is our goal. A landfill will always be pushed, but we have to look at
other options to not only be stuck with only one track to try and find solutions here. We are
going to continue to look at diversion in other means that will continue to be pursued. The
waste-to-energy track is looked at both in the diversion light, but also as a total waste
solution, if that makes sense.
Councilmember Evslin: Yes, sort of. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions on the
waste-to-energy line item? If not, Council Vice Chair Chock.
Councilmember Chock: I have a clarification on the NPDES Compliance
line items. It looks to me that we are transferring approximately$200,000 out of that project.
It says that we are moving it to a new CIP project. I wanted to get some clarity on that and
where we were moving it to.
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Mr. Tanigawa: Which line item were you looking at?
Councilmember Chock: The third from the top. There are two (2) NPDES
Compliance items. The first one under Solid Waste projects.
Mr. Tanigawa: Let me get to that. I was looking at a different
sheet, if you could just bear with me.
Councilmember DeCosta: It is project number W13010.
Councilmember Chock: It is related to the transfer stations, correct?
Mr. Tanigawa: Yes.
Mr. Lord: This is for the BMP project for the transfer
stations.
Councilmember Chock: It will stay in the budget for the transfer stations?
Mr. Lord: It will, yes.
Councilmember Chock: Okay, thank you.
Mr. Tresler: I know there was a line item for it and for that
project we have SRF loans for the majority of the funding. That funding is to address the
non-refundable portion of that project. Those are tasks that SRF loans cannot fund. They
can only fund certain parts of our project.
Councilmember Chock: Okay.
Ms. Fraley: I can address the items that are not covered by the
SRF loans. Those are utility clearance and relocation, new sheds, office spaces and
restrooms, emergency eyewash stations, backflow preventers, water meters, plumbing, and
piping for restrooms and septic tanks. This is a huge project, but those particular items were
not eligible for funding under the SRF loans.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you.
Ms. Fraley: It is split out into two (2) fiscal years.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions regarding the
projects in the Solid Waste Division? If not, we will move on to Wastewater projects. Are
there any questions for the Wastewater projects? There are only three (3) funded projects on
the first page. If not, we will move to the next page. We can move on to the final page or any
questions for Wastewater projects. Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: It looks like quite a bit of these projects are
on-hold.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: I will go to Councilmember DeCosta.
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Councilmember DeCosta: I do not see the project in here, but it is a
community idea that they would like to come to fruition. I think it came from the Kilauea
community, and they had asked if they could have their own sewer treatment plant out there.
Did we put much energy, time, or resources into that idea?
Mr. Kagimoto: We have not funded that project in this budget.
As much as I understood, that was going to be a community project that would be a privately
operated plant. I have not received any interest that it would be something that the County
would be involved in. I do not really know too much about that project.
Councilmember DeCosta: I know it was a big concern and it is great when
the community comes together to try and solve their own problems.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions for the Wastewater
Division? That is our last item for today.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you for all the work that you do.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Evslin.
Councilmember Evslin: For the Waimea WWTP R-1, is that $55,000
through the CIP...all the rest of the funding is coming through the SRF?
Mr. Kagimoto: I am not sure what that $55,000 would be put
towards, but basically the construction itself is SRF-funded. That was just some remnant
money from an old CIP project that we brought over in the event that we need money for a
change order or something like that.
Councilmember Evslin: If we are looking for some moneys for a
wastewater master plan study, that might be a good place to look?
Mr. Kagimoto: We would probably need more than that.
Councilmember Evslin: It would be a start.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions for Wasterwater? If
not, good job today. At this time, I would like to recess the Departmental Budget Reviews.
We will convene at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow, March 30, 2021 where we will be reviewing the CIP
budget for all other departments.
There being no objections, the meeting recessed at 2:58 p.m.