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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/30/2021 CIP Budget - All Other Departments CIP Budget-All Other Departments 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 30, 2021 at 9:00 a.m., and proceeded as follows: Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Good morning, I would like to call back to order the Committee of the Whole and Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Departmental Budget Reviews. Let the record reflect that all Members are present. On the schedule for today, March 30, 2021, we are going to go over the CIP Budget for all other departments, besides the Department of Public Works. We addressed the Department of Public Works yesterday. As we do each morning, we will take public testimony at the beginning of the meeting. Is there anyone registered to speak? 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 received no written testimony. For today's discussion, we have Wade Lord available, and all of the department heads online and ready to answer questions. My suggestion is that we just go through the CIP list department by department. We will go through each page and if there are any questions, we will stop on that page and ask questions. If there are no questions we will proceed. We can start. Today, we are starting with the Fire Department. I actually have a question on the pavement areas. Could Wade or someone from the Fire Department explain what this pavement project is. STEVEN R. GOBLE, Fire Chief(via remote technology): Good morning. We have a number of projects related to the fire stations themselves. We have an ongoing project at the Kapa'a Fire Station to remediate some of the problems that we have in the parking area and the approach area for the apparatus. Over time, that area has become filled with potholes and the pavement has deteriorated. It has been a difficult area for our team to navigate as they come in and out. This is just to repair what exists. There is a plan to create a larger concrete space so that we mitigate problems going forward. The transition between the pavement and the concrete seems to be the initial problem area. We are looking to expand the concrete area a little bit, make that transition point a little farther out, so that it is not so impactful, and ultimately finish up the paving in and around the Kapa'a Fire Station. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you for that. I want to add that I have a friend and neighbor who asks whether the Fire Department should paint "Do Not Block" on the roadway so when there is an emergency the area is not blocked by traffic. I do not know if you might want to talk to Michael Moule about incorporating that into the paving projects while you are adding concrete to the road. My neighbor would ask "What would happen if March 30, 2021 Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Departmental Budget Reviews CIP Budget (All Other Departments) Page 2 there is a red light, traffic is in front of the fire station, and there is an accident and your crew needs to get out?" Then they will have to just wait for all of the vehicles to move. Kapa'a Fire Station has it, but I do not think they have it in Lihu`e or at any of the other fire stations. Chief Goble: Great idea. That way we can have free access out when we need it. We will talk to the Department of Public Works to explore that. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: I would not think that the cost would be that much more to incorporate"Do Not Block"painted on the roadway, especially if we are already doing a pavement project that is abutting the asphalt road. Chief Goble: Great. Yes. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Okay. Are there any further questions on this line item from the Members? If not, any other questions for Fire regarding any of their items? Councilmember Cowden. Councilmember Cowden: I have one that is not on the list. It is about the Hanalei Fire Station. There are people worried about it. Is everyone solid in there right now and on top of the problem? Chief Goble: Yes. We evaluated that fire station initially when the landslide occurred. The State came out and looked at it and determined that with the landslide itself, there was about a 200-foot safety zone that was established for that, and the fire station was outside of that. That is just a precautionary distance between the site and the potential problems. We were outside of that and the fire station remains stable with no damage sustained during the event. Councilmember Cowden: When we were just talking about the "Do Not Block" on the pavement, I am sure that the people directing traffic are not letting that fire station get blocked as it can be a very long backup fronting the area. Chief Goble: Yes. They are going very far back. We have been using the exit as kind of the primary...or what was typically the entry into the station as the primary exit out of the station to try and help mitigate that as well. Councilmember Cowden: Okay, thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions for Fire on their CIP projects? If not, we will move on. Thank you, Chief. We will move on to Housing. Councilmember Kuali`i. Councilmember Kuali`i: Lima Ola Phase I Infrastructure. That is a typographical error, correct. The flooding from April 2021, that month has obviously not come yet, so I believe that should be April 2020. When you say the site completion is estimated to be January 2022, due to rain delays, you are obviously talking about previous March 30, 2021 Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Departmental Budget Reviews CIP Budget (All Other Departments) Page 3 rain delays. Is there any estimation added in on the time for future rain delays? They are likely, correct? ADAM P. ROVERSI, Housing Director (via remote technology): The Phase I project in the contract was initially on execution scheduled to end in November of this year. So far, in the last maybe month and a half or two months with severe rain, they have calculated about thirty (30) days of rain delays. That is why the November date so far is pressing into December. We are expecting that there may be some additional rain delays until we settle into summer. That is why instead of stating December, we have anticipated perhaps another thirty (30) days and pushed it out into January of 2022. Councilmember Kuali`i: Great, thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Council Vice Chair Chock. Councilmember Chock: For the next project. Regarding the Waimea Land Acquisition, I know that we have been having some community meetings already. I have been hearing different things and was wondering, as it relates to Housing, because I know we used some of the Housing Revolving Fund...what are we obligated to produce in terms of units and what percentage of land is being attributed to that? Mr. Roversi: I think there is no firm answer to that question. I think it is somewhat subjective. The Housing funding to my recollection paid for approximately 30% of the property. Clearly, 30% of the property just in land area is most likely not suitable for housing. It is difficult to just use that percentage of funding to create a parallel percentage of acres that must be used for housing. Some of the land is out of the flood zone and highly appropriate for housing development, whereas some of the low-lying land would be less valuable. I do not think it is a one-to-one equation. It is ultimately up to the Council in working with the Administration to come to a subjective determination of what is appropriate. Councilmember Chock: You mentioned that only so much of the property is ready for building or eligible for building. How much was that? Did you say 30%? Mr. Roversi: No, that was the percentage of funding that came from the Housing Agency. Much of my knowledge comes from what the Planning Department is currently working on with the master plan. Just reviewing the preliminary information that they have posted on the"Waimea 400"website, I believe that they estimated somewhere around forty (40) acres is clearly sufficiently elevated for housing, is designated for housing in the prior Waimea Community Plans, et cetera. That does not mean that that acreage could not be expanded. We are not entirely precluded from providing housing in areas that have certain flood designations as long as we do correct mitigation work to address that fact. The low-hanging fruit based on what I have reviewed so far in the Planning documents was in the ballpark of forty (40) acres. Councilmember Chock: Thank you. March 30, 2021 Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Departmental Budget Reviews CIP Budget (All Other Departments) Page 4 Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions for Housing on their CIP items? Councilmember DeCosta. Councilmember DeCosta: I know there are some acres right next to our Lihu`e housing project that we built on State lands. I believe we spoke a little bit about acquiring that since our infrastructure and everything else is ready to go in that area. Are we planning on having discussions with the State to see if we can acquire that two-acre piece, which would create a better area to expand our project there? Mr. Roversi: The Administration has had ongoing discussions with our State Representatives and Senator Kouchi, along with Governor Ige. At the moment, we have made the request and the ball is essentially in the State's court for the Governor's consideration as to whether his office deems an additional Executive Order regarding that land is appropriate. We have made that request, but my understanding is that there has not been a determination yet. Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you so much for that, Adam. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions from the Members? If not, we will move on. Thank you, Adam. We are now on the Department of Finance, Information Technology Division and Department of Human Resources. There is only one big project in here right now. The Human Resources Management System (HRMS). Do we have any questions on this project? If not, we will move on to the Kauai Emergency Management Agency (KEMA), which has no projects. We will move on and the next is the Office of Economic Development (OED), but they do not have any projects either. We will move to the Department of Parks & Recreation. Councilmember Cowden. Councilmember Cowden: I want to thank the Department of Parks & Recreation for all of the hard work that they are doing. The Kapa'a Stadium Improvements...I am wondering about the skatepark, which I think is great. Everyone is happy and I go down there to watch people skate. I was wondering if we could put a light right above that skatepark, because they are skating at night. When all of the fields or courts around them have their lights on that works, but it would seem more energy-efficient to have the light right above the skatepark. I noticed that even when basketball and tennis are done, that some of the skating ends up happening on the basketball and tennis courts, because they have better lighting. I think if we put the light above the skatepark, we would not be putting those other lights on. It would also be safer and my guess is that skating on the surface of the tennis and basketball courts might not be very good for those surfaces for those sports. I am not sure who the right person is to speak to regarding this. Perhaps it is Wally. WALLACE G. REZENTES, JR., Deputy Director of Parks & Recreation (via remote technology): I think William is trying to get on the call now. That project is under our Planning& Development Team and we are in the process of getting a consultant to work on the plans to design the lighting system for that park. We have the necessary funding set aside to do the work. It is in progress as we speak. I do not think that March 30, 2021 Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Departmental Budget Reviews CIP Budget (All Other Departments) Page 5 the entire problem with the lights will resolve the problem that exists with respect to skaters skating on the other courts. We have had a couple run-ins with our basketball teams and skaters recently, because the skaters overtake the area. We posted signs and the good thing is that we have posted some signage and have permitted the basketball activities. When there is an organized basketball league or games, the coaches will have the permit document with them that will allow them to use the basketball courts. That is something we have done recently that hopefully can help to avoid the competition over the basketball court with the skaters. The other good thing is that when the roller rink is not being used, some of the skateboarders go there. It is usually the younger children who are maybe not as talented yet. They practice with their parents on the basketball court or in the roller rink before they get into the skateboard park. Councilmember Cowden: I have gone there for a few Fridays now and I would say that it is a resounding success of happy families playing together. I say constructively it beat my expectations in terms of how many people are out there joyously. Good job. I think the skatepark needs the lighting. Also, I am asking, not saying...I am asking if there has been an evaluation of how the cars come in and out of the parking lot in terms of all these little grommets around on their skates and safety as it gets dark right there too. There is a whirlwind of activity, even in the parking area right next to the roundabout. I did not see any near-miss accidents. I have been asked to go and look, and I tried to photograph the problem. Part of what brought me down there on these Fridays, was to do that. I have not seen anything that makes me cringe, but just because I did not see it, does not mean it does not happen. I am just bringing that up for evaluation on parking lot safety. I would guess there are almost three hundred (300) people in that park at any given time. They are safe and socially distanced. All of those activities are right next to each other. Mr. Rezentes: The parking lot is another problem. The Transportation Agency and Celia M. Mahikoa brought that up recently. Celia has had problems because her buses are having problems gaining sufficient access to the parking lot as that is a major hub for the bus stop over there. Sometimes the parents will bring their kids there and double- or triple-park. I have alerted our Rangers to that and we are going to start issuing warnings and tickets. I have seen that myself driving down the hill. People are double-parked and blocking other people there. That is an ongoing problem. We do not have enough spaces or stalls there to address the demand. More so if there is a basketball game or practice going on at the same time on a nice, sunny day. We have had situations where there has been a softball game, a basketball game, and people at the skatepark. The parking lot is overly congested and ideally we would have people parking on the other side where there is a little more ample parking. That is a bit further of a walk for them. Hopefully we can encourage people by warning or ticketing them, to look for stalls on the other side of the Bryan J. Baptiste (BJP) Sports Complex. Councilmember Cowden: If I have other questions, should I ask them? Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Council Vice Chair Chock has a follow-up question. March 30, 2021 Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Departmental Budget Reviews CIP Budget (All Other Departments) Page 6 Councilmember Chock: Wally, I see the reports and requests for that area and some of the things that I wanted to clarify is whether it is of interest for the Department of Parks & Recreation to resurface the roller rink section? I know there is also more use happening in the last few months and some interest from the community. Are you aware of those discussions? Mr. Rezentes: No, nothing officially to our office. I have heard that the roller rink community folks are looking at options, including getting a masonry company to assist them. I think they may also be doing some fundraising. We would be open to helping them. It sounds like a Grant-In-Aid potential opportunity for the County should we be able to identify funds for them. But we have not...we do not have funds identified at this point. Councilmember Chock: Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Carvalho. Councilmember Carvalho: I just wanted to follow-up on this wonderful area for our youth. My grandkids play basketball there and I see the youth from the skatepark to the basketball court happening at once. Everyone is trying to...they have to drop off their kids and overall the use of the facility has grown. I wanted to"home in" on the football field side and find out what the status of that field is. What is the intent of that field? Are we going to be able to host games on that field one day? I know that parking was an issue, too, but where are we at upgrading that facility to have games there. Mr. Rezentes: William, are you on the call? WILLIAM TRUGILLO, Parks Project Manager(via remote technology): Yes I am. The BJB stadium has been renovated over the past years. We have renovated the bleachers, provided increased Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) access, and an announcers booth. We are putting the finishing touches on that and installing a new scoreboard and public address system over the next couple of weeks. The bulk of the construction is wrapping up now. We are intending it to be done by the end of May. As far as renovation, the Kaua`i Interscholastic Federation (KIF) intends to schedule games there in the future. Councilmember Carvalho: Good job in moving forward on that project and for the utilization of that particular area. Mahalo. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden. Councilmember Cowden: While we have William here, on the second page, the funding looks like it is designed to help community groups take care of their own parks. There are a number of parks that seem like they have some funding appropriated for it. How is that working? Are you working pretty well with the individual community groups right now? Where is the work happening? March 30, 2021 Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Departmental Budget Reviews CIP Budget (All Other Departments) Page 7 Mr. Trugillo: Which items are you speaking about? Councilmember Cowden: We have Koloa, Kamalani, Kaua`i War Memorial Convention Hall(KWMCH), and a bunch of these right here. It looks like they are not heavily defined. You have from R15015 down that page. Mr. Trugillo: All of those projects belong to the Special Trust Fund for Parks & Playgrounds. There are different ways to get money into the Trust Fund, but it is primarily from developers for each district. In each district, we have tried in the past to put in money for what we call district grants. These are open to nonprofits to apply for funding for park improvements and park projects. Those are what those pockets of moneys are for. Whether it might be a batting cage a baseball group wants, a homerun fence, or something of that nature, that is what those funds are used for. Councilmember Cowden: Are we having many requests for those funds during this unusual window of time that we are in. Is that still moving forward? Mr. Trugillo: We still have money available. Groups are aware of it. In the past year, there have not been many organized sports actively doing anything right now, so the requests have not been as much. Once everything reopens, it will probably begin again. We consistently get requests for this funding. Councilmember Cowden: For the Black Pot Improvements, I do not see any dollars associated with that. Could the community be involved in decisions relating to the canoe hale area? That has been a real hotspot. Mr. Trugillo: Which item are you on? Councilmember Cowden: R18007, the first item on your list. Black Pot Improvements. Design and permitting. It mentions the canoe hale area. I know we have a plan underway. Are some of those funds available to the community to make their own choice with the hale? Mr. Trugillo: With the existing hale, the intention...the Black Pot Master Plan is in its final stages. We just wrapped up the last phase of the public input process. The consultants are finalizing getting it ready. The plan is to remove the old hale. That is the intention. Councilmember Cowden: Okay. I am very sorry to hear that. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta, followed by Council Vice Chair Chock. Councilmember DeCosta: My question has to do with the Kalaheo area and Kalawai Park. Have the lights been fixed and are they up and running for the kids to have March 30, 2021 Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Departmental Budget Reviews CIP Budget (All Other Departments) Page 8 night baseball games? The baseball season has started. I wanted to know where we are on that. Do we have some funding slated for that? You mentioned the grant program that we have available. How can we get that out to our constituents? Mr. Trugillo: I heard two (2) questions. If any group wants to apply for the district grants, they are welcome to call our office. They can contact me, Pat, or Wally and we will get them the application. Kalihiwai... Councilmember DeCosta: Kalawai. They were going to put up lights years ago and I am not sure if they every did that or if it is still a concern. I had a community member call and ask about that. Mr. Trugillo: As far as I know, the lights are one hundred percent (100%) working at Kalawai. There are baseball groups using it now. If you hear of anything being broken or not working, just let us know. Councilmember DeCosta: Do we allow them to get permits to play night games there currently? Mr. Trugillo: Yes, during the non-fledgling season, which is outside of September through December, we would let them have permitted activities. For baseball fields, permitted activities, we program the lights to be on and available for the permitted users. For basketball and tennis courts, all of that is on-demand, which means 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. seven (7) days a week, a user can walk up, push the button, and the lights should go on. Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you. I will bring that information to the people of the Kalawai Baseball Association. Thank you, William. Mr. Rezentes: Thank you, William. Councilmember Chock: William, back to the Hanalei Black Pot project. I received questions about the status of the restroom. Would you have any...I know you do not have any funding for it in the CIP budget. Mr. Rezentes: I can answer that question. The Department of Public Works is assisting us with the completion of that project. We recently had them work with a mechanical engineering firm to make some design revisions to the units there. We received the report. We recently obtained estimates from the contractor to do the work that was specific. We have a contract change order in the works to complete the work. I do not have a specific date on when that will happen. I know the contract is in process of amendment or change order. I am not sure, but it is being worked on as we speak and we should be getting the job done in the next couple of months. I do not have specific dates right now. Councilmember Chock: Thank you. March 30, 2021 Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Departmental Budget Reviews CIP Budget (All Other Departments) Page 9 Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Evslin. Councilmember Evslin: Could you outline briefly what the initial problem was? I heard from you, but I think there was a misunderstanding out in the community with the Black Pot restrooms. Mr. Rezentes: The restrooms had to be done in a away that it is mobile. To do that, the thought a few years ago was to make something that can...that we can unhook and remove if there is a storm or tsunami. That complicated it quite a bit. Because the system is a mobile type of system, it is not as robust as maybe something that is fixed in-place. What has been happening because of some of the concerns raised internally was that we felt we needed to make it more robust to handle the volumes of waste that will likely occur when Black Pot gets busy. We have been asking the engineers to come up with a more robust solution that can handle higher volumes of waste at that facility, and that is the process we are going through. Unfortunately, it has taken as long as it has, but that is the process we are going through right now. We want to make it as solid as we can before we open it up. We do not want to do the open, close, open, close, and fix as you go. We want to address the problem for a mobile-type of unit and make it as robust and solid as we possibly can before we open. I apologize that it has taken as long as it has. I know we received a lot of questions from the community as well on this project, and we may likely still have some of the portables there over an interim period for the overlap when we go online just to make sure. We can then take out the portable toilets once we know that it can handle the volume that we anticipate. Councilmember Evslin: Thank you, Wally. My apologies if I missed it, but do you have an estimated completion date for that work? Mr. Rezentes: I can go get that. I do not have it right here. Councilmember Evslin: Just to reiterate what Councilmember Cowden was saying on the resounding success of the Kapa'a skatepark, it is such a success to see how you and the nonprofits were able to get that built so quickly. I think that the overcrowding is just evidence that we need more skateparks out there. There is so much demand for skating and it is great to see how much it is used. Hopefully we can get more online soon. Given that and the budget right now, I believe it was Hanapepe that was supposed to be built, but the funding seems pretty broad. Where are we on that? Mr. Rezentes: William, can you update us on the Hanapepe skatepark? Mr. Trugillo: The Kapa'a skatepark has been very positive. I think in terms of use and the positive feedback, it has greatly exceeded everyone's expectations, even the community groups and the main advocates for it. As you mentioned, we are still working on making sure it is one hundred percent(100%) perfect. Right now, the intention is that the next area to have a skatepark would be the Hanapepe-`Ele`ele area. We want to do what we are calling a"Quick Build"project, kind of like what is here by the Lihu`e March 30, 2021 Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Departmental Budget Reviews CIP Budget (All Other Departments) Page 10 Civic Center. There are elements placed down, we see the use, we obtain feedback of those elements, and we see how it impacts the community. That is the intention right now. It is nothing permanent and nothing in concrete. We are just putting some elements out in the Hanapepe Park and seeing what the feedback is from that. From there, we can use that feedback to move forward to a more permanent park. Parallel to that is also interest in other areas on the west side for skateparks;this includes Lima Ola,Waimea Canyon Middle School, the new "Waimea 400" acre area...the feedback for skateparks in those areas were high. There will also be an exploration of other areas we could put a permanent skatepark. Councilmember Evslin: Which Hanapepe park are you looking at? Mr. Trugillo: Hanapepe Town Park. Sorry, that is in collaboration with the Kaua`i skatepark advocates...the ones that helped us guide the BJB Sports complex project. We are still in discussions with them on how to move forward with the next project. We are trying our best to work with them to make it all work out. Councilmember Evslin: What is the $36,000 line item for another skatepark for? Mr. Trugillo: Those funds were in the budget from last year. It was $400,000 for a new skatepark and $36,000 to help do repairs at BJB. As you know, everything kind of flipped around with the opportunities to have other funding available and the partnership with the community group and nonprofit. All of that just kind of moved forward to what we have at BJB right now. Councilmember Evslin: Are you still planning on using those funds to finish out lighting at Kapa`a, or trying to reallocate those funds? Mr. Trugillo: Those will be used for lighting or any small repairs or improvements we need to use them for. For instance, it could be used for patching to provide a safer venue. There is also talk of expanding it a little bit to have a safe, flat area. Yes, for sure for the lights. Councilmember Evslin: Good to hear. What is the status of the Inclusive Playgrounds project? Mr. Trugillo: The Inclusive Playgrounds project...that one took me a while to get going. That one is out to bid right now. We are accepting proposals from playground contractors to design and build an inclusive playground. It has been an initiative by the Mayor to have a playground that is more accessible to those children with special needs. Our intention is to expand the Kamalani Playground area to do an inclusive playground adjacent to the existing Kamalani Playground right next to it. This will allow the children to have that area to play in as well. It is out to bid and I think it closes at the end of April or mid-April. The committee will then review it and hopefully we get some good proposals to move forward to approve. March 30, 2021 Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Departmental Budget Reviews CIP Budget (All Other Departments) Page 11 Councilmember Evslin: That is really good to hear. Speaking of Kamalani Playground, there is eighty-one thousand dollars ($81,000)from the last budget for Kamalani Resurfacing. Is that project completed or is there more work to be done still? Mr. Trugillo: No, there is no more work to be done. That is completed and should have been removed. Councilmember Evslin: So, are you planning to reallocate that? Mr. Trugillo: Yes. Councilmember Evslin: Lastly, the sixty-seven thousand dollars ($67,000) for the Kapa'a Stadium. Do you have any ideas on where that might get allocated to? Mr. Trugillo: That will probably not be reallocated. The sixty-seven thousand dollars ($67,000), we are holding it right now to make sure that we can properly finish everything that we need to at the stadium. That includes the football booth and all of the items that I mentioned. As I said, we are at the tail end and we are finishing things up. We are holding it in case there is anything else we need to tweak in that home stretch. Councilmember Evslin: Great. Thank you for the answers and for the work that you do. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i. Councilmember Kuali`i: I am interested in three (3) items regarding the Salt Pond Beach Park. What it looks like is happening is that the first one of seventy-three thousand dollars ($73,000) is being moved to the KWMCH Improvement Project. The third one says that it is completed for the wastewater, but the ninety-seven thousand five hundred thirty-nine dollars($97,539)is moving to the HRMS project. I guess you put in fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for the comfort stations, pavilions, and repairs. For all three (3) of them, my question comes along the lines of...we have had so many outstanding issues there over the years and with the Hui liana 0 Pa`akai salt makers, and I know we were kind of addressing the more immediate issues like the toilets backing up. What are we doing in investing in the infrastructure to make sure that things are protected going forward? I have a concern with the parking being the site for the homeless. There are a lot of people there. With that ending, will we end up just going back to the situation we used to be in where they can get a camping permit? It was only good for a short period of time. I do not know if it was one day per week that the County would go in and clear out people, because their permits expired. They would just jump over the wall into the salt pond area, because that is the State. The State and County were not enforcing things together. They were merely just going over the wall. The salt makers are especially concerned when they are located immediately adjacent and some of their opala and belongings are also being tossed over the wall. It becomes even worse when they are actually physically over the wall. I know we have a master plan or some future goal of really improving and expanding the park to make it a March 30, 2021 Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Departmental Budget Reviews CIP Budget (All Other Departments) Page 12 "Super Park" like Lydgate. Is there a way in the more immediate future to move that whole camping area to the furthest western side of the park? Perhaps we can maybe improve that area. We only have two (2)bathrooms, right? How does this all tie in and what are our plans for future investment, especially to prevent some of the potential problems of the past and that are probably ongoing? Mr. Rezentes: We do not have immediate plans or funding to address any major renovations, or for the creation of a "Super Park" there. We know that historically, there have been campers and some houseless campers that have been there for quite some time. Most recently, from what our Park Rangers tell us, some of the folks have actually gone mauka above the parking lot area onto State land instead of going on the salt bed side. I am not sure what will happen in the future when we open up camping again for the general public...the locals and visitors. We have not heard any recent complaints from the salt makers. We will have to address any issues of rubbish that may be adjacent to our properties. We have just some small moneys available that we can use for minor repairs and maintenance. We hope to do some of that work when the park is closed for a month or up to four (4) weeks. That is when our Facilities Maintenance team can get in there and hopefully address some of the long-term issues that exist there, including painting and electrical work. Councilmember Evslin: When is the month camping closure coming up? Mr. Rezentes: I think it is June or July. I do not have that schedule in front of me. We are going north and west and then north and west again for the month-long process. We are going to be closing the parks to the houseless and moving on to have a few weeks interval where we get our Parks Maintenance and Facilities Maintenance teams in there to do the work on the parks before we open it up again to the general public. I can provide a list of our scheduled closures and when that will take place. Councilmember Kuali`i: Could you do outreach to the Hui Hana 0 Pa`akai members prior to that month of work at the park, so they can provide any input they may have? We should not wait until we hear complaints, because I know there are ongoing issues. Mr. Rezentes: We definitely can. Councilmember Kuali`i: Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta. Councilmember DeCosta: How much land do we have accessible at the end of Salt Pond Beach Park with the bathroom and the small parking area? How much of that parking area and the land beyond it could we actually create a camping area at? Right now, the situation as Councilmember Kuali`i brought up is a very good one. When they jump the wall, right next to the wall there are quite a bit of dogs that campers are raising. They actually are tied up in small kennels that they temporarily built. It is not a good thing for our salt beds or salt makers having that situation there. The question I am asking is how much County land is at the far end of the park that we could create a permanent campground March 30, 2021 Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Departmental Budget Reviews CIP Budget (All Other Departments) Page 13 on to alleviate some of the congestion that we have with the campers, so when it is fully opened, they do not go back there to camp? Mr. Rezentes: Just for clarification, are you talking about what land we own outside of the current area we use for camping on the far west end? Councilmember DeCosta: Yes, the parking lot area to the far west where Councilmember Kuali`i mentioned has the bathroom. Mr. Rezentes: Where people turn around usually? Councilmember DeCosta: Correct. How much of that area can we expand into that falls under our County? Mr. Rezentes: I do not know offhand. William, if you know, please chime in. We can surely look into exactly what our footprint is, but offhand, I am not sure. William, do you know? I am not sure. Mr. Trugillo: The exact size? Sorry, I do not know, but that is definitely something that we can provide. Councilmember DeCosta: I think that is State land adjacent to us, that is our only neighbor and we do not have any private landowners. I think Robinson leases that land from the State month-to-month. We could actually talk to the State. Thank you. Mr. Rezentes: We can look into that. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden. Councilmember Cowden: My question is about the Veterans Cemetery Improvements. Under the description it says, "Project improvements include repairs and upgrades to the communal hall facility." I am aware that is planned. $87,000 seems light for what I thought it would be. Underneath the status, it says, "Construction of the six-acre expansion of the cemetery is set to commence April 2021." Is this $87,000 for the communal hall? Are we going to take that big ceramic piece out and open that up? That is what I have seen before on plans. I love that ceramic piece. Or is this for cleaning and preparing the next piece? Or is this money just for a plan? It seems like it is not enough for both projects. Mr. Rezentes: The majority of the work there is being funded by the State. The Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS) have a contractor in-place that we are working with to do the expansion. They have done recent renovations to the Veterans Cemetery. The moneys that remain there, we are hoping to utilize to compliment anything that was not a part of their scope and address items that may not have been addressed as part of the State's buildout or construction work that is going to be ongoing. We had some of our staff out there last week with DAGS and their contractors. Notice to proceed has been done and the work will start very soon. March 30, 2021 Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Departmental Budget Reviews CIP Budget (All Other Departments) Page 14 Councilmember Cowden: Okay, that makes sense. I know we worked hard to get some federal moneys, and I appreciate that the columbarium was expanded. The design looks like we are going to take that out and open that up in both directions. Mr. Trugillo: If you are talking about the mural that is in that building right now, no. That does not get touched. Councilmember Cowden: Okay. Mr. Trugillo: The wall does. We did open things up adjacent to that through the wall, but the ceramic tile does not get touched. Councilmember Cowden: Okay, so the design was changed. That is great. I think that will be really good from what I have seen at the Veterans Cemetery. Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions for the Department of Parks & Recreation. Councilmember Carvalho. Councilmember Carvalho: Regarding the Habitat Conservation Plan, where are we with that? That was a big issue and we worked hard with the community. Mr. Trugillo: We are in the second year. We received our permits from the State and Federal governments. That Habitat Conservation Plan is moving forward. You may remember that we are in partnership with a few other participants and the committee where we are basically pooling our resources to adhere to the federal mandate. One of the mandates is the establishment of a mitigation site to help basically shelter and house the seabirds. That new project is ongoing and that one should be established in calendar year 2021. Outside of that, we just finished our first year of reporting to the State agencies about our status in terms of the lights, actions, monitoring, et cetera. So far, so good. The agencies have reviewed it and they had some feedback on it. Everything has been okay with that. We are in the second year of a thirty-year commitment. Councilmember Carvalho: That also includes working with the schools, correct? Mr. Trugillo: Yes. Part of our outreach is to educate people to let them know what the concerns are, what the needs are, why it is important to protect the seabirds, and what that means. There is an outreach component that we need to be better at, but it is something that we have been doing and have been primarily doing at schools and during the football season. We go to the schools to let them know what is going on during "Friday Night Lights" and other events like that. That is definitely a program we need to improve moving forward. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: I peeked at the Operating Budget and we have $400,000 in there to pay annually for this program. Are there any further questions? If not, March 30, 2021 Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Departmental Budget Reviews CIP Budget (All Other Departments) Page 15 we can move on. We will move on to the Planning Department. Basically, they have the Land Information Management System (LIMS) project in their CIP. Do we have any questions for the Planning Department? Councilmember Evslin. Councilmember Evslin: Thank you. Can we have a quick update on LIMS, how it is progressing, when it is going to be implemented, and how it is going to revolutionize everything? KA`AINA S. HULL, Planning Director (via remote technology): Thank you, Councilmember Evslin, Council Chair, and Members of the Council. Ka`aina Hull on behalf of the Planning Department. I believe this is actually put in a bit of an error. I think Del is coming on to describe LIMS overall. I can say the Planning Department is playing a major role in spinning up a zoning permit process review and zoning overall review like Additional Dwelling Unit (ADU), Additional Rental Unit (ARU), clearance forms, and whatnot through the LIMS program. So we were taking a big chunk of Del's and the contractor's time and we really appreciate it, but we do not have the full oversight of the LIMS project, but from our side, we are in fact, I would say within the next few weeks, we will have the ARU/ADU clearance forms fully digitized and available to members of the public online. We anticipate our zoning review process to be fully digitized within the next few months and we are very close to having the zoning permit application itself fully digital like the way the building permit is; however, we are just waiting to also establish the payment system to be done digitally, before fully launching the program, but we anticipate within the next five (5) to six (6) months to have the Planning Department submittal, payment, and review process fully digitized in a manner that the building permit process already is and I am very excited about that. I am definitely open for any questions for the planning aspect of it, but I will have to defer to Del for the overall structure and program of LIMS itself. Councilmember Evslin: A quick overview again of what it is going to do, but your overview is sufficient for now. Thank you, Ka`aina. It is pretty exciting as far as the transition to online on your folks' end. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Is there any further questions from the Members? Ms. Matsuyama: I see Del on. Del, do you want to jump on and provide an overview for the LIMS project? DEL SHERMAN, Information Technology Manager (via remote technology): Hi, this is Del, Information Technology (IT)Manager for the County of Kaua`i. I just rejoined, so I did not hear the entire question, but if it regarding LIMS, if you have some questions that you need clarification on I would be happy to discuss any parts within that project. Councilmember Evslin: Just a quick overview and when you are expecting it to come online. Mr. Sherman: For LIMS, our Land Information Management System, the project is an all-encompassing thing that touches so many departments and in March 30, 2021 Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Departmental Budget Reviews CIP Budget (All Other Departments) Page 16 our case, it is pretty much being custom-built to match our needs, to take into account Real Property, Planning, and eventually buildings and zoning issues, and many other things. The idea is that LIMS is there to manage all of these different processes, where we want to track that information in the database, but at the same time we want to be able to display that information graphically like on a geographic information system (GIS) map, for example. So we can not only have the data records to review, but also see a visual representation of those records,which often are more meaningful to a manager when then can visualize what is going on instead of just reading numbers on a report. So that is the big picture of what LIMS will be as a management tool to address all kinds of land management records from fire hydrants to parcels of property to even potentially equipment that might be used to maintain or do work on those different kinds of things. When is the project going to be finished? We anticipate some significant progress within the next year. This whole COVID-19 business really threw us off track and messed up our plans considerably. Initially, we were going to have a team of individuals present on-island from the company that we entered into an agreement with and their ability to that in our present environment has been severely hampered, but we do have one (1)individual here who has been living here on-island and has been working on the project for us. As Ka`aina pointed out, we have made some significant progress with the planning aspect of this that will move us forward technology-wise by leaps and bounds from where we were previously. It is going to be a really big deal for the Planning Department and more importantly for our public in being able to streamline a lot of the tasks that formerly would have required a physical trip down to the Planning desk, whereas now they can just take care of some of these things online, so the convenience is going to be fantastic. For anyone who would like a more in-depth review of LIMS to include perhaps, a brief software demonstration, we are happy to provide that, as well, so just let us know if anyone would like that and we can certainly accommodate that. Councilmember Cowden: I want that. Councilmember Evslin: Yes, I personally would love it. At some point we can schedule that. Thank you, Del and Ka`aina for all the work you folks are doing to get us online here. It is going to be huge for the public. I appreciate it. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions on this item? Councilmember DeCosta. Councilmember DeCosta: For LIMS, you said you are going to have a group of people coming over this year to assist, but you currently told us that you have one (1) person working on the project. So we have one (1) person appropriated towards $493,818 to do this information system implementation? That is quite a bit of money for one (1) person to be working on it. I am hoping that you get your team over here. Is this a year-allocated budget item? Mr. Sherman: I can address that a little more clearly, so that you have more of the facts related to who is working on the project. Originally, the company that we contracted with had planned to send more than one (1) individual here to do some work on the project. At present we have one (1) person here doing the work. The rest of the March 30, 2021 Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Departmental Budget Reviews CIP Budget (All Other Departments) Page 17 individuals are not on-island, but they are working remotely. So that is the team from the company that we purchased the software from in addition to that we have a local team of folks, the core of which is comprised of four(4)individuals representatives from IT, Planning, and Real Property, then those four (4) individuals are working with dozens of other folks on various components of the project, so there are a lot of individuals working on this. The numbers I was referring to were just the individuals that would be contributing from the software manufacturers side of things, but beyond them we have remote workers and as well, County employees are working on this, so there is a lot of people power resources dedicated to this. Councilmember DeCosta: Del, I understand that. I was asking a very specific question on the amount of$493,818. Our County people working on a project get paid from our County funds. This money has been allocated to the system and we had one person working on it and you said they are also remotely people in the mainland contributing, am I correct? Mr. Sherman: We have one (1) manufacturer's representative online and a team of half a dozen or so from the mainland. Councilmember DeCosta: Okay, that is all I wanted to make sure and get clear. Thank you. Mr. Sherman: You are welcome. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions regarding LIMS? If not, we will move on to our final department, which is Transportation. Council Vice Chair Chock. Councilmember Chock: Thank you, Chair. I am not sure if Leonard is on or whomever might be representing Transportation, but regarding Islandwide Bus Stop, I was curious if there was an updated list of bus stops that we can anticipate. Of particular interest as Lima Ola is taking form, I want to ensure that our County-related projects are also being considered. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Do we have someone on from Transportation? Councilmember Chock: If she is not there I can send it in writing. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: If they are not there, we can send the questions in writing. Fortunately, they only have three (3) projects here. Councilmember Cowden. Councilmember Cowden: I have a simple question that probably anyone online in the Administration might know. On the expansion of the bus facility, it says the building has arrived and a permit application with the Building Department has been submitted. Is this a portable building and the $111,000 is to put it in place? March 30, 2021 Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Departmental Budget Reviews CIP Budget (All Other Departments) Page 18 Mr. Dahilig: Councilmember Cowden, this is Mike Dahilig. In response, yes, I can confirm that is in fact the case. The actual structure is delivered and is sitting in the facility proper. However, it needs to be hooked up to utilities and set properly, so the remainder of that money will be used to facilitate both the permitting and the utility hook-ups to ensure that the building can be used safely. Councilmember Cowden: What is the square footage of that or what is the dimensions of that roughly? How big is it? Mr. Dahilig: It is a double-wide, I would say. Councilmember Cowden: Okay. Mr. Dahilig: It is about thirty (30) to forty(40) feet long, so it is roughly about six hundred (600) to eight hundred (800) square feet. Councilmember Cowden: How many offices are we going to get in there? I am curious how we are solving our office challenge. Mr. Dahilig: I think in terms of the interior there is not going to be any kind of hard improvements, rather we are looking in modular types of layouts in that particular facility. Based on proper social distancing, it could accommodate about six (6) to seven (7) individuals with a fire escape capabilities. Councilmember Cowden: Okay. Has the social distancing requirements...has that been part of the requirements for us to need a new building? I know the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney has a problem and a number of our other places have had challenges. Is it that we were already squeezed for space? Mr. Dahilig: This has been in the works prior to the actual pandemic. That facility that is there is severely limited in square footage for the administrative support. Normally, when you are looking at the amount of people that you would put in the building versus now,just in response to how many people would now occupy it, we would have to look at social distancing types of layouts versus putting in a number of people in there previously. Councilmember Cowden: Okay. These are slightly related questions. The Planning Department, the last time I was allowed in there prior to COVID-19, that area is crowded. I am so impressed with the quality work that comes out of there with people basically standing in the halls. That was not on our list. How are we doing there? I guess they are now sitting at home and working. Mr. Dahilig: It is a net effect of some of our departments, although they had been slated previously for renovations, those items were not prioritized in the past. A lot of the backfill had to be related to staggering work schedules or through teleworking. I know that there have been efforts as part of the HVAC renovations for the March 30, 2021 Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Departmental Budget Reviews CIP Budget (All Other Departments) Page 19 basement of Kapule to provide additional space for the Planning Department. That will activate some of that area. I know that is also going to be the case for the IT Division, where they are going to have some overflow space for some of the rarely used storage spaces in the Kapule Building. That should help alleviate the crowding that is in the Planning Department and IT Division. Councilmember Cowden: Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Council Vice Chair Chock. Councilmember Chock: Did you want to take on the first question regarding the proposed bus stops. Mr. Dahilig: I believe Celia should be on the line now. CELIA M. MAHIKOA, Executive on Transportation (via remote technology): I apologize for the delay. I am sorry, we had a personnel matter. Councilmember Chock: Not a problem. The first line item, I think$27,000 for Islandwide Bus Stops. We just wanted to see if there was a more updated list on the new or proposed bus stop locations. I mentioned an interest in ensuring that our County projects such as Lima Ola have identified bus stop locations as well. Ms. Mahikoa: As far as bus stops go, our next phase of implementing the recommendations that came through the Short-Range Transit Plan was in seeking ways to get ADA-accessible bus stops placed within the Lihu`e-Puhi area. That was going to be the priority that we requested. In regards to any other areas in development, we are trying to maintain constant communication with the developers. With Lima Ola, it has been with State Highways and project management. Councilmember Chock: Just to confirm, the $27,000 is being focused on the Lihu`e Town Core surrounding areas? Ms. Mahikoa: For engineering and design. That is what we were provided, so yes. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i. Councilmember Kuali`i: Do you have a process for citizens to request a bus stop? Does it only happen with new development? Ms. Mahikoa: We try to ensure that they are included when new developments are coming up, because that is the least costly and easiest method of having stops implemented in locations where there are going to be significantly more individuals living. However, with existing stops that we have or those who would like stops placed, we have bus stop applications available online. Individuals may also call in and we can provide March 30, 2021 Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Departmental Budget Reviews CIP Budget (All Other Departments) Page 20 them with feedback on whether or not we are able to proceed with that suggestion or point them to our plan if it is already in an existing plan for bus stop development. Councilmember Kuali`i: Obviously, initially, when bus stops were put in place to begin with, there was some kind of formula about the distance between them, the amount of constituents, and businesses that they serve? Are we able to identify across the island where there are areas with large distance between two (2) stops? If someone wanted to get to a place that was in between those two (2) stops, it would require them to walk a very long way. Perhaps that walking may not be possible in an area that is not even conducive to walking, because there is no sidewalk or paths. I think I might have mentioned this to you before. I hear concerns from some of the houseless individuals at Lydgate that there is really no stop anywhere near the Wailua Golf Course, the prison, Lydgate Beach Park, et cetera. I • do not know what the last stop in Lihu`e is. Then the next stop in Kapa'a is just beyond that main intersection for Coco Palms, correct? If you get off at the Coco Palms area, that walk is supported and there are crosswalks. It is really quite a long walk. For the kupuna...just to put that out there. I suppose if enough people applied, then you have to take that under consideration. Ms. Mahikoa: Yes. Councilmember Kuali`i: You will take that under consideration through your process? Ms. Mahikoa: Yes. Councilmember Kuali`i: Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden. Councilmember Cowden: I know I have sent in this request a few different times over the years. It is great that we have a bus stop at the Moloa`a Fruit Stand. Between Anahola and Kilauea is a very long stretch. I routinely pick up hitchhikers. It is Kapa'a north to Kilauea and we need one on each side of Koolau Road. We need something further north. Usually when people are hitchhiking, I give people two dollars ($2) for the bus and the walk is too far so the bus does not necessarily work. It is pretty routine, actually. Ms. Mahikoa: Yes, we receive requests for locations and have been in communications with State Highways and we will continue to until we are able to get those placed more strategically where individuals do need them. Councilmember Cowden: Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions for Transportation? Celia, I will go back to the expansion of the bus facility. I know we walked that place before and you are really tight on space. Not only for office space, but also where March 30, 2021 Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Departmental Budget Reviews CIP Budget (All Other Departments) Page 21 your staff parks their buses and for the employees working on the buses. Are there any plans regarding making the area more efficient. You really are bursting at the seams. Ms. Mahikoa: Thank you for recognizing that. Yes, we continue to be tight on space. We are currently in the middle of a space needs assessment that is being carried out with PBR Hawai`i and upon their completion, they will be providing recommendations. Additionally, we are looking for federal assistance to assist us in carrying out the recommendation moving forward. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Are there any further questions from the Members? This is our last Department for today. If not, thank you again for a very thorough and quick session today. At this time, I would like to recess the Departmental Budget Reviews and reconvene on Thursday, April 1, 2021 where we will hear from the Department of Parks &Recreation, Office of the County Attorney, and Department of Liquor Control. There being no objections, the meeting recessed at 10:24 a.m.