HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/28/2022 Dept 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 (Excused at 12:15 p.m.)
Honorable Bill DeCosta
Honorable KipuKai Kuali`i
Honorable Arryl Kaneshiro
The Committee reconvened on March 28, 2022 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 the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-2023 Departmental Budget
Reviews. Let the record reflect that we do have a quorum.
On the schedule for today, March 28, 2022, we have the Department of Public Works
Operating Budget, followed by the 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 budget.
For today, we will be taking the Public Works Divisions in the following order and I
believe you have a schedule in front of you with the order: Administration/Fiscal, Building,
Engineering, Auto Maintenance, Highways & Roads, Wastewater, and Solid Waste.
As we will do each morning, we will take public testimony at the beginning on any of
the departments/agencies we are reviewing for the day. There is no one in the public wishing
to testify. Is there anyone registered wishing to testify?
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: Seeing none, I would now like to call upon Troy
Tanigawa,Acting County Engineer and 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 the presentation. Troy, it is up to you however you want
to do it. You can do it by division or if you wanted to just do your whole presentation and
then come back to it. Division by division is probably easier on our end.
TROY K. TANIGAWA, Acting County Engineer (via remote technology): I just
have a brief opening statement. I wanted to touch upon some highlights, but I might just
end up reading from our synopsis. I will go ahead and start with that and then we can go
through division by division as you suggested. Good morning, Council Chair and
Councilmembers. The Department's budget proposal for this year reflects our anticipated
operational needs for FY 2023. Given our funding allocations coming from our various
revenue sources (i.e., General Fund, Highway Fund, Beautification Fund, Solid Waste Fund,
and Sewer Fund) it reflects small increases mostly 4-6%. The exception to this was in the
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General Excise (G.E.) Tax Fund that reflected a 7% decrease allocation to the Department's
operations. We have basically a flat budget with some minor increases to account for some
operational needs. In addition to our basic operational needs, this FY's proposed budget will
continue addressing deferred maintenance items to ensure our systems function the way they
were intended to, mainly our roadways and wastewater collection systems. Additionally,
there are vehicle and equipment replacement purchases to ensure employees have the tools,
equipment, and vehicles they need to do their work. For each division, there are some
highlights that were presented in our synopsis. We have experienced some retirements that
I would like to highlight. It presented some unique challenges. Fortunately, we have staff
available that were able to absorb the workload that was left by those retiring. We also had
one (1) recent employee transition to another department. These key positions left work that
were able to be absorbed and be completed. Fortunately, most of the work was kind of
towards the tail end of those particular projects and so they were completed and successful.
We also have someone from our Roads Division that recently transferred and so we currently
have staff absorbing those types of duties. We are working to get additional staff in so that
they can take over. That is just an example of some of the challenges we were faced with and
we were able to acclimate and continue operations. With that, Council Chair, we can go with
opening up to questions for you and we are prepared to go division by division.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: From there, we will go by division. Do we have
any questions for the Administration's budget? It actually decreased this year.
Councilmember Cowden: Yes. Can I make a comment?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Is it related to the Administration's budget? Is it
a question? Can you put it into a question? Are there any questions on the Administration's
budget? If not,we can move on to the Fiscal Division's budget. The only changes in the Fiscal
Division's budget were changes due to employee benefits. I am not sure if we are going to
have any questions on the Fiscal Division's budget. If there are no questions, we can move
to the Engineering Division. Sorry, I am going off the list. We will do Engineering first since
it is in order. Are there any questions for Engineering? In the past, there were a lot of
vacancies for engineering positions. I do not see as many vacancies. I think there is only
one (1) vacancy right now. What have they done to improve the hiring on that? How is it
affecting their productivity now that they probably have a lot more people? I noticed in the
write-up it said that they were still having a hard time finding engineers. Could you expand
on that?
Mr. Tanigawa: We have had a lot of projects come into play. That
presents its own issues. As far as vacancies, we have been able to hire. We have had some
good fortune with engineers finally accepting positions at the County. There were some
challenges with salary ranges. In previous recruitment attempts, we were able to select some
pretty good qualified candidates, but when the offer was made and they learned what the
salary level was, really looking into the details as to living expenses on Kaua`i, that is pretty
unique compared to the mainland environment that these candidates came from, they were
not able to accept the offers primarily because we were not able to offer enough. We were
able to get lucky in the past two (2) recruitment attempts. We actually hired someone that
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was born and raised on Kaua`i and wanted to come back. The other one is an entry-level
engineer from the mainland and was willing to accept the offer made. We have had some
positive effect from the differential that was recently deemed available that actually
increases the entry-level salary for new employees. That differential actually reduces as you
get to a higher-level engineering position. I believe it really made a difference this time in
being able to get one position filled. Now we have some new positions for new employees.
The training begins now. Being the lower, entry-level position employee, a lot of time is
needed to bring them up to speed on all of our systems and the way we do business at the
County. That is helping, but there are still challenges because we have so many projects on
tap. As these new employees gain experience, we will be able to benefit from them assuming
a lot more of the workload.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Can you explain how the differentials work again?
Mr. Tanigawa: I do not have the particular numbers right off the
top of my head, but the way it works is because of the hardship that we have been
experiencing, we are able to offer a certain percentage increase above the minimum salary
that an entry-level position would be able to take. As the employee gains more experience,
they will be able to assume a higher-level position. The differential between the entry-level
salary and what they were able to get coming in at the entry-level position decreases as the
employee goes higher up on the ladder. For example, going from Engineer I to Engineer II
to Engineer III. Also, for recruiting, that differential decreases as you recruit for higher-level
engineering positions. It really was only a solution for getting entry-level engineers and to
be able to get the higher-level engineers and attract them from the private sector. We are
going to be able to compete with the private sector by either providing an equivalent salary
or some other form of incentive to sweeten the pot from the County's side.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: My questions are also a bit on that hiring aspect.
First, I want to express my gratitude to the remaining staff for managing after significant
retirements. Thank you very much to all of them. When we have a position called a Principal
Project Manager, why does it make it easier than hiring and engineer? Do they only have
one (1) project? Can you explain that difference to me between Principal Project Manager
and an engineer?
Mr. Tanigawa: Yes, to hire an engineer, the candidate has to have
either a degree for that certain discipline of engineering, normally for the Engineering
Division that would be a Civil Engineer, or an equivalent amount of experience to be able to
meet the qualifications. When you compare that to a Principal Project Manager-type of
position, you do not need to have an engineering degree. You can have other degrees that
allow you to qualify to work in that particular area.
Councilmember Cowden: I see.
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Mr. Tanigawa: It could be in Solid Waste...Engineering typically
has all of the engineers. It could be in any other area of operations like Housing that has
construction projects and can use that type of expertise to run their projects.
Councilmember Cowden: I noticed in the Building Division that the
productivity actually seemed to go up and I know there have been a lot of challenges. I am
looking at page 7 at how quickly they are able to process these permits.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden, we should hold that
question until we get to the Building Division. It will be right after this.
Councilmember Cowden: I thought you skipped it.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: I moved it so it would go in order of the binder.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: I wanted to understand a little bit about the Civil
Engineer I position. From your explanation, even though we got lucky enough to hire a Civil
Engineer I coming in with a limited amount of experience, this person is not ready to be
implemented into the system because of their lack of experience. They are coming in at the
entry-level. They come into a training program. Are you supported enough to get these
people trained up to par to handle smaller tasks as an entry-level engineer?
Mr. Tanigawa: Yes. So, we have experienced engineers that are
there to support and train these engineers. They also go through a County training program
that familiarizes them with the County's system. The Purchasing Division provides
procurement training. This engineer position has to do all the different tasks that would
require the development of a project from cradle to when that project is completed. That
involves everything from procurement to contract development, contract administration,
et cetera, and then managing consultant contracts in addition to the construction contracts.
All of that training is provided in-house in the Engineering Division and from supportive
agencies like the Purchasing Division for procurement training. The employee also learns
and picks up on legal understanding with interaction with the Office of the County Attorney.
There is a whole breadth of knowledge that this new employee has to pick up in order to be
effective.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you, Troy.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions for Engineering?
Councilmember Kuali`i.
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Councilmember Kuali`i: I do not know if I missed this, but at the bottom of
the salaries there is a Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) program
reimbursement of$50,000. What is that and why is it listed here with all of the salaries?
Mr. Tanigawa: Sorry, Councilmember Kuali`i, could you repeat
that question again?
Councilmember Kuali`i: For the Engineering Division at the bottom of all
of the budgeted amounts for all of the salary positions, there is something called STIP instead
of a position number and it says, "State Transportation Improvement Program
Reimbursement—$50,000," so I am just asking what that is and why is it listed here in the
salaries.
Mr. Tanigawa: I would have to find out more about it. What it
might be is related to the time that our employees spend on STIP-related programs. I will
see if I can get more clarification for you in the meantime while we go through the questioning
this morning.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Okay.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: I believe that when engineers do work for
highways, those moneys should be allocated properly. It is about putting the money in the
correct spot. When engineers are doing highway work, their work should be paid from the
Highway Fund. Those are just indicative of where the money should go. It is keeping the
money in the correct bucket. When they are doing regular work for the County it is coming
from the General Fund. When they are working on highway projects, their time should be in
the Highway Fund. Are there any other questions for the Engineering Division? If not, we
will move on to Building. Councilmember Cowden, you can ask your question about the
permits.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. I was just recognizing that it looks like the
turnaround time on the permits really went up as in got better. It looks like we did more
permits in this window of time. Is that because of remote work or due to our new system?
How do you attribute that success and what do you anticipate for the next year? It seems
like there has been a lot of approvals from Planning for more development. While we have
lost key positions, you have done well, and where do you expect us to be going?
Mr. Tanigawa: The positions that we lost in the Building Division
were related to the project management-side mostly. Those were the positions that we lost
in FY 2022. Leolynne is online and I believe she would probably be able to address your
question better as it relates to the permit review and enforcement.
Councilmember Cowden: Hi, Leo. Thank you for the good job that you have
been doing. Are you anticipating this high productivity even after we reopened? We
anticipate a lot of new applications when we see how much is getting approved through
Planning as it relates to subdivisions. What do you anticipate for this year? Good job.
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LEOLYNNE ESCALONA, Code Enforcement Officer (via remote technology): With
the advent of COVID-19, we actually saw an increase in the number of building permits that
were issued. In spite of the pandemic, the construction industry on Kaua`i was actually
thriving. With the approvals of additional development on-island, we do expect to see an
increase in building permit applications. Unfortunately, we lost a Building Permit Clerk
earlier this year, so we are looking to post the position to hire one (1) or two (2) Building
Permit Clerks. We are also looking at implementing a training program for our Building
Plans Examiner, so that would increase our staff. We do anticipate an increase in building
permits.
Councilmember Cowden: Are there many challenges in finding those
positions? You have lost them and now you are trying to hire them. What do you anticipate?
Do you have many applicants?
Ms. Escalona: We are actually posting for the Building Permit
Clerk later this month. The last time we posted, we actually did not have any applicants.
Councilmember Cowden: Oh. That is significant. Thank you.
Ms. Escalona: We are hoping that we get qualified applicants
this round.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions from the Members?
Leo, I had a question. The write-up talks about this Hawai`i Insurance Bureau Building Code
Effectiveness Grading Schedule. It said that we ranked 9 for 1- and 2-family residential
properties and 9 for commercial and industrial. It is on scale of 1-10 from best to worst. Am
I correct when I was reading it that a 9 is not good?
Ms. Escalona: Yes. In order to improve our rating, we need to be
on the latest Building Code. That was one deficiency that the Insurance Commissioner
pointed out. Also, we need to look at beefing up training for our Plans Examiners and
Inspectors. They also recommended that we increase our staff. We do not have enough Plans
Examiners. We have been able to keep up, but their recommendation is that you really need
to have adequate staff to do effective reviews. That is why the Building Division is looking
at increasing our staffing.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Maybe you could share the study with us and the
recommendations. Councilmember Evslin.
Councilmember Evslin: Leolynne, just to follow up on Council Chair
Kaneshiro's questions regarding that study, when it says that the current staffing of two (2)
Plans Examiners is insufficient, is that just based on some ratios of plan reviews to staff, or
are they actually looking at your output and saying that possibly some things that are not up
to Code is getting passed? Is it just a basic calculation that they come out with or are there
some negative outcomes that are occurring due to the low number of plan reviewers?
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Ms. Escalona: I believe they are basing it on the number of Code
reviews and maybe there is a ratio.
Councilmember Evslin: It is not as if they had findings of you passing
plans that were not actually designed to Code or something like that?
Ms. Escalona: No, not to my knowledge.
Councilmember Evslin: Thank you. It sounds like on the other steps
getting our Code current, I know you are working hard on that. Is there an effort to increase
the number of Plans Examiners?
Ms. Escalona: Yes, we are actually looking at developing a
training program within the Building Division using existing staff and helping them increase
their knowledge to hopefully get certification from the International Code Council to become
Plans Examiners.
Councilmember Evslin: It says that this was the Hawai`i Insurance
Bureau completing this. Regarding that scale, there is not a whole lot of information about
what that analysis is about. When it says that we are a 9 out of 10, with 9 being extremely
not good, that is really for insurance purposes, right? It is not necessarily saying that you
are slow at plan reviews or holding up construction in some capacity. It is saying that you
are insufficient in these categories which would make us possibly more likely to have faulty
designs going through. What is that 9 out of 10 saying?
Ms. Escalona: I believe it is for the insurance industry and
whenever they rate a particular jurisdiction. I am not really familiar as this relatively new
for me. From what I understand, the County of Kaua`i was last rated twenty-five (25) years
ago and at that time the rating was an 8 out of 10.
Councilmember Evslin: Does it impact people's insurance rates at all? Do
you know?
Ms. Escalona: I cannot answer for the Insurance Bureau, but I
think if an insurance company were to look at that, that might determine whether or not our
insurance rates would increase.
Councilmember Evslin: Is it going to be another twenty-five (25) years
until there is another one or is this something that will start happening more regularly?
Ms. Escalona: We are actually waiting for a response from the
Insurance Commissioner on a meeting on how we can improve our score. Unfortunately,
because of other commitments, we have not been able to schedule a meeting yet. Of course,
we are looking at improving ourselves. These are some of the items that they listed that we
need to be working on.
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Councilmember Evslin: Thank you, Leolynne. I appreciate it.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden, then Councilmember
DeCosta.
Councilmember Cowden: I just have a follow-up on that. When I look
around the island in what is being built, a single-family house can be one thousand (1,000)
square feet or it can be seven thousand (7,000) square feet. How is it that when they are
looking at these ratings or numbers...if you are doing a building review on an extraordinary
building, are they just analyzed the same. Is a Habitat for Humanity house judged in the
same way that they would judge an extraordinary mansion when they are giving you these
ratings? Do you know?
Ms. Escalona: When we do the initial plans review, we have a
checklist that a Plans Examiner goes through. Basically, they are looking for Code
minimums with regards to safety, the structure, plumbing, and electrical. If it is a five
hundred (500) square foot house or a ten thousand (10,000) square foot house, it is basically
the same items that the examiner will be looking at. It is just that the scale will be different.
The larger home will take longer to review. We are basically looking at the Code minimums.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: I see that there are three (3) positions that are all
noted as being 9-month hires. We have a Supervising Building Inspector, Building Permit
Clerk, and a Project Manager. Can you explain to me the 9-months? Is it 9-months of their
salary that is listed on the budget? Or does that mean they are only with us for the first
9-months?
Ms. Escalona: I will defer to Troy to respond to that inquiry.
Mr. Tanigawa: Councilmember DeCosta, the 9-months next to
that reflect partial funding of that position. At the turn of the fiscal year, we will have 3
months to recruit anticipating that we can fill the position come October.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay, so that pay scale that I see is not a true
reflection of what that employee will make. It looks pretty low for their title.
Mr. Tanigawa: Correct. It is just a partial funding of their salary.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you, Troy.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Carvalho.
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Councilmember Carvalho: With the retirement of the Chief of Buildings and
the Construction Manager, the following projects are still on the table...Lydgate Bike Path,
Pedestrian Path, Ahukini, and all of those projects?
Mr. Tanigawa: Correct.
Councilmember Carvalho: I just want to make sure that those projects are
going to be completed or if you need any resources for that. I am reading all of that right now
in terms of all of the various projects that are on the table. Are we moving along with that,
or do you need any support there?
Mr. Tanigawa: We are moving along with those projects. We have
a construction project that is ongoing now that is the Bike Path Phase D construction. We
have right-of-way-type of access projects involving segments of the Bike Path project from I
believe Kapa'a to Ahukini and then Ahukini through to Ninini Point. We have personnel
who have absorbed those projects as part of their duties and those are continuing.
Councilmember Carvalho: Okay, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Evslin.
Councilmember Evslin: I think you just said right-of-way for the Kapa'a to
Ahukini portion of the bike path. Do you have a timeframe for actual construction of that
portion of the bike path or completion of it?
Mr. Tanigawa: No, I do not. I believe at least at this point; the
right-of-way process is kind of a long process. I do not believe we have had engineers develop
any detail on the next phase of the project.
Councilmember Evslin: Is the expected funding for this project Federally
funded through County-match of donated land? The County is not expecting to come out of
pocket for that project, is it?
Mr. Tanigawa: Because of the amount of County land involved in
the bike path segments, I would anticipate that the same funding scenario would be in-play
for those segments, which was 100% funding because the County-match met or exceeded the
minimum requirement.
Councilmember Evslin: Okay, thank you, Troy.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions for the Building
Division? Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: You pretty much answered my questions in
regards to the vacant positions. Leo talked about the Permit Clerk with Councilmember
Cowden and how that would be posting later this month. The only one that I am curious
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about is Position No. 1528, the Supervising Building Inspector. On the Vacancy Report it
shows it as dollar-funded, but here in the budget it is 9-month funded and it has been vacant
for quite a while. Years. What is the plan for that? If it is a hard to fill position, will you
open the recruitment right away and allow yourself perhaps even more than the three (3)
months that starts the new fiscal year?
Mr. Tanigawa: That is a really good point, Councilmember
Kuali`i. We will consider that so that we have the maximum amount of time to make a good
selection. We will work with the Department of Human Resource (HR) to make sure that we
are within the parameters that we need to be.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Of those four (4) positions that are 9-month
funded, when I looked at the range from the low to the high, three (3) of them end up being
where you can calculate 9-months based on the lower salary amount. This particular position
we are talking about, the Supervising Building Inspector position, the math does not
necessarily come out using the lower amount. Are you having to go a little higher than the
entry-level? Is that what you are choosing to do? Or was that maybe an error?
Mr. Tanigawa: Councilmember Kuali`i, I am not in tune with the
calculation that you have. We will take a look at that with the Budget Team.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Just check the 9-month figure. I get $43,866 on
the low range if you are doing it in sync with all of the other three (3) 9-month positions.
Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Evslin.
Councilmember Evslin: For the Building Division Board of Appeals which
has zero (0) members on it, how long has it had zero (0) members on it and does it create any
issues? It almost seems like having the County Engineer make those decisions on a case-by-
case basis seems better than having a Board of Appeals. It gives you more flexibility and
possibly an ability to respond quicker. Do you folks really intend to fill that out and is it even
necessary to have that Board filled out? Are there problems with not having that Board?
Mr. Tanigawa: So far,we have not encountered
c s ecifiproblems.
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We will talk to the Administration and see what the next steps are to take that on. In my
opinion, there are advantages to having that Board of Appeals. I am not as in tune as I would
like to be with that entire process. More discussions with the Administration are needed to
see if we are going to be advancing any activity on that.
Councilmember Evslin: Okay, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions? If not, we can
move on to Auto Maintenance. On page 199, we have General Fund Auto Maintenance. We
will go through that first. There is not much to it. I had a question on the Motor Pool
Software. That is a line item that has been in here for the past couple of years. Could you
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elaborate on what that software is and if we got it or not? It is under Other Services for
$30,000.
Mr. Tanigawa: Sorry, Council Chair Kaneshiro...
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: I am on page 200 of the Master.
Mr. Tanigawa: Page 200. I seem to have different page numbers.
I have page 210. I will follow-up with the Auto Shop and the Budget Team to get a response
to you.
MICHAEL H. TRESLER, Fiscal Management Officer (via remote technology): I can
answer that question for the Motor Pool Software. We continue to find a replacement for our
previous software vendor that pulled out of Hawai`i, unfortunately. We continue to do things
manually as far as the motor pool reservations and use and assignment of the vehicles. We
were working with Enterprise and then the COVID-19 hit. Things got pretty challenging.
We are picking that up and following up to see if we can continue our discussions and
negotiations. At one time we were really close to contracting with them to obtain use of their
reservation system, software, and hardware equipment.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Would that be for our motor pool vehicles that sit
around, and certain people get to take them when they need to go out? It helps to organize
that better than the manual method.
Mr. Tresler: Yes. The system we had was called Locomotion.
It was really good. There was keyless entry. You did not need the key. You could just use
your cardkey or your radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip to track where cars were. It
managed an online reservation system, so it made it really simple and user-friendly for
everyone. Like I said, our fleet is only so small. It contains thirty (30) or so vehicles in our
motor pool. I do not have the exact number of vehicles right now. It grew a little. Finding a
replacement for that has been challenging. We will go out and do a search and there may be
other software that could be fit our needs that have been developed over the past couple of
years. We have not been successful at implementing that program.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Okay, no problem. Are there any other questions
regarding the General Fund Auto Maintenance? Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: Can someone just explain to me the difference
between Auto Maintenance on page 199 and then a heavier one on page 276?
Mr. Tresler: Councilmember Cowden, I can explain that. In
the 201 Fund, that is the real Auto Maintenance budget. The budget that we have here in
the General Fund is the part of the work that the Auto Shop does on behalf of other funds in
the County. An audit finding came up about this. If we do work for the Kaua`i Police
Department(KPD), Parks, or other parts of the County, including Wastewater,we can charge
that out...not Wastewater actually...General Fund departments, this is where the funding
comes from.
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Councilmember Cowden: Where do the other parts come from?
Mr. Tresler: Roads, they are part of the Roads Division. They
do service all of their equipment.
Councilmember Cowden: Alright. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: The motor pool has Planning or Building
Inspectors that need to go out—it is a General Fund operation, so those vehicles would be in
the General Fund—it is keeping the expenses in the correct funds.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: I have a question on the repair & maintenance
(R&M) equipment on page 200, the maintenance of generators by Auto Maintenance,
$50,000. How many are there and are they diesel gas? What do we do with that? Do we
change the oil like a regular generator or vehicle, or is there more to it?
RUSSELL IZUMO, Automotive Equipment Su erintendent (via remote technology):
The definition for the generator is going to be
diesel, some are propane, and it is the servicing, testing, and maintenance of all generators
that the shop is responsible for.
Councilmember DeCosta: How many generators are there?
Mr. Izumo: Yes.
Councilmember DeCosta: How many total generators are you talking about
that is included in the $50,000?
Mr. Izumo: The main one is at Pi`ikoi and all the emergency
standby generators, there are a few others that we have in the shop that we have to keep on
a maintenance list. The Pi`ikoi generator has to be low tested, and that cost varies.
Councilmember DeCosta: Russell, can you get me an E-mail on what the
average cost of a new generator is?
Mr. Izumo: Okay, what size do you want?
Councilmember DeCosta: What size are you getting? Are there various sizes
in this category?
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Mr. Izumo: Yes, it goes by Public Works, so you can get
fifty (50), one hundred (100), two hundred (200), three hundred (300), there is as big as 500,
I do not think we have anything bigger than that.
Councilmember DeCosta: I was just doing the cost analysis to see if we
would be better off buying something new or continue to do the maintenance on the older
generators, that is all. Thank you, Russell.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions on the General
Fund money for Auto Maintenance shop? If not, we can move on to the Highway Fund which
is on the Auto Maintenance tab. It is the master page 276. I have a question regarding
vacancies. In the past few years there has been a lot of vacancies in this department, can
you explain how that has been affecting productivity and what we are trying to do to fill some
of these positions? I do not know if the need for these positions is not as high because there
is not as much maintenance, but obviously without all those vacancies, if work is taking long
to get done it would be an issue. If you can talk about the vacancies and how the productivity
out of that shop is going with all those missing positions.
Mr. Tanigawa: Council Chair, I will start off by saying that the
vacancies are there and that is not without having tried to fill them, it is just that based on
recruitments that we have had has not yielded the candidates that they needed to fulfill the
positions. Before we go on, see what we can get work with HR to find creative ways to have
more incentives to get the mechanics we need on board. We have two(2) supervisor positions
that are currently vacant—Mechanic Supervisors, as well as a Shop Supervisor that we are
going to be putting out for recruitment soon. We are hoping to also benefit from the fact that
now things are opening up now a little bit more with COVID-19 restrictions, maybe some
good mechanics with really good skills might feel safer to now get back into the job market
and try to compete for the position. We are going to be working with HR to fill those vacancies
in the shop. We do have a definite need for them. The supply chain issues impacted
productivity. The current workers there have done a great job assuming the existing
workload, but we want to build a workforce so we can better adapt to changes in our
operations. One good example is, we took over the landfill operation, that creates its own set
of needs for mechanics, typically the heavy mechanics side more, it is unfortunate that a lot
of work we have there is on warranty, so we have repair services available to meet our needs,
but as these pieces of equipment fall out of warranty it then begins to affect the mechanics
at the shop. They are going to want to be able to "ramp up" with the necessary mechanics to
address those different pieces of equipment.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: With all the vacancies, I feel bad for Russell. Have
we looked at times when we have a big influx of vehicles to maybe contract some of the work
out? It may cost us more in the short term, but it will help get vehicles and equipment out of
the shop or have we not come to that point yet?
Mr. Izumo: I do not think we came to that point yet, some of
the things in the shop is because of the part shortages due to COVID-19 backup. A lot of it
is to do with the same part also, it is just a common problem nationwide and worldwide, like
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a simple sensor cannot get it, then when they got it, they distributed to what is needed, and
we get whatever we can get, but they do not purchase it unless it goes bad—that is part of
the hold up, too—parts supply.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Okay, thank you, Russell. Councilmember
Cowden, then Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember Cowden: This is a follow-up. When we have trouble hiring,
do we have a good incentive program for training? If we hire people who are under trained,
can we train them? Maybe that is something that...we send them off to mechanic school on
this heavier equipment. It seems like there is a lot of specialized equipment, especially when
I think about Solid Waste, there is a number of specialized equipment. I would hope that it
could be an incentive as we bring some of our homegrown community that is like a college
piece for them or something, can we train them? Is that an opportunity? Do we have the
funding for that? Is that normal?
Mr. Izumo: I do not know if we have the funding to train them.
Training is a possible area to look into. I put these folks on the training when I first started
this position, but to get the additional training, I have folks coming in from the mainland,
but it is all short-term, it is not going to be as extensive as it was. They are coming into train
for refuse trucks—the training is delayed, also. I guess it will speed up now because the
COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
Councilmember Cowden: How much is our challenge in placing these
people—the housing problem—people cannot afford the job, or is it that there is no interest,
because it is such an essential role?
Mr. Izumo: With todays technology changing the candidates
to look if they have a broader spectrum than in the past. They need more of the electronic
trouble shooting side work, electric would have to give more points on the electronics and
electrical. I am training them myself as much as I can help them with my knowledge of
modern engines on the heavy side.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: I want to piggyback a little bit of what
Councilmember Cowden said, I think that was a great suggestion. We have a County
program intern with agriculture every summer that kids go to farms. I have participated in.
Jerry Ornalles participated and quite a bit of farmers participated in this County program.
It is an intern learning how to be a farmer. I thought it would be great if they could intern
at our automotive shop to be a mechanic if they were at Kaua`i Community College (KCC) or
high school automotive program, I thought that would be a good way to put our County funds.
With the influx of the electrical vehicles that we are headed towards going green, my question
for you folks, what are you doing to get our mechanics certified or possibly trained to look at
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these electrical vehicles if there is a problem? Are we staying ahead of the game, or are we
just going to cross that road when the electric cars break down?
Mr. Izumo: Right now, I am trying to come up with ideas and
angles to get electric vehicle training and to locate training courses and other options to get
them brought up by 2025—I am looking at that right now.
Councilmember DeCosta: Maybe I can meet with you personally or on Zoom,
but when we went to the National Association of Counties (NACo), we learned there is quite
a bit of training that you can do with the headset and Zoom that is 3D training and you can
get certified through Zoom, we do not have to take a trip to the mainland. I will get together
with you and provide you with a little bit of that information, Russell.
Mr. Izumo: Okay.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I have another follow-up based on what
Councilmember DeCosta said. When we are talking about the electronic components this is
something that I have been bringing up for a handful of months. When we look at these
beautiful new fire trucks that we have, they have so much electronic components in them,
having it one time work as test engineer on these chips—they fail. I wonder if it would be
wise for us when we order these trucks, to order a second motherboard for the truck, or
whatever they call that electronic piece that really runs it, and to store it, because the amount
of changes that can happen on a unique truck like that in five (5) years, there will not
necessarily be those chips to replace—they update all the time, so if there is a replacement
piece, we can just pull it out. It seems to me, if we spend $15,000 or $50,000 on an extra
board that makes that truck work, because we talked to the fire analysis person in here, he
shared that there are towns where he gave examples of when they pretty much have to toss
the whole $600,000 truck because they cannot replace that piece. So, that is a very
specialized piece, it is very hard to get. What are your thoughts on that? I do not know if the
refuse trucks have them, too. If we can stock the accurate electronic piece for these
specialized trucks, if we can at least buy a handful, so the truck does not fail for that. What
are your thoughts on that, Russell?
Mr. Izumo: How these trucks work is that there is a whole
bunch of electronic modules that communicate with each other in one (1) main control center
like a motherboard—you can call it a motherboard, but it is not actually a motherboard, it is
like a central air conditioning unit.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay.
Mr. Izumo: What happens is like what you are saying is some
of the modules go bad in time and we have to order them when we need them and you do not
have them right offhand, everything structured like that, including the refuse trucks now,
they have main motherboards that is running the whole refuse side of the truck, which is the
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automated side of the truck. Now we are getting problems with rodents eating wires at the
Kapa`a Baseyard, so that causes things to go down too. It depends on what modules, and it
also depends on if you were to order all the trucks with the same module—that is the other
challenge when it comes to stocking up parts for certain things. For engine things, you have
to order the same engines to keep the same ones, because they vary on engine models.
Councilmember Cowden: I would like to encourage, I know that this budget
is already set, but for the consideration for the next budget, just as we are buying more
components that have that electrical piece, I know in several vehicles that I have owned, they
go bad early, then I try hard to buy...I want to buy an old car, so I do not have that piece.
Washing machines fail because of those pieces. I think we need to be proactively prepared
for that, as we even see satellites disintegrating from electrical storms from the sun—
sunspots. I think it would be wise to have a backstock of the right technology, so when we
have a six-year-old truck that has a problem, we can replace it. The more we are buying
these electronic pieces, it makes me nervous with trucks with integrated electronics.
Mr. Izumo: Councilmember, that is why on the new rubbish
trucks, I am checking out, I am trying to reduce the engine models and reduce it down to only
two (2) models. It is going to be easier to repair.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you. I appreciate that awareness and
mindset.
Mr. Izumo: I started doing that already.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions? Councilmember
Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I had a couple of questions following-up on the
Vacancy Report that Chair asked about earlier. Position No. 1344, Auto Mechanic II,
assuming that is a hard to fill position, it has been open for over two (2) years. The Human
Resources recruitment status says, no eligible, no request to recruit. This one is fully funded;
it is not nine (9) months funded like a couple of others. Will you folks get the recruitment
started right away, so the person could start July Pt or is that unlikely?
Mr. Izumo: The recruitment process has started. The position
description (PD) just has to be re-written, because they have never recruited from external
for that Auto Mechanic II, so the PD has to be written to match Auto Mechanic I, because it
has supervisor for Auto Mechanic I. We are in the process of doing that now. They have
crews in the process of final recruitment and Mechanic/Welder is supposed to have been out
for recruitment already, I did not get back on the candidates yet. The Auto Mechanic II
candidates are pulled out of the qualified candidates pulled out last-minute prior to the
interview, so I think I will just be going to rewrite the PD to match Auto Mechanic I and we
are going to put that out for recruitment shortly.
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Councilmember Kuali`i: Thank you. The other position is Position No.
1334, Machinist. That one is 9-month funded. It has been vacant for quite a while, too, for
several years. Last year it was dollar funded and this year it is 9-month funded, but the only
thing showing in the HR recruitment status was that was dollar-funded last year. Has that
recruitment started on that?
Mr. Izumo: The recruitment has a different classification for
that position.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Okay. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: This is a different direction question. Is it the
right time to ask about the facility size? It seems like the main garage was built and set
aside about three (3) or four (4) decades ago. How are you doing with space availability and
are we able to use the Kapa'a baseyard, or have these other base yards expand? When I
looked it seems like it was small for what you need.
Mr. Izumo: Yes, the shop is small for the amount of equipment
that is maintained right now. We can look at other avenues if we can relocate or make
modifications to the increase in space for the different types of heavy vehicles. We can talk
to Troy about what we can do about this.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. When I think about expanding into a base
yard either in Hanapepe or Kapa`a, I suppose if we cannot even hire enough mechanics for
our existing one, it begs the question on why we would not be moving yet, if we cannot even
staff one space well. Do we park our vehicles needing repair somewhere else, or are we
crowding it in the same spot?
Mr. Izumo: We used to park them in the front, but we are
trying to limit that right now because we do not own the space in front of the shop.
Kawamura Farms owns that, so we try to bring in things as much as possible. Again,
sometimes we run into other problems and the trucks are in here and is already down, that
is why the space is crowded.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. I want to acknowledge as we consider the
CIP budget over the next few years it seems like that is an evident constraint on an essential
department of our County, so I want to thank you, Auto Maintenance for what is done there,
not only Russell, but all of your team and I appreciate how we can help.
Mr. Izumo: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Russell, a new mezzanine was completed for the
building, correct?
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Mr. Izumo: Yes.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: It helped a little, but obviously that site is small
for what you are doing.
Mr. Izumo: Yes, it is completed, but to utilize it properly we
are going to need another lifting...we are resorting to go into the sky track in the budget and
add it in to use it as a dual function equipment to load the mezzanine safely.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions for Auto
Maintenance? If not, we will move on to Highways & Roads. We will start with the General
Fund on page 199. I am sorry, I mean page 197. This is the General Fund expenses. There
were no significant changes on the General Fund side. Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I see it goes from $172,000 to $70,000, are we
doing a drop in that funding for our regular salaries? Have we removed positions?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: From last year's budget to this year, it stayed
at $70,000.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, so when it moved from 2021, we must have
moved a position.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Or moved the expenses somewhere else.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Troy, it says salaries for special projects, page 198.
Councilmember Cowden: What are those special projects?
Mr. Tanigawa: Okay, one second. For Roads, special projects, I
would anticipate that would be projects like in-house bridge repair.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. That is kind of a miscellaneous, you just
see what comes up. It just gives you a little bit of funding if something presents itself.
Mr. Tanigawa: That is right.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions for General Fund
Road Maintenance? If not, we will go to the Highway Fund, which is on page 256, on the
Public Works Roads tab. Are there any questions for Roads Administration budget? I have
a question, both of those positions are currently vacant—the salaries—is there a
reorganization plan, or are you looking to hire those positions?
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Mr. Tanigawa: For Roads, currently they are going to be filling a
position to assume the management roles. Recently, one of the key positions there had
transferred to another department. Beginning April Pt, we have someone coming in to
assume management duties. Then, we held back from filling the position that was recently
vacated until the paperwork is worked out and is finalized.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions for the Roads
Administration budget? If not, we will move on to the Hanapepe Baseyard. Councilmember
Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I have a question that would probably apply to all
the baseyards. When we repair roads, how much of it is our own team and how much of it is
contracted higher to be redoing asphalt?
Mr. Tanigawa: In-house type maintenance—the classification of
work that involves things like building potholes, because when you get to the larger scale
type road maintenance like resurfacing, reconstructing the base—on a larger scale you need
more specialized equipment that the private sector has. That equipment is very expensive
and both to purchase and keep operational, so when we get to the larger scale projects for
road reconstruction and resurfacing, that is the type of work that we contract out. Say a
particular road has potholes, we do that all in-house. If a particular road has some base
failure that involves a small area to get deeper, typically we do that in-house. The type of
surface mixture that we use, we put on the final course before we reopen the road is cold mix,
so for smaller areas that type of material works fine, but the larger areas need hot mix, that
we are not specialized in application, we do not have the equipment to really do placement of
hot mix—that is by comparison—that is the type of work one could do.
Councilmember Cowden: That is consistent with what I understood. Do we
share the same contractors with the State like when the State highways fixes that? Is it the
same contractors that would do the Puhi Road rebuild, or like what we just saw with Po`ipu
Road? Would it be the same contractors that work with the State?
Mr. Tanigawa: Correct, it is the same list of contractors that
when we put out this type of bid, that is the same pool that competes for both County and
State projects.
Councilmember Cowden: When we have our GET funds that pay for our
road repairs, where would I find that? Is that what is in the CIP budget, and we are paying
that to the contractors, right? The GET funds for our road repairs would go to the contractor
not just our Department of Public Works.
Mr. Tanigawa: Correct. The majority of GET funds are our
operation that goes towards the islandwide road resurfacing contracts. There is a portion of
that that goes to CIP.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, thank you.
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Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We will get to that one.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, I was looking and trying to see where it
goes.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We will get to the GET funds after we get to the
Highway funds. You will get to see that large islandwide resurfacing number. Are there any
other questions for the Hanapepe Baseyard? If not, we will move on to the Kapa'a Baseyard.
Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I am asking a general question in each of these
baseyards, is there anything that you feel is pertinent to us to be aware of? I drive by the
Kapa'a Baseyard more than the Hanapepe one, it seems to be functioning. Is there any need
in any of these that you want to highlight to us that is important for us to be aware of even
as we are looking in the future?
Mr. Tanigawa: Most baseyards are reliant on their various types
of specialized types of equipment to do their work. That is something that we prioritize to
make sure that we keep tabs on it and when replacements are due, we appreciate the
Council's support in all those replacements that we budgeted for and we can go ahead and
purchase the equipment as they need it. Also, personnel are critical to those departments'
performance of maintenance duties from shoulder maintenance, the vegetation nowadays,
ever since guinea grass became widespread across the island. That is definitely something
that the combination of manpower and equipment is critical, so they are able to keep up with
maintaining the shoulders. For the bigger road improvement projects, we started widening
the shoulders so that we now have paved shoulders that has helped up a significant degree.
We have seen the impact on Koloa Road and Maluhia Road where guinea grass is very
prominent that the urgency to get back during the morning and trimming, because now the
paved shoulder pushes the vegetation further out of the travel lane, it has really helped and
given us some flexibility so that we do not have to get back on the same roads faster—less
frequency. We would want to look at more of that as the budget goes along, but just to get
back to the question, equipment and manpower is critical for the baseyards, and their
supplies. We appreciate the Council's support in making sure that we have that.
Councilmember Cowden: In your wording here, I appreciate the effort to
keep the vegetation in check without herbicides, so understanding putting broader shoulders
is one way of doing that. I am even trying to highlight that to the public because there is
often a lot of criticism for the use of Roundup or things like that. I know sometimes it has to
happen. It is better to have that little bit of environmental impact than accidents. How long
have we been working to not use herbicides? It is better for our workers as well; we want to
keep them healthy.
Mr. Tanigawa: Herbicide is safe, as long as it is used properly. A
lot of people have become sensitive about herbicide and misuse with the press that Roundup
has had. The divisions work really hard to reduce the use to just areas that we really need
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to apply it. They have signage and protocols to follow, but I think the division has done a
wonderful job making sure it is done properly and where it is appropriate.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: Two (2) small questions. There has to be some
organic herbicide or environmentally-friendly herbicide that we can possibly use. I look at
the guinea grass, despite the man hours, especially on the North Shore with the rain, it grows
back way too quick. I wanted to see if you have any kind of new technology with organic
spray that we can use. Also, Troy, we learned this at the NACo conference about the black
polyurethane cloth that they put down as a wider shoulder with gravel. It might be a little
more costly to do by guardrails and on the side of the roads, but once you put that
polyurethane cloth down with gravel, you do not have to ever worry about weeds. Maybe that
is something we can chitchat about. Did you have any knowledge about other Public Works
Divisions across the nation that uses that cloth and gravel around road areas that allows
them to have an initial cost that is high, but longevity it is much more feasible for your
department to maintain?
Mr. Tanigawa: I will take the last question first. Those low
maintenance type landscaping that you are referring to is definitely something that we would
want to look hard at when we have projects. Having nice vegetation and plants are nice to
have to help beautify areas, but it adds maintenance costs, so we are looking at different
types of down scaping to trying to keep maintenance cost down, especially with STIP projects
that we have improvements like roundabouts where you have a center feature that we have
seen different types of treatments, comparing the one at Hardy Street where you have a lot
of vegetation to the Kapa'a roundabout, and the Kuhio Highway roundabout that the State
put up. Then you have little or no vegetation, really low maintenance requirement. They
look very different, but from the standpoint of maintenance, it has not added anything to the
Highway Road crews duties when you have that type of minimal to no landscaping, which is
a plus and even able to make it look easy with art or some type of groundscaping that is easy
on the eyes. Does that answer your question, Councilmember DeCosta?
Councilmember DeCosta: Yes, you elaborated a little more than I needed to
hear. I was just talking about black polyurethane cloth and gravel, but you made it seem
like we are going to put in foliage—that is nice, Troy. Thank you for that insight. I just
wanted to know about the organic spray. Is there something out there that we can use to
help cut down on man hours? I know we want to go environmentally friendly, but I look at
all the hours put into cutting the guinea grass that is a lot of tax dollars. I am trying to find
another way of doing it.
Mr. Tanigawa: Herbicide is...we really have not found anything
organic that people who are sensitive to generally accept, but we will keep looking for
solutions. If there is anything that will help reduce the frequency of having to go back to
problem areas, especially the hard-to-get areas that your typical mowers or bushwhackers
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have a difficult time to get to. We look for solutions, one good example of something we have
been doing more with pavement in addition to the wider shoulders, we are starting to pave
under guardrails that helps reduce the amount of vegetation that impacts that harder to
maintain area. That will push the vegetation further out behind the guardrail, so that can
then be maintained with the bushwhacker. It has an arm that reaches more out to harder to
reach areas. We will keep looking for solutions, Councilmember DeCosta. Thank you for
your suggestions.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions for the Kapa'a
Baseyard? If not, we will move on to Hanalei Baseyard. Are there any questions regarding
the Hanalei Baseyard? Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: It looks relatively flat. I see there is a $42,000
difference between the Mayor's request and the Council...that was last year's piece, so
$42,000 increase, where is that primarily coming from?
Mr. Tanigawa: When I look at the budget comparison from the
current budget to the proposed, I see that is an increase in salaries.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. There are such significant facilities
underway there, they are doing a lot of work, so I appreciate it. I was kind of expecting a
higher increase, because there is certainly a capacity increase in the facility improvement
that is close to being finished, is it almost done there in Hanalei? The shade cloth is still up.
Mr. Tanigawa: The construction project is moving along pretty
well. We are far from completion yet, there are still several months more of work, but the
temporary office facility is up so we have office space for our clerk, DRO, and the folks that
do office work to have a place to be in and we have existing garages that equipment can stay
in. They are able to do what they need to do for now, temporarily, but we are looking forward
to completing all the work there. We know that baseyard is used by multiple agencies. We
have the Department of Parks & Recreation in there, Ocean Safety, and recent addition
request from the Department of Water for a satellite office. Now with this new construction,
the Department of Water will have an office space there to have a presence especially during
emergencies post-disaster type presence capability.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions on the Hanalei
Baseyard budget? If not, we will move on to Signs and Roads Maintenance. Are there any
questions on Signs and Roads Maintenance? If not, we will move on to Highway Roads
Maintenance page 273. Are there any questions? If not, we can move on to the Roads
Administration General Excise Tax. Councilmember Evslin.
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Councilmember Evslin: I have broad questions regarding the General
Excise fund and islandwide resurfacing. Maybe they are better addressed in a follow-up, but
any data that you have now—there was not much in the write-up in here, as far as the
operation synopsis, in looking at what Building Division provided program
measures/evaluation where they put a bunch of metrics that we can use to compare 2019,
2020, and 2021, for how Building Division is doing for plan review, et cetera. It would be
great if we could get something similar for the Roads Division, as far as number of miles of
road resurfaced, if possible. Maybe some type of cost factor of what we are spending per mile
for road resurfacing. Also, what the amount of deferred maintenance still out there. I think
there was something like $300,000,000 when the General Excise surcharge went into effect
and the major ramp up started to occur. How much is still left out there and also if we are
on track to mostly get out of our big, deferred maintenance hole by the time the General
Excise surcharge sunsets. Those would be my big questions and I know there is a lot there,
so certainly, I do not think you folks have it now, but if you folks have any response to that
on how we are doing as far as getting out of the deferred maintenance hole, how many miles
you are able to do, how the ramp up is working out here? Obviously, our roads are looking
really good. We used to get a ton of pothole complaints constantly E-mailed to us, at least at
Council Services, we are getting less. I think we can all see the effect of the General Excise
surcharge. We drive on the roads, and they are so much better. Any hard data you folks can
provide will be appreciated.
Mr. Tanigawa: Thank you, Councilmember Evslin. I apologize
for not having more of the metrics in the synopsis, but we do have the data that you are
asking for, as far as miles of road paved—all of that information is available. I do not have
it on hand that I can go over right now, but I can certainly provide that to the Council in
quick order.
Councilmember Evslin: Thank you, that would be appreciated. One
concrete question, why the decrease of $2,000,000 from last year to this year? It looks like
$17,000 to $15,000 for the islandwide resurfacing program.
Mr. Tanigawa: I would defer that question to someone from
Finance.
KEN M. SHIMONISHI, Budget Administrator (via remote technology): I think
in the Mayor's message and overview there was considerable funds put forward towards the
CIP contribution from General Excise Tax fund, so while the resurfacing portion went down,
I think $1,350,000 the actual CIP side received a contribution of$4,300,000, so there was the
balancing being done there to put more towards the CIP road and bridge work this year.
Councilmember Evslin: For CIP funding from General Excise, is that
generally...and I have not looked in detail through the CIP projects list, so forgive me, but is
that generally new road construction, or is there a threshold for bridge repair that would go
in the CIP list rather than the road resurfacing?
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Mr. Shimonishi: Generally, the CIP would be something that is
improving...you would think of new, but it is increasing capacity and not just a resurfacing
of a road. Even though it is expensive, it is not considered a CIP project. It is a little difficult
concept to grasp, but that would be the main focus of it. It would be a major improvement to
it. On a road resurfacing, unless you are completely rebuilding that road, it is not considered
a part of a CIP project, but simple a R&M and therefore in the Operating Budget.
Councilmember Evslin: One last question along those lines. Does the road
resurfacing line item under the G.E. Tax Fund, does that not include any bridge repair? Is
that consistently just road resurfacing. Before you answer, the reason I am wondering is that
as a way to compare previous years, it seems like that would be hard to do if all of a sudden
you get some bridge repair in there that is super expensive for two hundred (200) yards of
road. I was wondering how stable it would be to compare year-to-year as far as how much
roads are being resurfaced, if that makes sense?
Mr. Shimonishi: I would not say that it does not include any bridge
repair. If there are minor repairs, things that come up, or fall within the scope of work, they
will use those funds to do the work, right? I think the best metric is to get from the
Department of Public Works, a listing of lane miles paved if that is what we want to set the
measurement to. The CIP-side of the house will fluctuate according to funding available and
the most pressing needs. Again, I do not want to speak for the Department of Public Works
as to how the determination is made between the two (2), but generally that is how the
funding works.
Councilmember Evslin: Thank you. That sounds good to me.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: This question is for Troy. Troy, what is the
definition of multimodal improvements? I notice we have $400,000 there. There was a total
of$400,000 including road safety and tree trimming. As I look at the original budget versus
the adjusted budget, it appears to be twice as much. Are we going to be budgeting for that
again? I notice the number is more conservative.
Mr. Tanigawa: Sorry, Councilmember DeCosta, which item were
you looking at? I understand the question, but I am not seeing the appropriation.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: What is the page number that you are on?
Councilmember DeCosta: Page 274.
Councilmember Carvalho: Other Services.
Councilmember DeCosta: It is under Road Maintenance.
Mr. Tanigawa: 208?
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Councilmember DeCosta: Troy, what is the definition of multimodal
improvements?
Mr. Tanigawa: Multimodal refers to the different modes of
transportation. That would be your bicycles, pedestrians, and any vehicles.
Councilmember DeCosta: Is that where we pay for sidewalk or asphalt
paving for the bike or pedestrian to use?
Mr. Tanigawa: It could be striping also.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay.
Mr. Tanigawa: Those types of improvements.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you for that definition, Troy.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions regarding the G.E.
Tax Fund for Roads? If not, let us move on to Wastewater. Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: Troy, did we happen to hire our second
electrician? I notice that was a big line item for us last budget. I just wanted to know if we
hired a second electrician.
Mr. Tanigawa: Let me see. Councilmember DeCosta, I believe
what happened was from last year, we ended up having to convert a position...yes, I believe
the electrician position was filled.
Councilmember DeCosta: I notice in our Wastewater Division budget, we
still have a $50,000 increase in overtime for Electrician Standby. Is that for our electrician?
Is it one (1) electrician or is it for two (2) electricians?
Mr. Tanigawa: It is just because of the equipment. The
equipment is aging and so part of our deferred maintenance program is to address these
pieces of equipment so that they do not fail unexpectedly. The standby charges are there to
ensure that we have an electrician on-duty and on standby who can respond quickly so we
can avoid any problems that could relate to an electrical problem with any part of our
collection or treatment systems. This could be at the pump stations or at the treatment plant.
Once we get all of the equipment refurbished and replaced at the pump stations...that is still
being worked on and until we have it worked on and the emergency equipment in-place, we
are still in that transition mode where we get, and we can expect to get equipment failure
outside of the normal working hours. Because of the amount of that type of anticipated need,
we feel that standby is justified and is necessary. That is the anticipated cost of having
employees on standby.
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Councilmember DeCosta: I was just looking at that cost of $50,000 in
overtime, did you say it was spread across two (2) electricians, Troy?
Mr. Tanigawa: I believe it is two (2). Donn and Donald are also
online, and they might be able to address your questions specifically.
DONN KAKUDA, Civil Engineer VI (via remote technology): Troy, do you want me
to take this question?
Mr. Tanigawa: Yes, go ahead.
Mr. Kakuda: The reason why we added this in here is we never
had two(2)electricians on staff. The only way we can do standby is if you have two(2). Since
we have two (2) electricians onboard now, we had to add that amount on to address
emergencies. Right now, when we have an emergency, we call them out, but they are not
required to show up. It is at their own choice. If you put them on standby, they are required
to show up when we have an emergency. Since we have two (2) electricians now, that is the
point of adding this in, so we have coverage.
Councilmember DeCosta: What was our cost analysis when we did not
have this second electrician on the overtime that we were paying that one (1) electrician
versus now having two (2) full-time electricians plus a $50,000 increase in overtime?
Mr. Kakuda: Before we just would scramble. We would call
private people to come out or we would beg our one (1) electrician to come out. Sometimes
they would answer and sometimes they would not.
Councilmember DeCosta: With this in place, we are going to be saving the
County money moving forward?
Mr. Kakuda: I think so. I think the main thing is that we are
protecting against spills. That is what this cost really covers.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay.
DONALD FUJIMOTO, Acting Chief of Wastewater (via remote technology): The
issue here is risk management. With the second electrician, we have a lot more coverage and
assurance that if we do have an emergency, we do not have to go outsource and hire outside
contractors to cover.
Councilmember DeCosta: I understand that, Donald. The question I asked
was where the cost analysis of is doing it by a privatized contractor calling out last year
versus this year having our two (2) electricians and an extra $50,000 to standby on overtime.
I just wanted to see the cost-benefit analysis.
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Mr. Fujimoto: Okay. I do not know that we did one, but we can
prepare one.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Council Vice Chair Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Troy, I think there is a common theme across our
departments about lack of staffing. What I am concerned about is we have a good CIP budget
on the horizon to accomplish a lot of our wastewater needs as well. I want to be sure that we
can get the work done and the funding is expensed properly. I am curious as to how we intend
to fill some of these staffing needs. Do you have any projects and/or foresight on how we are
moving forward on that?
Mr. Tanigawa: To fill vacant positions, especially in the
Wastewater Division, we recently hired a Project Manager. Due to the difficulties that we
were facing in getting Engineers on staff, we made that job a Project Manager position. We
have that capacity to procure and administer the contracts both consultant contracts,
professional services-type to complete our planning and design all the way through to
construction, construction management help, et cetera. I think we will be able to address or
be better prepared to address the staffing needs to get the work done. Like I said, we rely
heavily on professional services contracts to augment contracts and the workforce that we
need to have proper documentation. Especially for State Revolving Fund (SRF)-type of
projects, these consultants help and assist in both development to environmental-type of
work and the documentation and inspection work on the tail end during construction has
been one of the most effective things for us to make sure we get projects developed,
shovel-ready, and completed in a timely manner. While we have been having staffing
shortages and problems, the short answer is we are going to continue working with the
Department of Human Resources to fill our vacancies as soon as possible, if not with
engineers, with Project Managers. We will update contracts for services with consultants to
augment our project workforce to make sure we get the tasks done that need to get done.
Councilmember Chock: Okay and we are also seeking out an executive
administrator at the moment for Wastewater?
Mr. Tanigawa: Yes.
Councilmember Chock: I have one (1) more question. In the budget
overview initially on the first day, there was a discussion about the fee study and something
we had invested in a few years back and held back on because of COVID-19. It sounded like
we are still holding on and wanting to reevaluate and have another study or need another
study in order to move forward. I am wanting to get a clearer timeframe of when we might
be looking at that increase. In addition to that increase, the idea that we would have
exemptions or redefined exemption limits that are currently in existence to match that
increase.
Mr. Tanigawa: I would like to defer that to the Administration
and the Office of the Mayor to respond to that question.
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Councilmember Chock: I got Mike's answer already.
MICHAEL A. DAHILIG, Managing Director (via remote technology): I did get that
question, Council Vice Chair Chock. In terms of a timeline, we are actively working on the
study. There are a number of inputs that are going to be predicated...the actual fee proposals
will largely be predicated upon what happens here during the budget session. Looking
long-term, some of the budgetary inputs necessary to determine choices on potential fees will
largely depend on the CIP program that will ultimately be set by the Council through budget.
Once those design items are set in motion, it will essential set-up our construction schedule
which at that time we will have options to look at in regard to these loans from the State
Department of Health to then fund the actual vertical construction. That will probably be
about one to two (1-2) years out that debt would potentially have to start being paid. The
implementation of an actual fee increase would not occur during this Fiscal Year, but at the
earliest, the schedule that we will review with the Council in the coming months would reflect
something that would start in FY 2024.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you, Mike. That is much clearer in terms
of timeframe. I appreciate that response. One of the reasons why I ask is because of the
reallocation of the $80,000 that we had put forward. I wanted to know where that funding
was headed. I understand the need for reevaluation on this. Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you for the answers to a lot of those
questions. Thank you for asking really critical ones. I just have a simple question. About
six (6) months ago, we were having a performance issue at Lydgate to the best of my
knowledge. How is that going? Has it been repaired? Does it still need to be repaired? We
were needing to be using the outflow pipe almost daily about six (6) months ago. How is
Lydgate doing? How is our Lydgate Wastewater Plant doing?
Mr. Tanigawa: Okay, for the Wailua Wastewater Treatment
Plant operation, I guess the drought kind of helped being able to go through the golf course
with wastewater a lot more frequently. That has reduced the number of requirements per
testing and whatnot like we have to do when we go to the ocean outfall. The treatment plant
has been functioning. We continue...and Donn and Donald can provide more detail on this,
but we continue with plans to improve and retrofit the facility and treatment plan operations.
We also have programs and construction plans to improve the collection system, including
the six(6)pump stations along the collection system through the Kapa'a corridor. To answer
your question in short, Councilmember Cowden, the treatment plant has been functioning.
We are working to tighten up some of our systems so that we can make sure that when we
have to go to the ocean outfall, everybody is clear about protocols necessary to make sure that
the proper checks are done to avoid the high bacteria counts that would cause us tog o into
another mode of operation, informing the public about high bacteria counts, posting signs,
and all of that. The crew there is well-informed about the protocols and what needs to be
done to prevent situations like that.
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Councilmember Cowden: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions for Wastewater? If
not, we are coming up on a caption break. Are there any final questions for Wastewater? If
not, we will take our caption break and then we have Solid Waste and Public Works-CIP after
that. Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: I had one (1) more question. They can answer it
after we come back from the break, but I wanted to give them time to research it. I believe
on page 350, this might be for Donald, actually. Are you on page 350, Donald?
Mr. Fujimoto: Sorry, I do not have the same page numbers as
you. If you can tell me what page on the Wastewater budget...
Councilmember DeCosta: I am just looking at...
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: It would be page 2.
Mr. Fujimoto: Okay.
Councilmember DeCosta: I see overtime for $140,000. Standby pay for
callout for $275,000 and a standby electrician for $50,000 for a total of$465,000. When we
come back from the break, maybe you can explain to us why the need for all the overtime. It
almost seems more feasible to hire a full-time electrician and have them rotate a three-person
schedule. Anyway, I am willing to take that after the break.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We will take our caption break and we will still be
on Wastewater. We will take a 10-minute caption break.
There being no objections, the meeting recessed at 10:59 a.m.
The meeting reconvened at 11:10 a.m., and proceeded as follows:
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Welcome back. Councilmember DeCosta. Did you
want to repeat your question again?
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you, Council Chair Kaneshiro. I do not
mean to complicate anything. I am just trying to understand and being a new
Councilmember, the numbers just jumped out at me. What I was asking was about those
three (3) areas of overtime that are equivalent to approximately $500,000 or $465,000. I was
wondering, would it be more financially feasible for us to create a third position and have
them on a rotating shift, instead of having them stay home to have them paid all of this
overtime? Is it only electricians or is it also including engineers that are getting the overtime?
I do not want to touch upon a sensitive union subject, but because we do contract stuff out to
Aqua Engineers, can we contract this callout work to an electrical company, or can we not?
If they do not have the answer now, they can get it to me later.
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Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Donald or Troy, are you on?
Councilmember DeCosta: Maybe they are still on break?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Mike Dahilig, are you on?
Mr. Fujimoto: Sorry, I just got back. Could you repeat the
question?
Councilmember DeCosta: Donald, I appreciate all that you do and I do not
mean to badger the overtime situation. I would like to learn. I notice that there are
three (3) categories of overtime. Overtime for $140,000, standby pay for callout at $275,000,
and standby electrician for $50,000 for a total of $465,000. I was asking if that is for our
two (2) electricians? Is there an engineer included in this callout amount? Did we ever do a
feasibility study if we were better off hiring another person to do a rotating shift so we had
somebody that was working at the station instead of having to payout all of these callout
amounts? The last question I added to that, Donald, did we ever think about contracting
some of this work out like when we do for contracted work to Aqua Engineers, or is that a
union issue?
Mr. Fujimoto: Okay, thank you. Basically, let me start by saying
that the Wastewater operation is twenty-four (24) hours/seven (7) days a week operation.
Our facilities are over forty (40) years old. We are scrambling trying to do our process
improvement along with the catchup for our deferred maintenance projects. With that said,
we have constant emergencies or fires that we have to put out. The overtime addresses that.
When you look at overtime, it is relatively small compared to other operations of this same
type. As far as standby, being a twenty-four (24) hours/seven (7) days a week operation, our
people are dedicated employees, no doubt about it. At the same time, there is a lot of anxiety
not knowing what is going to happen, when it is going happen, et cetera, and having people
responsible and being on-call, helps with that anxiety level and helps addressing emergencies
and spills. The consequences of not responding timely on any kind of callout is very expensive
and at the same time it is not to the best interest of the island. Our mission is to protect the
environment. With that said, I believe there are some issues with outsourcing maintenance,
because that is the core responsibility of our employees. The overtime is $140,000. The
standby pay for callout is $275,000 and that is for the operators as well as for mechanics.
The electrician standby is $50,000. Again, until just recently when we did have two (2)
electricians, we could not do the callout for them. A lot of our problems are related to
electrical. To have the electricians is essential to diagnose the problems of the facilities. I
believe that these are fair numbers. Other agencies on different islands have multiple shifts.
Right now, we only have one (1) shift that maintains a twenty-four (24) hours/seven (7) days
a week cycle. It is essential that we have this standby, and overtime pay.
Councilmember DeCosta: I want to ask you another question, Donald. You
are comparing us to different islands, and you said that other islands have multiple shifts,
but we only have one (1) shift. Did we do a feasibility study to see if it is more cost-effective
to do multiple shifts? Or is it more cost-effective to have this overtime allocated like you have
here? How many employees does this overtime cover? I know it includes two (2) electricians,
but what about those plant workers that you mentioned that are in the plant? How many
employees is covered by this overtime?
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Mr. Fujimoto: I can address part of the question and I will defer
the second part to Donn. Regarding the first part about the cost analysis, yes, if you look at
the first page under Regular Salaries, each shift we have five (5) employees. We have the
Working Supervisor, an Operator IV and three (3) Assistants. The total for one (1) shift is
$289,000. Obviously, if we round $289,000 to $300,000 and round that into four (4) shifts,
that is approximately $1,200,000. Just to add a second shift would be another $1,200,000.
Let us say that even if we went to half of a shift, that is still $600,000. Again, that would not
cover a 24-hour cycle. That would only cover a 16-hour cycle. As far as who is covered under
this overtime, Donn, can you clarify that?
Mr. Kakuda: Okay. The people covered under the overtime are
all the plant workers, the supervisors, and their second in command. The operators can also
be on standby pay, but they also have to have their grade 1 certification and the supervisor
has to feel that they are capable of answering the standby. Overall, our Division has
approximately thirty-seven (37) employees. I think that would cover around twenty (20) of
them. I would have to add them up one-by-one. The total amount of employees it covers
includes the mechanics, electricians, plant workers, line crew, et cetera. We do have overtime
for the office as well.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions for Wastewater? If
not, we will move on to Solid Waste. Master Page 312. Councilmember Evslin.
Councilmember Evslin: I have some general questions. The Integrated
Solid Waste Management Plan (ISWMP) references a timeline for next steps in the future for
implementation. For FY 2023, it references two (2) studies. The first is a combined curbside
recycling/new Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) siting and feasibility study. It also
references for 2023 a siting study for a new landfill, yet, I do not see those studies in this
budget. I could be missing it. If they are there, could you point me to it? If they are not
there, why not?
Mr. Tanigawa: I will start off by saying that Allison has the
knowledge that could respond in detail. Just to speak in general terms, we do have a CIP
item that we are looking at using those funds to address questions about curbside and MRF
feasibility, and landfill siting.
ALLISON FRALEY, Solid Waste Programs Coordinator (via remote technology): Yes,
aloha, Councilmembers. Good morning. There is a line item in the CIP budget. I do not
know if you want to discuss it now. It says Landfill Siting, I believe, but we are going to be
changing it to Landfill Siting and Solid Waste Solutions. That is a $600,000 line item and it
is going to be used for a multi-purpose use. That is where we are going to pull the funds to
study the MRF and curbside feasibility.
Councilmember Evslin: Okay.
Ms. Fraley: We will need to change the language. The
language did not carry over.
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Councilmember Evslin: The intent is to fulfill the needs of all these studies
in one (1) study. As you said you will do curbside recycling, MRF siting, and landfill siting
all in one (1) study?
Ms. Fraley: The intent is use those funds to do all this work
whether or not we get a single consultant to do it or it is different consultants, I am not quite
sure at this point.
Councilmember Evslin: Got it. The ISWMP mentions $250,000 for what
looks like a joint MRF and recycling study and $500,000 for the landfill siting. I do not see
it in the CIP, but you said $600,000 is what you got budgeted for them?
Ms. Fraley: Correct.
Councilmember Evslin: Is that expected to be enough then if it ends up
being multiple and different studies?
Ms. Fraley: Yes.
Councilmember Evslin: Okay, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Council Vice Chair Chock.
Councilmember Chock: The Solid Waste Management Audit had
significant findings. I just wanted to get an update as to how we are moving forward from
that Audit in addressing some of the emerging themes that came through that.
Mr. Tanigawa: There was an item that came from the Council to
update on that subject that we have been working on. In short, the findings pretty much
identified items that we had to address. One major item was a morale item. We met with
the workforce and talked about the audit findings at each of the meetings. Each of the
facilities had a separate meeting. We received some good feedback. That allowed us to get
information that we can start working on the morale issue. We have been doing that. We
also discussed the methodology that we can go back to having another survey after we have
had some time to get things in place to see where we stand on morale issues and the different
factors that were identified in the Audit that contributed to those morale issues. It was
decided that we do want to do a follow-up survey as one of the things that we can self-check
on how successful we are in correcting issues that are out there. A couple of other findings
involved policy changes. We have not actually progressed to revealing these policy changes
with the union because from my understanding, that type of policy change, part of the process
is to go through union consultation. This Office is working on the language and how to
address the different items that we brought up in the Audit as far as things that were lacking
in the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). As a matter of practice, we put in-place
standard procedures that involve for example flexible time policies. Flexible time was one of
the findings in the Audit. Our practice for flexible time, one of the practical things that we
did was, we discussed operations with the various division who wanted to do flexible time.
We ensured that there were not going to be any operational problems and also monitored the
activities once flexible time was approved. Typically, for the divisions who requested flexible
time, it has worked out well. We have not come across operational issues. Unfortunately for
the facility in place, flexible time does not apply to them,because our facilities have minimum
manpower requirements and for example, the transfer station opens at 7:15 a.m. and they
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close at 3:15 p.m. It is not possible to have flexible schedules for workers at the different
facilities like the transfer stations. Flexible time applies to employees in our office and the
employees have been able to bridge any time period that a person would be out of the office
due to flexible time with either coverage with other employees or addressing things like a
special circumstance where an employee is needed in the office, through planning schedules
and making sure that employees are there at the office whether it is suspending the flexible
time for that short period of time or addressing it some other way to make sure that we have
the coverage that we need to get the task done.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you for the response. I know this is a
follow-up to the Audit and the questions that had come up previously. I would only just ask
that we would be able to get a more comprehensive look at the specific responses. I am glad
that you have had follow-up meetings and some policy changes are in effect such as those for
flexible time. If we could look at that from a perspective of action items that are being
implemented specific to the feedback that were received in the Audit, I think it would go far.
As you know, we have a lot to do in Solid Waste with a limited amount of time. We need to
be proactive and have the whole team onboard. It takes time of course, and I know this is
not going to happen overnight. Follow-up surveys are good if we have the right plan in place.
I would like to see the plan from a holistic level. I would like to see that in order for us to
move forward for what this Department needs.
Mr. Tanigawa: Thank you, Councilmember. I am working on a
detailed written response to get you that information.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you for all of the work that your team is
doing. I know you are light on staff. I appreciate the presentation that you made to us maybe
a month or two (2) ago. It helped me to realize that our landfill is on par with housing as a
critical need for the County. The diversion is critical, because we do not have a new location
sited yet and it will take some time. I have a few questions relative to that. What is the
status on our Phase 2 expansion? I believe that somewhat vertical expansion...we have
four (4) years left how we are, then we have four (4) years more if we do these expansions.
Are we there yet to have those things improved? Where are we on the timeline of being able
to continue expand?
Ms. Fraley: Right now, we are in the Cell 2 of Phase 2 filling
it up. It is scheduled to be full...the last annual operating report was in January 2027. Then
we are right now working on the vertical expansion contract with the consultants. In that
we are scoping it out and have been working on it for a while. Some things have popped up
like the possibility of doing landfill mining, which is going to be looked at while we do the
Environmental Assessment (EA) for the vertical expansion. We are on our way to continue
to receive the most life out of the current Phase 2 of the Kekaha Landfill and so if we did all
of that work and we had nothing else, then the landfill would be full in 2030.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay.
Ms. Fraley: That is what we presented to you back in January.
We referred to our presentation back in January. We are farther along with the scope of
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work with the consultant who is working on the vertical expansion since that time. It is on
the same track.
Councilmember Cowden: That was my first exposure to this new gray
covering that can be sprayed on the layers instead of putting soil, so that would take up less
space. What is that called again?
Ms. Fraley: Yes. That was called Posi-Shell. We did actually
have a Council request for follow-up on that presentation. In the response to your request, I
did make it clear that Posi-Shell is not actually an option for us as we thought it was. When
we were first exploring it, the vendor of Posi-Shell did not know that we had tarps that we
use for daily cover. What we had said at the Council Meeting was not true that we can get
some extra life in savings from cover soil from Posi-Shell. We will not be pursuing Posi-Shell
and I did make that clear in the response to you recently.
Councilmember Cowden: Sorry for missing that.
Ms. Fraley: It is okay.
Councilmember Cowden: Then the metals...the metals are a real big deal
too. When I am reading...thank you for putting this nice writeup together. When I am
reading about the operational costs due to shipping and labor, Puhi Metals is requesting an
additional $7,000 per month to continue automobile, scrap metal, eWaste, and white goods
recycling.
Ms. Fraley: Correct.
Councilmember Cowden: It is going up to $85,000 a month. I am thankful
we have them.
Ms. Fraley: Oh.
Councilmember Cowden: They are huge, right?
Ms. Fraley: Yes.
Councilmember Cowden: $7,000 per month seems significant. We will be
paying $85,000 per month. That is basically to be removing cars and things like that from
the island. That is the cost of crushing it up and shipping it away?
Ms. Fraley: Cars is a big part of it. It is basically all of the
appliances, scrap metal, which is banned or restricted from the landfill. Just to review what
they do at Puhi Metals, they manage every vehicle, every piece of heavy machinery, and
everything that comes on island. They have to drain all the fuels and crush and ship this
material over to O`ahu where it is further processed. They also take care of all of the scrap
metal which commercial scrap metal is restricted from the landfill. They are managing all
of the commercial scrap metal, as well as we do have scrap metal recycling at all of the refuse
transfer stations. We encourage the public, and they do recycle their scrap metal. We are
diverting a whole bunch of scrap metal through that program, as well as all of the appliances,
which also needs to be managed and drained of fluids and freon and everything like that.
There is a lot of processing that is involved by this contractor. Also, under the same contract,
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they also manage all of our electronic waste, which is very hazardous. That is also restricted
at the commercial level. Businesses, schools, et cetera, can all bring their eWaste there, and
regular residents too. Electronic equipment is always planned for obsolescence, so they do
get a lot of material. That is what that contract does for the County. It keeps all of those
metals and hazardous waste out of the landfill. The cost of management of this is going up
and that is why the budget is going up.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you for that description. Also, for the
public or for anyone watching, we put quite a bit of investment in being able to remove these
things from the island. When I am looking at this $100,000 for the Recycling Grant-In-Aid,
I appreciate the waste diversion proposals. When I look at how much we are approving in
subdivision approvals and we are going to have a lot of big houses being built, are we putting
active energy in terms of giving them an easy way to take their scrap from production to give
them to other housing contracts like Habitat for Humanity or some of these lower-end
projects? When I look at how many approvals are underway for these high-end houses, I am
worried that the extra is going to end up in our landfill problematically.
Ms. Fraley: Luckily, there are restrictions as I mentioned
earlier. Ordinance No. 902 went into effect about fifteen (15) years ago. It restricts
cardboard, scrap metal, and green waste from being hauled to the landfill in any quantities
above 10%. That is a safeguard to have any of those materials to enter the landfill. Any
contractor would not be able to just throw away metal. However, there could be more work
done, which could include requiring that everything gets separated and that everything
gets...as far as buildings are concerned...everything gets diverted before it gets to the landfill.
That is something that we can work on.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. I think that would be an important...
Ms. Fraley: That is the construction and demolition (C&D)
item that we talk about in our presentation in January.
Councilmember Cowden: Yes, but I do not see anything in the budget for
working on it. We would still need to work on it in the future. This year, we do not have a
diversion program funded to help.
Ms. Fraley: Correct. It is going to take some legwork at first.
It would include staff time required to work with stakeholders and also investigate...the
majority of this would be compostable materials like clean wood, pallets, drywall, and inerts.
Things that can be managed through composting or on-site at a construction site, all of those
things are things that we would be working with the industry to make sure that there are
places to take this stuff. We would also work on legislation to require that it be done. You
do not really need money yet to do all of that legwork and to work ahead of schedule to make
sure that we have a sound program that is really going to work.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. I am happy to work with you on that. My
final question is how soon is this landfill smooth drum roller going to be here? That makes
it easier on the workers, right? When they are driving around, they are not going to be
bouncing around so hard on their equipment. When is that going to get here?
Ms. Fraley: There has been issues with the delivery of
equipment. It is hard for me to say and that might be a question for the Auto Shop. We will
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work as hard as we can to get it out to bid to get it contracted. As far as the delivery, that
has been delayed for some pieces of equipment, because of the supply chain.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you for all that you do. It seems like we go
to you with all of our important questions. I have an important question, and this was written
in the budget synopsis. I am hoping that Troy is listening too. It says that we have not had
a permanent Division Chief for nine (9) months since January 2017. That is five (5) years.
They mentioned your name, I think you are Allison Fraley, and Keola Aki having to do the
administrative duties of this position. Have you been sitting in this position for the last
five (5) years, off and on?
Ms. Fraley: Off and on and formally, I did officially receive
temporary assignment (TA) for a year and three (3) months, before Dustin Moises was hired.
Councilmember DeCosta:
We no longer have Dustin Moises with us, I
believe.
Ms. Fraley: Correct. He left at the end of January.
Councilmember DeCosta: That is my main question that I will address with
Troy. You said here that Solid Waste is going to attempt to hire a vacant Civil Engineer
position for various levels. You are going to look into hiring a Principal Project Manager
(PPM) to fill the need of this Division Chief position? This PPM position, Troy, is that the
job responsibilities that Allison and Keola have been doing for the last few years?
Mr. Tanigawa: I will just clarify that a little bit. The PPM is a
position that we are looking at to redescribe what is currently a Civil Engineer position. The
Division Chief position is the Division Chief position, and we will recruit for that in a separate
recruitment. Those are two (2) things in terms of personnel transactions, we are looking at
doing in the very near future. It is obvious that we are going to make sure that we are staffed
up to get what is required to meet the transfer station improvements, which are primarily
construction-type bids that will need to go out. There is design that needs to take place. That
has been ongoing, but we need a lot to get done so we can complete that phase. Once we have
construction-ready plans and specifications, the procurement process and what follows as far
as the contracting process and construction/construction management, are very involved
tasks that we are going to need someone who is going to be able to spend a primary amount
of their time performing. That is where the PPM comes in; to provide guidance and
leadership over the Division overall, the ISWMP implementation, to ensure that our facilities
as far as our transfer stations, landfill, refuse collection operations, et cetera, that those
programs are supported and have good direction and things are getting done the way that
they are supposed to, that is the work environment and tempo that our top position at Solid
Waste, Environmental Manager there needs to make sure there is good communication and
that those things get done. There will be a recruitment for that very shortly and I am pretty
confident that we are going to be able to find candidates. We will go through the selection
process and make sure that we select the best candidate.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you, Troy.
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Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions before we get into
the details for Solid Waste? If not, we will start going through the pages. Solid Waste
Disposal, page 312. Do we have any questions regarding Solid Waste Disposal?
Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I think this is what you might have been alluding
to when you said that you were going to redescribe a Civil Engineer position. Is that the Solid
Waste Disposal Position No. 827 that has been vacant for over three (3) years and has been
sitting on continuous recruitment.
Mr. Tanigawa: Position No. 827, yes.
Councilmember Kuali`i: The only other question is based on what you
would be redescribing it to do, the salary here $51,024, is taking the low range of$51,024 to
$75,588, that amount $51,024 would be sufficient for wherever you are going to go with your
redescribing for the new position?
Ms. Fraley: We were looking at a PPM position which is at a
higher SR-rating, right, Troy?
Councilmember Kuali`i: You might have to work with HR to put in the
correct dollar amount if it might be higher.
Ms. Fraley: Yes.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: On page 312, we have this item called Indirect
Costs that is $900,000. That is pretty much a flatline across the years. I do not see the detail
on that. $900,000, what is that for Indirect Costs?
Ms. Fraley: Those are for central services. Troy, could you
explain that?
Mr. Tanigawa: That might be a Department of Finance question.
Mr. Shimonishi: Councilmember Cowden, the indirect cost is
basically the services that the General Fund or staffing provides for administrative work
such as payroll, County Attorney, administration, and so on. Every year Accounting does a
study on the cost impacts to the General Fund and charges out the other funds accordingly.
You will see this also in the Liquor Fund, Golf Fund, and so on.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions from the Members
on Solid Waste Disposal? If not, we will move on. Solid Waste Collections. Are there any
questions for Solid Waste Collections? I had a quick one. There is a purchase of an automated
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refuse collection truck. Usually we lease them over five (5)years. For this one we decided to
just purchase it. Was there a decision on leasing versus outright purchasing it?
Mr. Tanigawa: This outright purchase, we had discussions with
the Budget Team about the need for trucks. From what I understand, this outright purchase
was put in because they saw the need and the capability. Capability more with outright
purchases because we can avoid finance charges on them. We have a fleet that is aging. With
age, those automated trucks are highly mechanized. Breakdowns become more frequent, and
repairs become more expensive or lengthy with more downtime. These trucks will fill a great
need to ensure that our crews have the equipment they need and that they can rely on to get
their collections done in a timely manner.
Mr. Dahilig: As an added color to it, what was explained to us
during our internal budget hearings with the Department of Public Works, we would like to
be on a normal rotation schedule for these trucks to be replaced and repaired. What we were
concerned about is that the current status of the fleet already has so many trucks down that
trying to create a rotational schedule on lease payments and when they come up would
actually frontload the debt burden unevenly. So while we have the opportunity with the
current cashflow scenario that we had going into the budget presentation that you folks saw,
we thought it would make sense to at least try to hold in hand one of these trucks so as we
try to move towards a more normal rotational schedule on when leases come up...these would
come up for renewal or the need to replace a new truck that these things would be a lot more
even rather than trying to take care of one of the shortages and the breakdown status of some
of the fleet that they have right now.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Okay, thank you. Do we have any other questions
for Solid Waste Collections? Councilmember Kuali`i, then Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Kuali`i: On page 322 or 244 in the budget, all of the
positions, there are three (3) 9-month funded positions. Just going over the salaries at
9-months instead of the full year. The first two (2) came out at the low range. The third one,
Position No. 959, Solid Waste Worker II, the budget is showing $46,224. On the Vacancy
Report it shows the salary if it was the full salary at $63,876. I think that should be $47,907.
Just have HR or the Budget Team follow-up on that.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: My question is a simple one. On your vacancies,
can you speak to the ability to keep our collection operators staffed? The drivers of the trucks.
Is there one (1) person in the truck or two (2)?
Mr. Tanigawa: Each truck has one (1) operator. Right now, we
have backup staffing, Solid Waste Worker IIs that support the operations. Filling vacancies
has not been an issue in the past and we expect that to be the case going forward. We should
be able to have qualified and reliable staff filling that position.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions from the Members?
If not, we can move on to Solid Waste Recycling. Council Vice Chair Chock.
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Councilmember Chock: Allison, I see some exciting projects under
Grant-In-Aid, including the composting facility as well as the food waste and pig farms.
Would you be able to expand on what the outcome is that we are trying to seek out in these
Grant-In-Aid programs?
Ms. Fraley: What we want to do is go out for competitive
grants. We have looked at the ISWMP and saw that there were areas that they recommended
that we work on at this point. This would be looking at food waste, composting, animal feed
studies, waste diversion and that area, more composting, and also just innovative waste
diversion proposals...that is why we have kind of a lump sum amount. We are going to go
out to bid and award the best proposals. We want to foster starting off these programs and
hopefully they will be self-sustaining or programs that we could rely on in the future just like
how we fund all of our diversion programs that are funded. This would be the beginning of
those long-term programs.
Councilmember Chock: Helping them establish the program that we
might be able to make sure will be there in the future?
Ms. Fraley: Yes.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: This is for Allison. In Other Services there is
$920,000 in Commercial Recycling.
Ms. Fraley: Yes.
Councilmember Cowden: Can you give me a little more detail on what that
is?
Ms. Fraley: Garden Isle Disposal is the only processor
on-island. They take everything that comes to the island. We have a separate contract for
our drop bin programs that involves the eight (8) different locations for our drop bins. The
commercial program is to fund all the HI-5 processing. HI-5 includes a lot of material like a
lot of glass. I do not have the numbers at the top of my head. Garden Isle Disposal under
our contract, accepts it from the certified redemption centers like Reynolds, Kaua`i
Community Recycling Services (KCRS), and the different redemption locations, they bring
all their bottles to Garden Isle Disposal, and they do the processing of those. We help to
subsidize that, because it is very expensive. In order to maintain our ban of commercially
generated cardboard, this is a place where all haulers or self-haulers like businesses that do
not want to contract for home services, but want to haul themselves can take their material
to Garden Isle Disposal free of charge to have that cardboard processed. Those are the main
two (2) functions of that. It is to subsidize the HI-5 redemption program and also cardboard
recycling, which we are getting massive tonnage on those programs, a lot more than the
residential drop program.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you for that information. The other area
that I have is...I am trying to understand what happens to the product and what area is it
funded. When we have things like car batteries, any batteries, or electric vehicle batteries...I
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know Kauai Community College (KCC) does a very good battery recycling program. I was
impressed by that. What do we do with the lithium batteries?
Ms. Fraley: We do have a program at the Kauai Resource
Center where we accept household batteries. That includes the lithium, nicad, and alkaline
batteries. We are separated so a resident can bring those in five (5) days a week and drop
those off. We have signage at the Kauai Resource Center right in front of the Lihu`e Transfer
Station. We have signage and separate bins for those. We also sponsor a household
hazardous waste event, and we just had our event this last weekend. I do not know if anyone
had the opportunity to go. I went and audited the Kapa'a event. It was very busy. People
were bringing their batteries. When I was talking to them and let them know they could do
it six (6) days a week. As far car batteries, we do not accept those at the transfer stations or
anywhere else. Those are batteries that have value and those can be taken back to auto
shops or other retailers that sell those. They will accept those and actually pay for them.
Those big automobile batteries, we do not really manage. It is an advanced disposal fee
basically, so they are managed by the private sector.
Councilmember Cowden: An electric vehicle set of batteries, does Puhi
Metals deal with that? Who deals with those batteries? Those are big ones.
Ms. Fraley: Yes. I assume so. I do not know a lot about that.
I know that Puhi Metals does take all these cars at end of life. That is part of their job, to
manage the batteries at that location.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Carvalho.
Councilmember Carvalho: The New AV Residential Vehicle Pick-Up
Program for $120,000, could you briefly explain that?
Ms. Fraley: Yes, we are in the process of developing it. This
FY 2022, is the first year that it was funded. It is a program for low-income residents who
have vehicles that they have on their properties. They are accepted for free at Puhi Metals,
but they have to get them there. This program would pay to haul the vehicles or partial
vehicles sitting on their lawns and properties to Puhi Metals to get recycled. We are working
on it and we put it in for next year since we assume that it is an ongoing need.
Councilmember Carvalho: So, this is for next year?
Ms. Fraley: Yes.
Councilmember Carvalho: Okay, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there further questions from the Members? If
not, we are going to move to CIP. Let us take a quick 5-minute recess before we move on to
the CIP so we can get our papers in line to go through it.
There being no objections, the meeting recessed at 12:00 p.m.
The meeting reconvened at 12:07 p.m., and proceeded as follows:
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Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Okay, welcome back. Last up we have our CIP for
the Department of Public Works. I am not sure who is going to be taking us through these.
Wade? Troy? Whoever?
Mr. Tanigawa: Council Chair, could you ask the question again?
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Who is going to be taking us through the CIP
projects for the Department of Public Works?
Mr. Tanigawa: I do not have Wade online right now, so I will just
go through the CIP with you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We have the projects broken down by division of
the Department of Public Works. I am not sure if you have that sheet.
Mr. Tanigawa: I have the CIP Bill.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We will probably end with the CIP Bill.
Mr. Tanigawa: I have a report that Wade provided. It is titled
"CIP Master List".
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Do you have another one that has each individual
division broken out? It will start with CIP-Automotive.
Mr. Tanigawa: I do not have it separated by division. It is broken
out by project.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: If you need, maybe if we can take a quick recess
so we are looking at the same thing. The plan is to go through the CIP sheets individually
by division. Automotive, Engineering, Roads, et cetera. The new projects are not added to
this sheet, so we will go through the Capital Budget Ordinance and you are going to have to
guide us through those projects. None of the new projects are on this list.
Mr. Dahilig: Council Chair Kaneshiro, just to add some
comments to what you are pointing out...we just realized that the sheets that were sent over
by Wade were only reflective of the status of currently appropriated projects that still have
balances after appropriation. We have not been in a scenario where we had such a flood of
new CIP projects that have been proposed. They would not have been merged with the list
that Wade transmitted. I am currently working with Keith Perry at this time to try to pull
all of the project information sheets for all of the new projects. Anything in the CIP Bill that
says "NEW" will be transmitted to you folks. We have all the material, but it just has to be
bundled and sent over. My apologies on having that gap in written material being absent
from the overall submittal for anything new that is CIP-related. The information that you
do have from Wade are projects that has prior appropriations.
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Committee Chair Kaneshiro: If that is the case, let us try to get Troy the
appropriate sheets based on the departments. We will go through that and hold off on any
new projects until tomorrow. Once we receive those sheets, we will start the day with those
new projects that are related to the Department of Public Works, then we can go through the
rest.
Mr. Dahilig: Okay, thank you, Council Chair.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Troy, I am not sure if you have the sheets by
division.
Mr. Tanigawa: What I have is what Wade sent over, I think.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We will take a quick recess and try to get you the
sheets that we have. We will take a 5-minute recess.
There being no objections, the meeting recessed at 12:12 p.m.
The meeting reconvened at 12:18 p.m., and proceeded as follows:
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Welcome back. Troy, I believe you have the same
sheet that we have with the CIP list broken out by division.
Mr. Tanigawa: Okay.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: It starts with CIP-Automotive.
Mr. Tanigawa: Okay. I see Planning Department, but that is the
only sheet on that portable document format (PDF). It says CIP-Planning Department.
Councilmember Chock: That is the other sheet. The Master List.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: The top of the sheet just says "Planning"? Let us
take another recess to get you all the sheets that you need.
There being no objections, the meeting recessed at 12:20 p.m.
The meeting reconvened at 12:22 p.m., and proceeded as follows:
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Welcome back. We are coming to our lunch break,
so we will take our 1-hour lunch break now and we will be on our final items which are related
to the CIP. We will take our 1-hour lunch break.
There being no objections, the meeting recessed at 12:23 p.m.
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The meeting reconvened at 1:30 p.m., and proceeded as follows:
(Councilmember Evslin was noted as excused.)
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Welcome back. Our last budget item is the CIP
budget for Public Works. Troy, we are going to go page-by-page. The Councilmembers know
that these pages are only existing projects and does not include the new projects. If we have
any questions we will stop on the page and ask for a little more on the line items. I believe
we have the same papers in front of us. The first page is the CIP—Automotive. Do we have
any questions from the Councilmembers on CIP — Automotive? I know it was confirmed
earlier in the meeting that they did complete the mezzanine for their shop.
Mr. Tanigawa Correct.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I am looking at the Fuel Management System and
Fuel Tanks Hanapepe Baseyard. Is the work deferred?
Mr. Tanigawa: That is correct.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions for CIP —
Automotive? If not, we will move on to CIP —Engineering, Roads on page 1. Are there any
questions on the first page? If not, we can move on to page 2.
Councilmember DeCosta: I want to go back to the last item on page 1.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Okay.
Councilmember DeCosta: Troy?
Mr. Tanigawa: Yes.
Councilmember DeCosta: The last item on page 1, Islandwide Road Safety
Program, is that a fund we use when we have roads-in-limbo where we have to do some kind
of paving or tree/root removal that is lifting up the asphalt? Is that where the money would
come from? Can you explain to me what the Islandwide Road Safety Program is?
Mr. Tanigawa: I am not exactly familiar with what that has been
used for. I just recently spoke to Michael Moule and he may have more information on it. He
should be on the line now.
MICHAEL MOULE, Chief of Engineering (via remote technology):
Good afternoon, Members of the Council, Michael
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Moule, Engineering Division Chief. I do not have more information about that project. That
is not one that has been active in recent years, or in the last year or so. My understanding is
it can be used for safety improvements, generally, such as guardrails and that sort of thing.
There have been discussions about bringing on an on-call guardrail contractor, but that has
not happened at this time.
Councilmember DeCosta: The safety jumped out to me. Troy, we looked at
the road-in-limbo by the Mark's property and the road was undermined by the river. I was
wondering if this Islandwide Road Safety Program would address a situation like that.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: You are on mute, Troy.
Mr. Tanigawa: Thank you. For a potential project on a road that
is designated as a road-in-limbo, we would be able to respond to a particular emergency
without assuming or setting precedent to assume responsibility for the road. If there is not
an emergency condition, we probably would want to determine what exactly the County's or
department's direction should be on assuming maintenance on a particular road before we
take action to complete that task. For a road like that, the undermining, if it is something
that would result in property damage or have some kind of safety concern under emergency
conditions, we would be likely to schedule that and get it done.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay. Thank you, Troy.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions on that page? If
not, we will move back to page 2. Are there any questions on page 2? Councilmember
Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: The Kilauea/Kolo Road Improvements, is that
project working with the federal money to put the sidewalk in?
Mr. Moule: Yes, that is correct.
Councilmember Cowden: When is that work going to begin? It says,
"October 2022," what is "FFY" stand for?
Mr. Moule: "FFY" stands for Federal Fiscal Year 2023, which
runs from October 2022 to September 2023. That means that the funds will be obligated for
construction sometime during that timeframe, which means that the actual construction
would start six (6) to eight (8) months after the funds are obligated. I would probably
estimate that the funds would be obligated probably in first quarter 2023, March 2023 and
construction early 2024.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. Namehana Parkway goes from Kilauea
Road to Kuhio Highway, is that still not anywhere on the CIP?
Mr. Moule: It is not on the CIP or the STIP at this time.
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Councilmember Cowden: Okay. Opaeka`a Bridge Replacement, that one is
finished. There are two (2) items on Puhi Road Phase II, which looks like it has significant
State funding.
Mr. Moule: Federal funding.
Councilmember Cowden: Yes, Federal Fiscal Year. When we have that, we
have a lot of concerns that keep cropping up about the parking on the edge of that road. Will
that be able to address the problem of parking semi-trailers on the road there, and if so, when
is this construction going to begin?
Mr. Moule: Let me answer the last question first as far as
when the construction is anticipated to begin. This project is mostly done with design. We
have the one hundred percent (100%) plans, we are reviewing those, and we will be looking
to get final—it should be finished, but it really is not—we have to get final confirmation from
the State and send them another set if plans for the actual funding obligation from the State
and Federal government for the federal funds. It is almost ready and it was actually pushed
out a ways because of there was not enough federal funds to fund it in recent years. But with
the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that Congress passed last Fall, all of the counties
were allocated additional funding from the STIP and we were able to move that project up
from where it was showing in 2025 or 2026, to this current federal fiscal year. We anticipate
having federal funds obligated for this by August or September of this year, and construction
to start late Spring or early Summer of next year. As far as how that would affect the ongoing
problems with parking of semi-trucks and things on Puhi Road near Haleukana Street
intersection next to Villas at Puali, the project would reconfigure that area that would
probably make it more difficult for that area to be used in that way. But I think there would
likely still need to be legislation from the Council via an ordinance or a resolution to restrict
the parking activity in a way that is not restricted now, because there still would be parking
allowed on that road in some places. It may be not quite as much as now, but there would
still be parking allowed, so that would need to be done independent of this project. It could
be done before this project or after.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions on page 2? If not,
we will move on the page 3. Council Vice Chair Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Michael, I am looking at the CFD funds,
particularly Maluhia Road to Lawa`i Road and Waikomo Stream area. I know there are some
sidewalks that were slated to be put in there on both sides. Does that take the drainage
issues into consideration that we are experiencing from floods in that area?
Mr. Moule: Which project are you referring to?
Councilmember Chock: I am looking at CFD – Ho`onani Road / Sidewalk
Pedestrian Lane.
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Mr. Moule: Got it. That project is...the project developed
barely started at this point. We would address drainage as part of any of our projects.
Coincidentally, I was in conversation with the woman who is running Kiahuna Plantation
and talking about the drainage issues on Ho`onani Road at the end by the comfort station
past the Sheraton Kaua`i Resort and talking about working on that independent of the
sidewalk project. Yes, as we do any of these projects, we would need to consider drainage
and make sure that what we are doing does not make drainage any worse and hopefully and
typically, we would improve drainage by adding drainage facilities as much as feasible. We
do find that a lot of project—and I again, I cannot speak specifically—we find that in a lot of
projects, there is not a lot of draining infrastructure to tie into, which makes it difficult for
drainage, but we do the best we can given what we have and the funding available for any
given project. We would do the same thing on this project.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I see the Hanapepe Bridge Reconstruction and the
Hanapepe Road Resurfacing. It looks like we have another good generous input from Federal
Highways, so thank you again, for that. Is this also going to be happening in early 2023?
Mr. Moule: Just as of last week, we had a meeting with
Department of Transportation (DOT) staff and Federal Highways staff. The sheet that you
are looking at now, shows the Hanapepe Bridge project being in Federal Fiscal Year 2022.
We determined that is likely to push to Federal Fiscal Year 2023, so both projects are going
to be started in the same year, although the bridge project would likely be obligated and then
constructed earlier than the road project. These two (2) projects are federally-funded and
would make improvements to both the bridge. Mainly for the bridge, it is scour concrete and
general repairs and a little bit of striping, as well by putting in a structural deck as well as
replacing the long delipidated pedestrian walkway that is on the makai side of the bridge.
Was there another question that you had that I missed?
Councilmember Cowden: It was just the timing. It sounds like 2023 and the
road would happen after.
Mr. Moule: Yes. My best estimate right now would be the
bridge going to construction probably fourth quarter 2022 or a little later, potentially early
2023, with construction starting late 2023. The Hanapepe Road Resurfacing project
construction could start early to mid-2024 based on our current schedules and funding
situation.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Carvalho.
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Councilmember Carvalho: Michael, I wanted to follow-up on the Kapahi
Bridge Replacement. I know that has been on for a while.
Mr. Moule: I think what is here, you see the Kapahi Bridge
Replacement, we did fully replace the bridge a few years ago. Things were mix-matched in
the name and the description here. The work that we have planned right now is to do some
scour repair. With the flood that we had come through, it did not damage the bridge itself, it
just eroded away some of the dirt and things around the abutments. This project is that as
opposed to replacing the structure. I think what happened was the replacement structure
was already on the CIP and then funds were added to the existing project even though the
actual replacement is done.
Councilmember Carvalho: Okay, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions on page 3? If not,
we will move on to page 4. Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: When I am looking at the CFD — Po`ipu Beach
Pedestrian/Bicycle Access Project, how is that related to the Rebuilding American
Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant that we are applying for?
Is this the same area or is this adjacent?
Mr. Moule: The two (2) projects listed here, the second one
CFD — Po`ipu Road Multimodal Improvements, is the project that we are applying for the
RAISE grant that we talked about last week at the bi-weekly Council Meeting. That is one
of the CIP items that we talked about using for the match. The other project here, the CFD
— Po`ipu Beach Pedestrian/Bicycle Access Project is a project to improve the pedestrian
accessibility to Po`ipu Beach Park itself, which as I understand it, is still for the purpose I
thought it was when we first put this on the CIP, for connecting Po`ipu Road to the beach
park along Ho`owili Road, and then improvements for pedestrians on Ho`one along the beach
park and connecting over past Brennecke's Beach towards Pee Road towards the Grand
Hyatt Kaua`i Resort & Spa. It is not on Po`ipu Road. These funds are for the nearby streets
to connect with beach parking and beyond.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions on page 4? If not,
we will move on to page 5. Are there any final questions for Engineering, Roads on page 5?
Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: Olohena Road Improvements. It says it is delayed
pending the Federal Highway approval of Section 106. How long do you expect that to be
delayed for?
Mr. Moule: Honestly, the last time I saw this list, I would
have hoped that we had these funds obligated by now, but unfortunately, we do not. That
was just a couple of months ago, but we are still waiting largely on the environmental review,
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Section 106 is the primary one. I do not have a good estimate. We were literally in contact
with them last week trying to get help on getting that Section 106 closed-out. It is intended
for this Federal Fiscal Year and we are required to have everything ready by May 31St. We
had a meeting with all the players last week, and I told everyone there that we need help
getting this though, and because of that, we should get it done quickly I would hope. We
should be able to get those funds obligated, I would say by June/July at the latest, which
means construction could start early next year or even late this year if we can move it through
faster. This is a little bit of a tough one because when we have these problems with
Section 106 with State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD), sometimes they take a lot
longer than we want. When this got pushed back initially last summer, we anticipated
obligation of funds in December—that is what State DOT told us, and obviously, it is well
past December. We are kind of struggling on this, but we do have everyone's attention and
we are looking to move forward as quickly as we can.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other final questions? I have one,
Michael. In looking at the list, we all know Maluhia Road and Koloa Road were in horrible
shape and we got General Excise Tax money, so we fixed those. I know Olohena Road was
the next big project that we needed done. Are there any other future roads after these that
we are looking at? It might not necessarily be in this budget, but that is coming down the
line that is a major road.
Mr. Moule: Other roads that we have on the STIP, not all of
which have CIP money matches yet, we have sections of Kawaihau Road, Kekaha Road and
Akialoa Road in Kekaha, and Hanapepe Road is on this list. Haleko Road was recently paved,
but there is no project on the STIP. It is several years out, but put on the STIP to try to
improve the intersection of Haleko Road and Pua Loke Street with respect to the fact that
there is all of the new housing that is there, and provide pedestrian access from there to Rice
Street, which is a short distance, but it is a difficult walk now. Off the top of my head, I think
that is—are there any other that I am missing? There is a least one (1) more that I am not
thinking of at the moment, but those are what we talked about. Those are the main ones at
this time. I can pull up the list and be sure.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Those are good. I think most of our claims came
off of Maluhia Road, Koloa Road, and Olohena Road, which I am glad we have taken of or we
are going to be taking care of. Are there any final questions? We are going to move on to CIP
– Solid Waste. Thank you, Michael. Do we have any questions on the CIP for Solid Waste?
Troy, is the Best Management Practices (BMPs) Refuse Transfer Stations related to the
National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) notices that we received in the
past?
Mr. Tanigawa: Yes. This is in response to what we got back from
the Department of Health (DOH), so we are gearing up to do the repairs at the stations to
better enable stormwater pollution prevention and compliance with the NPDES permits.
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Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We will have enough money and we will be doing
enough projects that DOH is satisfied with what we are doing and moving forward, or are
they still looking to put a lot of pressure on us and there are other things that we need to do
to satisfy those NPDES?
Mr. Tanigawa: We are looking at this project being the project
that will put in place roofs over areas that we receive waste. It will better divert stormwater
runoff, so we do not have to deal with additional water than we already have falling on the
site. Then, it will improve our collections so that we minimize double handling of items. In
the end, DOH regulations are still in place, they are still going to expect us to comply with
stormwater sampling requirements if the permits require it. If there are any items that they
find in our stormwater samples when we do actually have a candidate-event to sample and
send in the information, it goes in a form of a discharge monitoring report. We will have
additional discussions on it, but what we have here is a project that will significantly improve
the operation over that is existing now.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I have a follow-up on that. You are saying
"stormwater," but that would be inclusive of the leachate that gets squeezed out, right? It
would be somehow collecting the leachate, so it does not get into the waterway.
Mr. Tanigawa: Yes. Part of the improvement is to have the
facility constructed so that we separate leachate for areas that come into contact with
leachate and potentially have stormwater falling on items in those areas. Whatever
stormwater is generated that touches leachate will be contained and put in a tank where it
will be collected or pumped out and sent to a wastewater treatment plant.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. you might have already fixed it and I did
not notice. Did the fence around the Kapa'a Transfer Station get fixed yet? It has been
broken for several years.
Mr. Tanigawa: We have a fence that did get dilapidated and
damaged from past operations and weathering. The fence around the old landfill will likely
still have to be addressed, but as far as existing operations fencing, the transfer station gate,
and the other fencing, I believe that there were some improvements to help restrict access
along Kahi Road, which is a driveway that leads up to Kapa`a Transfer Station from Apopo
Road. There are private driveways that lead into the area that are presenting challenges
that provide homeless and other people access to the site afterhours. That is a continuing
challenge that we have to deal with to help restrict access and try to prevent trespassing on
the site afterhours.
Councilmember Cowden: Yes, because it seems like even if we make a
tighter, closer fence or something, because as long as I have been in office, there has been a
sense that equipment gets damaged in there and the battery gets taken. I have not gone and
looked recently, but where the fence was open, it seems like there is a lot of activity at night
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and the equipment gets damaged. It seems like we would be wise—when you look at the cost
of the equipment, and even just the cleanliness of the bathrooms and things like that for our
workers. I know that we did lock it after a time, but then people were just going to the
bathroom around the bathroom, so they still had to deal with that. I just want to put it out
there again because let use fix the fence, whatever way we can, let us do it.
Mr. Tanigawa: That is a very good point. I know in the past; we
have had bandages around the transfer station. The fence gets fix and people cut the fence
again. We are hoping that with the transfer station improvements that we will have better
facilities to lock things away, and with the type of operation we are going to, where it will be
top load versus people doing their mixed waste in a refuse chute. The mechanical compactor
will be replaced with something a little bit more modern. We are hoping that it will reduce
incentive people for to go in afterhours.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Council Vice Chair Chock.
Councilmember Chock: This message is for Michael or Allison relating to
the Waste-To-Energy project. Now that the consultant has been secured and we are a couple
months into it, I had asked for an understanding of the structure of what it is we would be
looking for and applying to within this study. I was for procurement purposes; I need to stay
out of that process. I am curious and I would like to see if we can get some understanding of
what it is we are studying. I know that there was some, not only just waste-to-energy data
that we were looking for in this feasibility study, but also some of the diversion efforts.
Perhaps we would be able to see how the consultant is structuring it. We have studied this
before, so I want to be sure that we are moving in a different direction than what we have in
the past.
Ms. Fraley: What we are doing is we are working with the
consultant to see what happens when we...let me backtrack. What happens is we get
approached by all of these different technology manufactures, and they are telling us that
they can provide a waste-to-energy solution. It happens all the time, so it has happened since
the last study. This is our attempt to make sure that we are looking at everything. we are
working it HDR, Inc., a consulting firm who has a lot of experience in this, to get all of the
information that we have about our waste stream, what we control, what we do not control,
and everything that is it in. Then, send a letter out to all of the different technology people
that have been approaching us to let them know that if they are interested in providing some
kind of waste-to-energy solution, no necessarily mass burn, but any kind of waste-to-energy
solution, give us this basic information about your product. That is where we are at now, we
have a list of a bunch of different potential vendors of products that out consultant is going
to be reaching out to with the information on our waste stream to see if there is some kind of
fit.
Councilmember Chock: Okay. Allison, when I read this description on the
status, it talks about sorting technologies.
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Ms. Fraley: Yes.
Councilmember Chock: Does that mean we are also looking at feasibility
of the MRF as well?
Ms. Fraley: This information could be used for a"'clean" MRF,
but this is a"dirty"MRF technology for sorting facility, which means that whatever is coning
in...it could also be used for shipping waste to O`ahu or the mainland if we are in that
situation where we do not have any waste solutions, because we are really like we said in our
meeting back in January, we are really recognizing that we are in a crisis here. This part of
the scope of work could actually benefit us in multiple different ways where they are just
looking at the sorting technologies, like a MRF or a "dirty" MRF that would be able to bring
in the waste stream, package whatever they want to sort out of it, and then move that product
to a useful life.
Councilmember Chock: Okay, thank you.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions regarding CIP —
Solid Waste? If not, we will move on to the final Division, Wastewater. Are there any
questions regarding wastewater? Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: With the Lihu`e Wastewater Treatment Plant, the
first item, I do not see that in our appropriation column. Are we going to do it or are we
waiting? It says "redundancy," but we want that though. I do not see it over there on the
right. Is there a reason that it is not in the column?
Mr. Tanigawa: Councilmember Cowden, Donald Fujimoto is on
the call, and I believe he should have information to address that question.
Mr. Fujimoto: I am not sure where Don is, but I think this is a
project that we are just completing now.
Councilmember Cowden: Oh, okay. Is it almost done?
Mr. Fujimoto: Yes, it is almost done.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, alright. It seems like an important
improvement. The manhole upgrades, do they just get worn-out after a while?
Mr. Fujimoto: Yes. The manholes are pretty old and the gas
from the wastewater erodes the concrete, so we need to reline and rehabilitate these
manholes with a special lining.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, thank you.
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Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions? Is the Wastewater
Billing System Upgrades done already or is that something that is going to take time to do?
Mr. Fujimoto: I was looking at the status, again, there are
two (2) parts to this Lihu`e Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements. The first part,
which was the secondary clarifiers, those are just about being completed. I believe that we
are going to be requesting a design for the second phase of Lihu`e.
Mr. Kakuda: Donald, do you want to me answer for the billing
system?
Mr. Fujimoto: Yes, please.
Mr. Kakuda: Council Chair Kaneshiro, for the billing system, I
was working with Michael Contrades. With the current online system, they are testing out
automatic bill pay with credit cards and electronic checks. They are going to be testing it out
next month, so we are hoping that it will go live in a few months. For that reason, I think
they moved the money out of that one. We are hoping to get something in two (2) to three (3)
months.
Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Perfect. Thank you, Donn. Are there any other
questions from the Members? If not, thank you, Troy and all of your staff. At this time, I
would like to recess the Departmental Budget Reviews. We will reconvene at 9:00 a.m.
tomorrow, March 29, 2022. We will continue with the Department of Public Works new CIP
budget items as well as CIP budget for all other departments.
There being no objections, the Committee recessed at 2:06 p.m.