HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/20/2019 Council minutes COUNCIL MEETING
FEBRUARY 20, 2019
The Council Meeting of the Council of the County of Kaua`i was called to order
by Council Chair Arryl Kaneshiro at the Council Chambers, 4396 Rice Street,
Suite 201, Lihu`e, Kaua`i, on Wednesday, February 20, 2019 at 8:31 a.m., after which
the following Members answered the call of the roll:
Honorable Arthur Brun
Honorable Mason K. Chock
Honorable Felicia Cowden
Honorable Luke A. Evslin
Honorable Ross Kagawa (present at 8:37 a.m.)
Honorable KipuKai Kuali`i (present at 8:33 a.m.)
Honorable Arryl Kaneshiro
APPROVAL OF AGENDA.
Councilmember Chock moved for approval of the agenda, as circulated,
seconded by Councilmember Brun.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there anyone in the audience 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:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Seeing none, members, is there any
discussion on the agenda?
The motion for approval of the agenda, as circulated, was then put, and carried
by a vote of 5:0:2 (Councilmembers Kagawa and Kuali`i were excused).
Council Chair Kaneshiro: The motion is carried.
MINUTES of the following meetings of the Council:
January 23, 2019 Council Meeting
February 6, 2019 Council Meeting
Councilmember Chock moved to approve the Minutes as circulated, seconded
by Councilmember Brun.
COUNCIL MEETING 2 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there anyone in the audience wishing to
testify on the Minutes?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Seeing none, is there any discussion from the
members?
The motion to approve the Minutes, as circulated, was then put, carried by a
vote of 5:0:2 (Councilmembers Kagawa and Kuali i were excused).
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Motion carried. Next up, we have interviews.
Kurt, you are first. Ellen, did you want to say anything? Okay.
INTERVIEWS:
BOARD OF WATER SUPPLY:
• Kurt S. Akamine — Term ending 12/31/2021
ELLEN CHING, Boards and Commissions Administrator: Good
morning, Ellen Ching, Administrator for Boards and Commissions. I am going to be
introducing all of the interviewees this morning, starting off with Mr. Akamine. Kurt
is Vice President of Ohana Pacific Management Company, which is locally-owned and
the largest privately-owned skilled nursing company in the State of Hawai`i. Kurt
has been a leader in health care for the past fifteen (15) years on Kaua`i, this includes
Garden Island Rehabilitation, Hale Kupuna, Kaua`i Adult Day Health Center, and
Stay At Home Healthcare. Additionally, Kurt serves on the State Health Planning
and Development Agency's Certificate of Need Review Panel, which reviews
applications for new health care facilities or services, and is a member of Hawai`i
Healthcare Education and Research Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization
that promotes, conducts research, disseminates information, and conducts hospital
preparedness exercises for public health emergencies.
(Councilmember Kuali`i was noted as present.)
Ms. Ching: Kurt has also served on the Board of Hawai`i
Health Systems, which is Mahelona Medical Center and Kaua`i Veterans Memorial
Hospital (KVMH), for the past six (6) years and as Chair in the last year. I look
forward to his contributions to the Board of Water Supply with his experience and
knowledge of managing large-scale operations that must provide service on a
twenty-four/seven (24/7) basis on a continual basis. Kurt.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you, Kurt. Do you have anything else
that you want to add? Are there any questions from the members? Councilmember
Brun.
COUNCIL MEETING 3 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Councilmember Brun: Is all of that true or did you just tell her to say
that?
KURT S. AKAMINE: Did it sound good?
Councilmember Brun: Pretty much.
Mr. Akamine: Oh, then it is true.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions?
Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: Hi. I want to first of all thank you for being
willing to be on the Board of Water Supply. It looks like you have plenty of business
experience to be helping you with that and that you have Board experience...actually
several different Boards. I appreciate that. What brings your interest to water? Do
you have water experience?
Mr. Akamine: No, I do not. My interest, I grew up in this
island community and if there is any way I can add value, I would like to see if I can
contribute.
Councilmember Cowden: Yes. I feel confident that you can learn
quickly. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions?
Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: No questions. I just want to thank you, Kurt,
for stepping up and helping us fill this position, as it is needed. There are a lot of
needs for the Board of Water Supply and for the Department of Water as it relates to
housing. I certainly think this Council is focused on trying to see how we can mitigate
through some of the rules, which is directly under your oversight, so that is where if
there is a request, that you look at these areas of need. Infrastructure is a big barrier
for our housing needs. Thank you for stepping up to the plate for it.
Mr. Akamine: You are welcome.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Again, thank you, Kurt, for your willingness
to serve. Next.
CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION:
• Lori K. Koga — Term ending 12/31/2021
Ms. Ching: I am equally pleased to introduce Lori Koga,
who for the past twenty-six (26) years, is the owner of her family trade, M. Tanaka
Store, Inc. As a small business, she has continued her family's legacy of one hundred
four (104) years in operation. Imagine of the changes over one hundred four (104)
COUNCIL MEETING 4 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
years or even the last twenty-six (26) years. Let us go down memory lane a little bit.
Twenty-six (26) years ago, Michael Jordan retires and switches to baseball; Chad
Rowan becomes Akebono, which is the first foreign-born yokozuna wrestler to achieve
that rank; and our minimum wage was four dollars and seventy-five cents ($4.75) and
goes up to five dollars and twenty-five cents ($5.25). Lori has successfully weathered
and navigated all of these changes and more. As a first-time commissioner ever, we
anticipate fresh ideas and new perspectives. I yield the floor to Lori, who would like
to say a few words.
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as present.)
LORI K. KOGA: Good morning. My name is Lori Koga. I am
a Lihu`e resident. I graduated from Kaua`i High School. After high school, I got my
Associates Degree at Yuba College in California and my Bachelor's Degree in
Organizational Communications and a Minor in Computer Science at California
State University in Chico. After college, I came back and worked at Aloha Airlines
for about five (5) years. Then when my second son was born, my grandmother got
sick and passed away. I left the airlines to help in the family business and I have
been there ever since. I married my high school sweetheart, Craig Koga. We have
been together for forty (40) years, this year will be our thirty-one (31) year
anniversary. We have three (3) kids. My two (2) older sons are graduates from the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas. My daughter is a Junior at the University of Pacific
in California and she just got accepted to Assetto University in Tokyo, Japan, so she
is going on an exchange program next month. I have no experience on the Board. I
am the Vice President and Secretary at M. Tanaka Store, Inc., which is a family-
owned business that was started my by great-grandfather, Manzo, in 1915, so it is
one hundred four (104) years old. I just want to thank Mayor Kawakami for believing
in me and trusting me. I hope I can do a good job. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. One hundred four (104), I do not
think anyone was around at that time. Are there any questions for Lori from the
members? Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: I think I was only four (4) years old when
Akebono was...I just want to say congratulations. Thank you for shining light on
that, first of all, because I think it says a lot about the family but also about
sustainability and business sense, too. I hope that we can look forward to you
bringing some of that knowledge forward with the Charter Review Commission. This
is another important Commission as well. It is the foundation of our County and
certainly, we have some members from the Charter Review Commission here today
that have been tackling issues, so hopefully, we will see some lively discussion and
things on the table that will help us move forward as an island. Thank you so much
for your service.
Ms. Koga: Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
COUNCIL MEETING 5 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Councilmember Cowden: I also want to thank you for your willingness
to do this. Your heritage in the community is deeply meaningful for this position. I
have particular interest in the Charter Review Commission because when Bryan
Baptiste, the former Mayor, came up with this plan, it was at a time when sugar was
leaving. When the Charter was written, I believe in 1964, the big landowners really
did an awful lot of the heavy-lifting that the County is now responsible for. This is
such an important position and at that time when the decision was made to create a
Charter Review Commission, it was, how do we adapt our Charter to help the County
be able to be flexible enough to be handling this position? It was meant to be a ten (10)
year thing, so it was very recently put into perpetuity. I appreciate your background
and knowledge of the community, and I also see and get your point here that it is a
lot of responsibility because it is. I do not think at the State or certainly not the
national-level, do we have a Constitutional Review Committee that can look at all of
these pieces. Thank you for being aware of that responsibility.
Ms. Koga: Thank you.
Councilmember Cowden: I appreciate you very much.
Ms. Koga: Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Evslin.
Councilmember Evslin: Thank you for your willingness to serve going
forward, and thank you for the service that your store has been to the community for
so long. I spent way too much time wandering those aisles and somehow, you folks
always have exactly what I need. I have gone in with telling someone working there,
"Hey, I am building something and I do not really know how," and they would just
walking through how to do it. You cannot go anywhere else to get that kind of service.
Ms. Koga: Thank you.
Councilmember Evslin: Thank you. I am sure you are going to do good
things for the Charter Review Commission.
Ms. Koga: Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Anyone else? Again, I want to thank you. I
think we saw in the last election that there were a bunch of Charter items and I do
appreciate the way they were worded. I know my gripe in the past was that it was
always...it was weird how it was worded because I think the way it is worded now
was if you vote "yes," then you are voting for a change in the Charter. If you vote
"no," then you are voting for things to stay the same. It is a lot easier to explain that
to people rather than certain things it was worded all different ways so you are telling
people, "If you vote `yes' on this one, then it mean it is changing. But if you vote `yes'
on the next one, it means it is not changing." I think it makes it a lot clearer because
people can understand what the actual change is. It does not say, "If you want things
to stay the same, then you vote this way." I do appreciate that it was easier for me
to tell people, "Well, you read it and if you think you want the change, then you vote
COUNCIL MEETING 6 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
`yes.' If you do not want the change and want things to stay the same, then you vote
`no.' I think that helps. Again, Lori, thank you for your willingness to serve. Are
there any other questions? If not, thank you.
Ms. Koga: Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Next up is Leland.
SALARY COMMISSION:
• Leland K. Kahawai — Term ending 12/31/2021
Ms. Ching: Leland has been a leader in our financial
institutions for the past thirty (30) years. He is currently the Senior Vice President
and Region Manager at First Hawaiian Bank. He initially came to Kaua`i in 1997 as
the Vice President and Lihu`e Branch Manager for fourteen (14) years. Then, we lost
him to Maui and we are lucky to have him back with us since April 2018. Leland has
volunteered with many community organizations since his return, most recently, he
joined the Kaua`i Economic Development Board this past November. We will depend
on his expertise with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the economic outlook or
forecast to provide the Salary Commission with their findings to include in their
resolution to the Council.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Leland, is there anything that you want to
add?
LELAND K. KAHAWAI: Good morning, Councilmembers. It is great to
be back on Kaua`i after spending seven (7) years on Maui. I consider this home for
myself as well as my family. We practically raised our children here on the island, so
this is home for them. Being involved in the community has been a big part of my
upbringing as well as working for the bank and being involved in the community, and
giving back to the community is a big part for myself and the bank. I look forward to
the opportunity to serve on the Salary Commission.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. You did serve a while on the
Board of Water Supply, so you do have experience serving on County Boards. Are
there any questions for Leland? Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: Thank you. Leland, a couple of years ago, we
had the last Salary Commission propose an increase to the Council. It was said that
we have trouble attracting competitive personnel to fill those positions and they
talked about dollar amounts. For example, they said, "Well, the private sector is
paying one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000). How do we recruit a County
Engineer at one hundred fourteen thousand dollar ($114,000)?" One of the things that
was never mentioned was that County employees receive twenty-one (21) days of
vacation and twenty-one (21) days of sick leave a year. Is that true in the private
sector? I guess that was my question. What is the value of having forty-two (42) days
off a year compared to the private sector where they may have ten (10)? Yes, you can
compare salary amounts; however, you have to factor in the benefits as well. I think
COUNCIL MEETING 7 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
with the County retirement, if you serve ten (10) years, you get vested. Is that true
in the private sector? I think when we use those comparisons, let us be clear to the
governing body that these are the differences as well. I hope that you can help to
bring that because the last time, I felt those pieces were missing and we were just
left to just judge on our own. I think since the Salary Commission is focusing on
salaries, then if you can help because I know you are going to get approved, but I hope
that you can bring some of those extra things into thought when you come before the
Council because the last time, I found that kind of troubling.
Mr. Kahawai: Okay.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you, Council Chair Kaneshiro.
Kahawai family, welcome back. Thank you for coming back to Kaua`i and jumping
back in there and serving. I appreciate that. I guess I will just echo some of what
Council Vice Chair Kagawa is talking about in terms of every year when we do get
recommendations, we really ask, "How did you folks analyze coming to the
conclusions as it relates to private industry and as it relates to other islands and
municipalities?" I think that often times, we overlook the smaller details of what
government work is as all of us have come into it as community servants and then
how we can actually match it up, specifically for Kaua`i. I look forward to you diving
into that and giving your expertise. I really appreciate your time here.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Brun.
Councilmember Brun: I am going to add on to this. On top of the
forty-two (42) days, you have thirteen (13) days vacation, so basically, you can miss
every Monday out of the year and still not get fired. We have to add that, too. It is
fifty-five (55) days off. Yes, the money might not be as much as the private sector and
we have to focus on that. The benefit is fifty-five (55) days, so it is something to add
on to that.
Mr. Kahawai: Yes.
Councilmember Brun: Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I also want to thank you. I appreciate my
Council colleagues for bringing up the inversion at the top of the pyramid of the pay.
What I would like to bring up that I am noticing is the daily workers who do things
such as cleaning the comfort stations, who do the dispatch, or the lower-paid end. I
would really like to see some review on that because those people are working two (2)
or three (3)jobs and they are struggling with that. Does the Salary Commission work
with that community? I know it is new, but the Unions look at that. Is it only the
Unions or does the Salary Commission work on that? Do you know?
COUNCIL MEETING 8 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Council Chair Kaneshiro: The Salary Commission does not look at those
types of employees.
Councilmember Cowden: Oh, okay.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: It is just executive heads and appointees.
Councilmember Cowden: Alright. Okay, thank you. Top of the pile, we
need to look at that. But for the bottom, we need to look at it somewhere. Thank
you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions? If not, Leland
thank you and welcome back.
Mr. Kahawai: Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you, Ellen.
Ms. Ching: Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Clerk, next item is the Consent Calendar.
CONSENT CALENDAR:
C 2019-38 Communication (01/06/2019) from the Deputy County Engineer,
transmitting for Council consideration, a Resolution Establishing Traffic Lane
Modifications And Parking Restrictions On A Portion Of Kamali`i Street;
Establishing Turn Restrictions On Lili`uokalani Street At Kahe Street; And
Establishing A Time Limit Parking Zone On Kahe Street: Councilmember Chock
moved to receive C 2019-38 for the record, seconded by Councilmember Brun.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Anyone in the audience wishing to testify on
this?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Seeing none, is there any discussion?
The motion to receive C 2019-38 for the record was then put, and unanimously
carried.
COUNCIL MEETING 9 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Motion carried. Next item, please.
C 2019-39 Communication (01/25/2019) from the Mayor, transmitting for
Council consideration and confirmation, the following Mayoral appointments to the
various Boards and Commissions for the County of Kaua`i:
a. Board of Water Supply
• Elesther Calipjo — Term ending 12/31/2021
b. Civil Service Commission
• Beth Ann Tokioka — Term ending 12/31/2021
c. Fire Commission
• Jennie Heatley Chahanovich — Term ending 12/31/2021
C 2019-40 Communication (01/28/2019) from Council Chair Kaneshiro,
providing written disclosure of a possible conflict of interest and recusal relating to
the Mayoral appointment of Elesther Calipjo to serve on the Board of Water Supply,
as Mr. Calipjo is a member of his immediate family.
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to receive C 2019-39 and C 2019-40 for the
record, seconded by Councilmember Chock.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Anyone in the audience wishing to testify on
this?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Seeing none, is there any discussion from the
members?
The motion to receive C 2019-39, and C 2019-40 for the record was then put,
and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Motion carried. Next item.
COMMUNICATIONS:
C 2019-41 Communication (01/25/2019) from the Director of Finance,
transmitting for Council consideration, proposed amendments to:
• Section 2, Ordinance No. 891, relating to Authorizing the Issuance of
General Obligation Bonds of the County of Kauai for the Purpose of
Financing Certain Bonds of the County; Fixing or Authorizing the
COUNCIL MEETING 10 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Fixing of the Form, Denominations, and Certain Other Details of
Such Bonds and Providing for the Sale of Such Bonds to the Public;
and
• Section 2, Ordinance No. 1019, relating to Authorizing the Issuance
of General Obligation Bonds of the County of Kaua`i for the Purpose
of Financing Certain Public Improvements; Fixing or Authorizing
the Fixing of the Form, Denominations, and Certain Other Details of
Such Bonds and Providing for the Sale of Such Bonds to the Public;
Authorizing the Issuance and Sale of Bond Anticipation Notes; and
Providing for Other Matters and Actions Pertaining to the Issuance
and Sale of the Bonds.
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to receive C 2019-41 for the record, seconded by
Councilmember Brun.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Anyone in the audience wishing to testify on
this?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Seeing none, are there any questions from the
members? This is the Communication. We can discuss it when it comes up for first
reading.
The motion to receive C 2019-41 for the record was the put, and unanimously
carried.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Motion carried. Next item.
C 2019-42 Communication (02/05/2019) from the Deputy Fire Chief,
requesting Council approval, to accept a donation from the Kaua`i Lifeguard
Association (KLA) of one (1) new 2019 Kawasaki "Mule," valued at $12,748.69, which
will benefit the Ocean Safety Bureau's lifeguard operation at Salt Pond Beach Park:
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve C 2019-42 with thank-you letter to follow,
seconded by Councilmember Brun.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Anyone in the audience wishing to testify on
this?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any questions from the members?
COUNCIL MEETING 11 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
The motion to approve C 2019-42 with thank-you letter to follow was then put,
and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Motion carried. Thank you.
C 2019-43 Communication (02/08/2019) from the Director of Parks &
Recreation, requesting Council approval to reprioritize unexpended funds in the Special
Projects Account, of approximately $345,000.00, for the purchase of up to eight (8)riding
mowers (replacing mowers in the Waimea District, Koloa District, West Beautification,
Lihu`e District, Lydgate District, and Hanalei District) and two (2) utility carts
(replacing the utility carts assigned to the Veteran's Cemetery and Kawaihau
District/Bike Path): Councilmember Chock moved to approve C 2019-43, seconded by
Councilmember Brun.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Anyone in the audience wishing to testify on
this?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Seeing none, I do not see the Administration
here, so maybe we will push it to the end of the agenda. Next item.
LEGAL DOCUMENT:
C 2019-44 Communication (02/06/2019) from the Deputy County Engineer,
recommending Council approval of the following:
• Dedication Deed by Grove Farm Land Corp., conveying to the County
of Kaua`i Lot 1516 Kolo`pa Street extension, Lihu`e, Kaua`i, Hawai`i,
Tax Map Key (TMK) No. (4) 3-3-010-049 (por.) for roadway purposes;
and
• Dedication Deed by ABP Hokulei, LLC, a Hawai`i Limited Liability
Company, conveying to the County of Kaua`i Lot 1546-H and
Lot 1546-K Lihu`e, Kaua`i, Hawai`i, Tax Map
Key (TMK) No. (4) 3-3-003-055 and TMK No. (4) 3-3-003-057,
respectively, for roadway and utility purposes.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Actually, I am going step out on this first one.
I am going to ask if we can take them separately. I am going recuse myself from the
Dedication Deed that involves Grove Farm Land Corp. Councilmember Kagawa.
Council Chair Kaneshiro, the Presiding Officer, relinquished Chairmanship to
Council Vice Chair Kagawa.
COUNCIL MEETING 12 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
(Council Chair Kaneshiro was noted as rescued.)
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve Dedication Deed by Grove Farm Land
Corp., seconded by Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Kagawa: It has been moved and seconded to approve the
first item, Dedication Deed by Grove Farm Land Corp. Council Chair Kaneshiro is
recused. Are there any questions? Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I was looking at it and I do not have a problem
with it. I was trying to understand a little bit better of why it is being given. Do you
know?
Councilmember Kagawa: I have no idea. Matt, do we need the County
Engineer? They are on their way.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, because I was looking at it and I just
wanted to learn what the process is and why these things are...
Councilmember Kagawa: Shall we wait until they come? Let us take a
short recess until Public Works arrives, approximately five (5) minutes.
There being no objections, the meeting recessed at 8:56 a.m.
The meeting reconvened at 9:00 a.m., and proceeded as follows:
(Council Chair Kaneshiro was noted as recused.)
Councilmember Kagawa: I will suspend the rules.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Councilmember Kagawa: Mike, we have some questions on the
Dedication Deed by Grove Farm Land Corp., Lot 1516 Ko lo'pa Street.
MICHAEL MOULE, Chief of Engineering Division: Good morning,
members of the Council. My name is Michael Moule. I am the Chief of the
Engineering Division, Department of Public Works. There are two (2) different pieces
of this, if I understand it correctly. The first...
Councilmember Kagawa: We are just doing the Grove Farm Land Corp.
dedication. We will do the other one later because Council Chair Kaneshiro is rescued
on the Grove Farm Land Corp. Dedication Deed.
Mr. Moule: Oh, okay. Is he recused on the first one only?
Councilmember Kagawa: Yes.
Mr. Moule: Okay.
COUNCIL MEETING 13 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Councilmember Kagawa: So if you can just keep the discussion to...
Mr. Moule: Just Kolo`pa Street for now?
Councilmember Kagawa: Yes.
Mr. Moule: Okay.
Councilmember Kagawa: Thank you.
Mr. Moule: Alright. This is for the Kolo`pa Street
extension. You should have a map. I can show one on the screen, if need-be, but I
can just describe where this is. The location of this dedication is behind the Safeway.
There is a little road that connects back towards Aloha Kia, the State Farm Office,
and Gary's Service over towards the Costco gas that goes to the back of Safeway. This
dedication is just for the portion...there is sort of the main street that Kaua`i Island
Utility Cooperative (KIUC) is—not main street, but on Pahee Street. KIUC is on
Pahee Street, so it goes from that street to the back of the Safeway property. It is a
very short, one (1) block between those two (2) intersections there. That is what this
dedication is, the small one (1) block extension of Kolo`pa Street.
Councilmember Kagawa: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: Just for clarity, that means we will be able to
drive from Safeway in through there, right?
Mr. Moule: You can now. The road is open now.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay.
Mr. Moule: It is just that they are dedicating the property
to the County because that portion of the street will become part of the overall street
network owned by the County in that area.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, and I see that this is just like a
backlogged item, right?
Mr. Moule: Yes. It has taken a while from when they
finished the work to when they get the actual dedication to the County.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay.
Councilmember Kagawa: Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you, Council Vice Chair Kagawa. Just
to clarify, up to now, Grove Farm has been maintaining that easement and now the
County Department of Public Works will now be maintaining that area?
COUNCIL MEETING 14 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Mr. Moule: This was just built. This portion was just
built four (4) years ago when Safeway was completed, three (3) or four (4) years ago,
so there literally has not been any maintenance necessary. But yes, the County would
then own and maintain this road.
Councilmember Chock: Okay. The reason why I ask is because it has
come up in terms of the dedication of these new roads that developers are putting in
and then trying to get transferred over to the County. I just wanted to ask about
overall, in general, how we are taking them over because for some of them, it has
been years. It is like there is a backlog. This is a new road.
Mr. Moule: Yes.
Councilmember Chock: I am not so concerned, but there are other
roads that have taken a long time to get to where they need to.
Mr. Moule: Yes. There are other roads in the area and, in
fact, the road that this connects to is not yet dedicated. We are working on that
paperwork now. We were working on it last year and then the flood came, and we
had been "all hands on deck" on that for the last eight (8) months. I talked to my staff
today about that and next month or so, we should be able to move on that and move
that towards to Council for that dedication to take place. We need to go out and
review, make sure that the descriptions of the land match the road that is built, and
all those things before we can recommend approval to Council. So it takes a little
time on that one. This was a little easier because it was just built and we inspected
the work recently. But that one, because it got delayed ten (10) years ago or more, it
has taken longer. There have been dedications in recent years. All of them have been
relatively small. We are working on these larger ones. The goal again, is that this
all be a County road network. Some of the streets that have not been dedicated in
this area already have a right-of-entry agreement that has the County maintaining
them under a previous agreement.
Councilmember Chock: Okay.
Mr. Moule: It was just the actual dedication was stalled
for about ten (10) years ago now, if I recall correctly.
Councilmember Chock: Good. Thank you. My only other concern is,
while we start to increase the workload, basically, is that we have a plan to be able
to take care of them as we have discussed in other areas that they can become a
problem.
Mr. Moule: We do. Some of these streets are already on
our list for the next paving cycle, the ones that are already under our maintenance,
but not yet dedicated because we recognize that. I will also add that there is a Code
that states that if a developer builds to our Code, we are required to take the streets
over. We are just a little behind on some of the processes. Some of these streets were
complicated and got delayed for various reasons in the past, but we are moving
forward on them now.
COUNCIL MEETING 15 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Councilmember Chock: Thank you.
Councilmember Kagawa: Are there any further questions on the Grove
Farm Land Corp. Dedication Deed?
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
The motion to approve Dedication Deed by Grove Farm Land Corp. was then
put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:0:1 (Council Chair Kaneshiro was recused).
Councilmember Kagawa: Motion carried. We can call Council Chair
Kaneshiro back in. Thank you
(Council Chair Kaneshiro was noted as present.)
Council Vice Chair Kagawa returned Chairmanship to Council Chair
Kaneshiro.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Clerk, next item.
JADE K. FOUNTAIN-TANIGAWA, County Clerk: Council Chair
Kaneshiro, we are on the Legal Document for the Dedication Deed by ABP Hokulei,
LLC, a Hawai`i Limited Liability Company. Can I get a motion?
Councilmember Kagawa moved to approve Dedication Deed by ABP Hokulei,
LLC, a Hawai`i Limited Liability Company, seconded by Councilmember
Kuali`i.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Anyone in the audience 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:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Seeing none, are there any questions from the
members? Councilmember Kagawa. I will suspend the rules.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Councilmember Kagawa: Again, just a brief update. Mike, you did a
good job on the first one. If you can just describe where the property is so the local
public knows what is going on and a brief description of why we need it.
Mr. Moule: Again, my name Michael Moule, Chief of
Engineering Division with Public Works. This is part of the same project from the
Safeway Hokulei Village development and other properties there. This is on the other
side of the project, on the Nuhou Street side near Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle
COUNCIL MEETING 16 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
School. I just want to double-check one thing here. I am going to show a map. This
one is a little harder to explain. You have a small version of this map, but it is pretty
unreadable, so I am going to show the larger version so you can see what is what. If
you look at the exhibit, it describes two (2) lots, so it is a large subdivision. The actual
written exhibit, which is attached right after the unreadable map, describes two (2)
lots, Lot 1546-H and Lot 1546-K. We are bringing up the first lot here. This is
actually Lot 1546-K, the larger of the two (2). Let me just double-check. This is
Lot 1546-K. This right here, this is Nuhou Street. Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle
School is in this area here.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay.
Mr. Moule: This is Nuhou Street. This is the new
development, the undeveloped part of the development. This is Kaneka Street. This
is the roundabout. This oddly-shaped parcel right here is being dedicated to dedicate
where the roundabout actually is. The roundabout sits right here with the unused
exit to this leg on a portion of that parcel as well, so that is the first portion of this
dedication. Before I move the map, do you have any questions on this or need
clarification on this one? This one is the easier one of the two (2).
Councilmember Evslin: Is that little stub just there for future
development in that green field?
Mr. Moule: Yes. The roundabout is actually on much of
this parcel now, but the little stub-out for the fourth leg of the roundabout goes
towards the future Phase 2 of this development, if that makes sense, but the actual
roundabout itself sits on a portion of this parcel.
Councilmember Evslin: Will the developer build the network
connecting that and then deed that over to the County later?
Mr. Moule: That is correct, yes—well, actually, I believe
that the connection to that and the leg into the future expansion of that development
will not be dedicated to the County. That will be a private driveway like most of the
little streets of driveways that go through the development today.
Councilmember Evslin: Okay.
Mr. Moule: For example, if you turn across from the
middle school entrance, you can turn in there and kind of drive through and come out
at the highway. Those are all private parking lot roadways, so to speak, within the
development and this would be the same. I do not believe there is an intent to dedicate
that future connection. Are there any questions on this one? Anyone else? This is
Lot 1546-H. We were just right here at the bottom of the map. We were looking at
the intersection. This is moving towards Kaumuali`i Highway. This is the entrance
that is across from the middle school entrance that is on Nuhou Street. If you come
off Kaumuali`i Highway onto Nuhou Street towards the roundabout, you can make a
left turn towards Safeway and Petco, and that is this location right here. This sliver
right here plus this area here, were the areas necessary to widen Nuhou Street a little
COUNCIL MEETING 17 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
bit to extend the lanes to add more lanes going towards the highway and also to
construct the entrance area where the sidewalk wraps a little bit around the corner.
The sidewalk along here wraps through here and crosses somewhere in this area, so
that the actual portion of the intersection is being dedicated to the County. That is
all I have. If you have questions on that, I would be happy to answer them.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Evslin.
Councilmember Evslin: That is where there is no left turn out of there,
right?
Mr. Moule: That is the one that there is no left turn out of
that, yes.
Councilmember Evslin: Is there a future intention to allow left turns?
Mr. Moule: When I arrived at County, the final plans for
the County Engineer's signature were on my desk for review and in retrospect, I
would have recommended that we require that the leg for the roundabout be built
into Safeway so that people could make those movements. That was my preference
if we were to allow other movements out of the development towards all of the housing
that is in the Puhi area, it would be to work with them to see if they can build that
connection and it is going to cost them some money. I would rather not allow the left
side of here because of all the other traffic turning movements and traffic coming off
the highway in this area. It does make sense, long-term, to not have left turns out of
there, but to have the left turns taking place at the roundabout or through movements
at the roundabout across to Kaneka Street. So at this time, we do not tend to allow
left turns. I know people do make that turn illegally, at times, but to me, the solution
is to actually build a leg to the roundabout and have that properly operating as a
four-legged roundabout.
Councilmember Evslin: Yes, I will admit to making that left turn
illegally. To get to any of those houses in Puhi, you have to go onto a highly congested
highway instead of right.
Mr. Moule: Right, or go around by Costco gas. That is
what I usually do, go the other way.
Councilmember Evslin: It seems like we are adding congestion though
by not using those streets back there.
Mr. Moule: We can certainly talk to the developer and see
if and when they might be willing to build that new connection. Again, it occurred
right before I arrived here, but in retrospect, we required them to build the
roundabout as part of their Phase 1 even though it was part of their Phase 2 of the
road improvements. Ideally, we would have required them to build their connections
to the roundabout as well, and we did not. In retrospect, that was an error on our
part and would have been a better situation for flow in the area.
COUNCIL MEETING 18 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We will hold off on the police coming in,
bum-rushing the room, and arresting you for that. It is a dangerous left to take and
I think that is what we have been trying to avoid on a lot of our streets, a left turn
with two (2) lanes going one way and two (2) going the other. Over time, I think the
intention was to use the roundabout once that development was done.
(Councilmember Brun was noted as not present.)
Council Chair Kaneshiro: I have done it. I have not taken the left. I
usually end up driving back towards Costco and then around. Are there any other
questions? Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I just want to second that. I know that I
almost do not use that shopping center because it is just a little bit hard coming in
and coming out. It is easier to go somewhere else and I have not taken a left where I
should not have, but I do go up and end up being part of the congestion. It creates a
lot of confusion when you are basically trying to find a way to flip around and go the
other way. I hope that does get on the agenda. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions? If not, thank
you. We already asked for public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, proceeded as follows:
The motion to approve Dedication Deed by ABP Hokulei, LLC, a Hawai`i
Limited Liability Company was then put, and unanimously carried (Pursuant
to Rule No. 5(b) of the Rules of the Council of the County of Kauai,
Councilmember Brun was noted as silent (not present), but shall be recorded as
an affirmative for the motion).
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Motion carried. Next item, please,
Resolutions.
RESOLUTIONS:
Resolution No. 2019-19 — RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING TRAFFIC LANE
MODIFICATIONS AND PARKING RESTRICTIONS ON A PORTION OF KAMALI`I
STREET; ESTABLISHING TURN RESTRICTIONS ON LILI`UOKALANI STREET
AT KAHE STREET; AND ESTABLISHING A TIME LIMIT PARKING ZONE ON
KAHE STREET: Councilmember Chock moved for adoption of Resolution
No. 2019-19, seconded by Councilmember Kuali`i.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: I am sure you have a presentation. We will
suspend the rules. We will let them to the presentation. If we have any questions,
we will ask them the questions and then we will take public testimony on it. With
that, you have the floor.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
COUNCIL MEETING 19 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
LEE STEINMETZ, Planner VI: Thank you. Council Chair Kaneshiro and
members of the Council, my name is Lee Steinmetz. I am the Transportation Planner
with the Planning Department. We wanted to give you a little bit of a background
presentation on this project and the Resolution that is before you. Before getting into
this, I just wanted to mention that this, not the product, but the seeds of the process
came out of another Safe Routes to School project that was before the Council that
you may recall, and that was Waikomo Road. There were real concerns from the
Council about whether we really had enough community input. Some of the
Councilmembers were getting phone calls from folks who did not know about this
process and were opposed to what we were doing, and the Council requested another
community meeting for that, which we did. Well anyway, there was a lot of opposition
that we had not uncovered before and we ended up canceling that project. I just want
to thank the Council for asking to us do that. From that process, we worked on a new
process of how we can really engage the community in the Safe Routes to School
efforts and make sure what you are being presented today is not something that is
being opposed by the County or the community, but something that is really
developed from the community and that we are assisting with, as opposed to us
directing or leading. I wanted to describe the process a little bit first before we get
into the Resolution. I have to thank Principal Gonsalves and the Kilauea Elementary
School community because they had been waiting a long time to see some
improvements around their school. We offered to do this and they were really the
guinea pigs of this new process. It took a lot of their time and effort to make this
happen. I really appreciate the effort that they put into this. Basically, what we
decided was we met with our current Deputy County Engineer, Lyle Tabata, who
said, "Look, we have to have a new process. I want these projects to be initiated by
the school and the neighborhood. We will assist, but we will not lead, and we want
to partner with Get Fit Kaua`i to really help us design this process and engage the
community." What we did is sometimes what we call a "charrette," an intensive
design process over a week. I am not going to go into all the details, but you can see
all of the things that happened over that week. There were several different ways for
us to gather data and for the community to be involved. For example, we did bike
and pedestrian counts in the morning and in the afternoon to really understand
where people are walking and biking to school so that the solutions that we developed
or that the community developed are data-based. Here, you can see the results of the
morning counts that by far, the most people walking and biking to school is happening
on Kamali`i Street, which is behind the school, and that is the topic of the Resolution
that you have before you. As you can see, at Kilauea Elementary School, there is a
significant portion of their population that does walk and bike to school. Before this
charrette, we also did vehicle counts, traffic counts, and speeds, so that we could
really understand how fast and where people were driving and how much are people
driving. The overall plan really takes this into account in terms of the proposed
design solutions related to traffic speeds and volumes, and there are different
solutions based on that bit of data. We also did walk audits with the community
where we walked around the school and really learned what was going on. We also
had opportunity to repair a few fences and do a few things while we were doing these
walk audits. This is behind the school, Kamali`i Street, and this is an area of the
most concern that we heard from the school. This dead-end street that ends up at the
back of the school. Parents are not supposed to drop-off their kids here. They are
COUNCIL MEETING 20 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
supposed to come around to the front of the school, but most of the neighborhood is
at the back of the school, so a lot of parents do not follow those rules.
(Councilmember Brun was noted as present.)
Mr. Steinmetz: They come to the back of the school and as you
can see, it is a dead-end street. There is really not a cul-de-sac. There is a large
driveway. Once people drop-off, they have to make this awkward three-point turn to
be able to turn around. They are reversing while kids are walking. The neighbor on
the right has had their car hit a few times. There has been many near misses, so like
I mentioned, this is the number one safety concern that the school brought up.
Something else that we learned from the neighbors, this Kahe Street, which is the
short side street which is also part of the Resolution. There is only one (1) driveway
that faces this street of the homes. All the other homes either face Lili`uokalani
Street or Kamali`i Street. But, there are cars parked here almost all of the time.
What we learned is there is someone who works on cars who is a mechanic in the
neighborhood and they actually park their cars that they are working on or going to
be worked on this street and use this space essentially for their businesses. Some of
these cars are not registered, so we actually had the Kaua`i Police Department (KPD)
come out and do a sweep of this street. That is probably something that we will have
to do again. But recognizing that there is a lot of parking here that is near the school
that is not really needed for the neighbors was played into the solutions that you will
see in the Resolution. We also observed Walk to School day to see what was really
happening. Again, this is Kamali`i Street behind the school and you can see the
combination of cars and people walking and biking that all are a mix on this street.
In addition to the community meetings, we had some open houses during the day
because not everyone can come to a 7:00 a.m. walk audit or an evening meeting. We
set up at Kilauea Bakery during the day to just have people walk by. It just so
happened that one of our open houses was when the school bus came from Kapa'a
High School back to Kilauea Elementary School, so we asked some of the students
that now go to Kapa'a High School that used to go to Kilauea Elementary School to
come by and help explain to us how people walk and what their experience was like.
I have to admit that we bribed them pizza from Kilauea Bakery to get them to stay
and talk to us, but we really got a lot of good input from the youth who had gone
there. Then, we had evening community meetings where again, we just brought
blank maps of the area and we asked the community to draw out what they would
like to see, what the problems and issues they see, what the goals of what we should
try to accomplishment are, and then how we take those goals and what are the things
we should put on the streets. This was just a photo from one of the evening
community meetings of the people who participated. A lot of people from the
surrounding neighborhood, some parents of students, and some of the school
administration as well. It was a good mix representing the school and neighborhood.
We came up with some results from those and the Engineering Division,
Michael Moule's Division, then developed solutions that were checked for safety
based on what the community wanted. We presented those back to the community
and there was strong consensus on everything except for Kamali`i Street and there
were some differences of opinion about what should be done there. We decided to
have a carport meeting right on Kamali`i Street, and we did this after the whole
COUNCIL MEETING 21 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
charrette process. Let us show some various alternatives of what could be done and
let us let the neighbors who live on that street decide what they really want to see on
their street. Again, the Resolution that you see before you is the result of that carport
meeting and what the neighbors wanted to see on their street. Also during this
process, we met with KPD and the Kaua`i Fire Department (KFD). We wanted to
make sure that any of the solutions that we were proposing would be okay with first-
responders and with emergency access, so they reviewed and vetted everything and
provided their input as well. I would like to liken this process because Waikomo Road
was, for lack of a better word, such a disaster. I know it was quite painful for everyone
that was involved, but out of it something good really happened in terms of a new
process. So, I like to think of that as a phoenix raising out the ashes and this is the
first process and product that we have as a result of changing this process. The overall
plan, the Kilauea Safe Routes to School Action Plan, really involves a lot of the streets
around the school, but we are not going to go over all the improvements in the overall
plan. Today, the topic are the streets in the back behind the school, Kamali`i Street
and Kahe Street. With that, I am going to turn it over to Michael Moule to talk about
what the proposed recommendations are in the Resolution.
Mr. Moule: Council Chair Kaneshiro and members of
Council, my name is Michael Moule. Again, I am the Chief of Engineering Division
with Public Works. I am going to go briefly through the solutions. I will use this map
as a quick overview and I will try to follow along the way that the Resolution talks
about it. I will go through each of the sections. If you see the Resolution, there is
sort of the "Whereas" up front that talks about why we are doing things and then
there is each of the things that we are establishing. I may end up clicking back to
this overall map as we go through, but the first thing is to establish Kamali`i Street,
Section 1, establish it "to be a one-way street with one lane for motor vehicle traffic
traveling in the westbound direction between Momi Street and Kahe Street." It is
shown on the map that is in your exhibit for the Resolution. This is Momi Street right
here, this is Kamali`i Street here, this is Kahe Street, and the back of the school is
right there. Between here and here, this is a one-way street traveling in the
westbound direction around this curve through this existing residential portion of the
neighborhood. It is all residential in this area. That is the number one item that is
shown in the Resolution. Maybe I will go through all the steps and then I will kind
of show you the details in the next several slides. Then, in the next segment from
Kahe Street to the back of the school right here, will still be two-way, but the idea is
to have it established as one-lane for two-way travel by motor vehicle traffic between
those two (2) locations. I will kind of explain how that is going to work in a moment.
Section 3 talks about "a lane for two-way use by pedestrians, persons using bicycles,
and persons using other human-powered vehicles and devices; upon which the
operation of mopeds is prohibited; is hereby established on the north side of Kamalii
Street, as shown on the map." It talks about who can use that; pedestrians, bicyclists,
and other human-powered vehicle and device users. They have to pass the right of
each other as if they are on a street or a path. It stated that motor vehicles may be
driven in the lane for certain items under Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS)
Section 291C-123, which allows things like parking, if you have to cross the lanes to
park or to turn into a driveway, you can drive in that lane. It specifically says that
in the area where it is marked as one-lane but two-way, and I will show you the
markings in a moment, it allows people to use that lane to let oncoming vehicles pass,
COUNCIL MEETING 22 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
but they have to yield to pedestrians and other users of that lane as established in
the previous section. Let me go ahead and click through some of the next several
images to kind of summarize those first three (3) sections of the Resolution.
This would be the graphical example of roughly how we plan to stripe-out the
portion of Kamali`i Street between Momi Street and Kahe Street. The portion that
is one-way in the westbound direction going towards the school, we would have a lane
on the south side effectively of the road. The road curves a bit so it changes which
side a little bit, but it is generally south side for motor vehicles traveling in one
direction and then a bike and pedestrian lane, or kids using scooters or other devices
as well that are authorized, or other users of non-motorized devices listed in the
Resolution. They could use that in the two-way. The markings that we are showing
are not exactly how we do it. We would actually have markings that point with an
arrow in this direction and an arrow in this direction on either side of the path. That
is that first section of Kamali`i Street. The next segment, the dead-end portion, we
talked about the fact that this is where people are driving down and dropping off their
kids. Did you want to...
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Brun.
Councilmember Brun: Sorry, but I am having a hard time when we
are parking cars on that side and we are going to have pedestrians. I know we were
going to do that here, too. I struggle with that. We are going to park cars on that
side and when they pull out, they are going to hit someone on a bike or someone
walking. Why would we not put the parking where the bike lane is and put the bike
lane at the end?
Mr. Moule: The answer to that question is that there is
twenty (20) feet of paved width now. We talked about all of the improvements that
were part of the overall plan for Kilauea Elementary School, and this is what we are
calling "lighter, quicker, and cheaper" things that we can do without a lot of capital
expense through mainly striping. We are taking the existing twenty (20) feet of
pavement and restriping it so that it works for people driving and providing separate
space for walking and biking as this was recommended by the public at the meetings.
To move biking and walking to the outside, you would have to pave that portion or
make it so people are walking or biking in the grass. As you can see, the parking area
is grass and the roadway is paved. It would change the project from something we
can do through our operating budget with restriping efforts, to something that would
require a capital improvement.
Councilmember Brun: Is the public okay with this "unsafe" method?
Sorry, I am struggling with this method because we talked about this with Rice
Street. I cannot grasp this. This is hard for me. Cars traveling, then we are going
to be pulling out, and we have bicycles and pedestrians in between the two (2) sets of
cars.
Mr. Moule: That is how this design is anticipated. It is
how it was proposed by the public at the charrette. I do not agree that it is an unsafe
COUNCIL MEETING 23 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
method. In a low-volume residential street, I think this is an appropriate solution,
will work, and will be safe.
(Councilmember Chock was noted as not present.)
Mr. Moule: The law requires that motorists crossing this
lane, the Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) that is referred to, talks about yielding
when crossing bike lanes and lanes like this. It allows you to cross to park, but you
have to take care for the people using that roadway.
Councilmember Brun: I understand, Mike. The law says a lot of
things. It is not to hit someone in the crosswalk, and they hit them in the crosswalk.
Do you know what I mean? Is the public okay with this? Is the Kilauea community
okay with this design here?
Mr. Moule: Yes.
Councilmember Brun: Okay.
Mr. Moule: I believe there are some members of the
community here that will testify as well.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: You are almost done with the presentation, so
I am going ask the members to hold off on the questions until the end of the
presentation.
Councilmember Burn: Okay.
Mr. Moule: Okay.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: There are page numbers on it, so we can go
back to the specific page numbers that we have questions on.
Mr. Moule: The next one is the dead-end portion between
Kahe Street and the school. It is very similar to the other portion except for, because
it is a dead-end street, it has to be two-way. This is a little bit different. This is
something that has been done in other places and around the Country, but it is
somewhat unusual in that what you are making is a single lane for two-way motor
vehicle traffic. Again, very low volume. I can go back to the image. You can see there
is only ten (10) to fifteen (15) houses down there, if that, so not a lot of traffic should
be using this accessing those homes. We do not anticipate that very often, there
would be a need to yield to someone else, but if so, the way that the Resolution
describes it is that if there is a car going in the direction that this gray car is going
and there are pedestrians there and car going the other way, the driver coming the
other direction would wait for the pedestrian and bike lane to be clear, and pull into
that space to let the other car travel.
(Councilmember Chock was noted as present.)
COUNCIL MEETING 24 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Mr. Moule: That is what the Resolution states as a
requirement for that. This sort of advisory lane has been used in other places in the
Country. It is more typically used just for bike lane purposes. These are typically
streets in cities that have sidewalks, but have narrow streets and these advisory bike
lanes. But it is something that has been used in other places and we think that again,
given the very low-volume nature of this road, it is an appropriate solution. This is
even a lower volume than the other portion of Kamali`i Street because it is just that
dead-end portion. Let me go back. I think I have covered the overall picture, so let
us just continue through here. Another thing that is listed in the Resolution and I
will just go ahead and just follow along on that here. Hold on. "Section 4. No person
shall stop, stand, or park any vehicle for the purpose of school pick-up or drop-off on
Kamali`i Street between Kilauea Elementary School and Kahe Street." Again, this
dead-end portion of the street, by Council Resolution, we are proposing that the
Council pass the Resolution to prohibit school pick-up and drop-off activity. You can
park there if you live there, but you cannot pull in there, stop, and let your child out.
The idea being that pick-up and drop-off can take place where it takes place now in
front of the school and it could still take place in the area, but only out here on the
outer portions of Kamali`i Street and Kahe Street. We will follow-up in a moment on
how we intend to help facilitate that with one of the other elements of the Resolution.
Here it is. On Kahe Street between Lili`uokalani Street and Kamali`i Street, this
one (1) block here, we are proposing between 7:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., it is all day
during school hours, that thirty (30) minute parking be the limit. As we mentioned,
there is just one (1) house. It is right here. It has a driveway and access to Kahe
Street. The rest of the street has no driveways, just grass swales. When we were
there for the charrette, it was actually relatively parked-up, but residents told us it
was because there was another resident of the street who was parking vehicles that
he is fixing at his house. It is really not an appropriate use for the area anyway. That
is not what parking in the neighborhood is intended for and the public felt that
limiting the parking to thirty (30) minutes to facilitate the use of this area for pick-up
and drop-off and also make it safer for kids walking to school on that street was what
they desired. We put that into the Resolution that we are proposing to you. Again, I
can just briefly read the Resolution. It simply says, "Parking is hereby restricted to
thirty (30) minutes from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Kahe Street on days when school
is in session." The whole street is just one (1) block. The last element is actually
Section 5 of the Resolution. It says, "Left and right turns are hereby prohibited from
Lili`uokalani Street to Kahe Street from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and from 2:00 p.m.
to 3:00 p.m. on days when school is in session." I apologize. Our signs here do not
have the exact same times. These are actually from some other school in another
place that had slightly different times, but the signs that we would use for our
situation, I believe, is what is shown in Resolution itself in the exhibit. The times are
here in the text. Again, the purpose for this is that if someone turned into Kahe
Street during these times, they cannot get out except for making a U-turn at this
intersection or trying to do a three-point turn, which puts us back in the same
problem that we had before at the end of the street where people are backing into
people trying to walk and bike to school at the back of the school. This is a very
common situation at schools. I have worked in many cities around the Country doing
with Safe Routes to School issues. I was a City Traffic Engineer years ago and we
had half a dozen to a dozen schools where we had turn restrictions during pick-up
and drop-off times because it just helps manage traffic. This is a common thing. I
COUNCIL MEETING 25 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
grabbed these signs from some other places where they have the exact same thing
during that pick-up and drop-off time. That is the proposal here, just a simple change
by resolution. The signs are fairly straightforward. Any other time of the day, you
can make that turn, but during school pick-up and drop-off times, you are not allowed
to. I think that is the end. Do you want to talk about the next section?
Mr. Steinmetz: Today, we are here to present these
resolutions. As Michael mentioned, this first phase would be "lighter, quicker, and
cheaper" and is something that we can do with striping and signage. While we are
doing that, there are still other aspects to this that are more expensive that we are
looking at how we can get those funded. Some through the Statewide Transportation
Improvement Program (STIP) process, for example. Anyway, this is just a first phase
of a much larger plan for Kilauea Elementary School. This was the team that worked
on this from both Planning and Public Works. Again, our thanks to Kilauea
Elementary School, the neighborhood, and also Get Fit Kaua`i for making this
happen. We can open it up for questions. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Okay. Thank you for that presentation.
Councilmember Kagawa and then Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Kagawa: Page 20, Kamali`i Street. I am confused as to
if you are going to have another car in back of the hill coming over coming towards
this vehicle, where are the cars going?
Mr. Moule: When there is only one (1) vehicle on the
street in either direction, they would the lane on the right coming in both directions.
If there is a situation where a vehicle is going up the street as the gray car is doing
and at the same time a vehicle turns in from Kahe Street, the way the Resolution is
written and the HRS that it refers to, would require the driver coming down the street
to yield to people that are walking and biking in the lane and then pull into that lane
and let the other drive by.
Councilmember Kagawa: Are they going into the bike/walking lane?
Mr. Moule: Yes, just to allow the other driver go by.
Councilmember Kagawa: I thought that was...
Mr. Moule: That is why it is dashed.
Councilmember Kagawa: I thought that was a "no-no" that if anything,
you pull to the grassy side.
Mr. Moule: Generally speaking, if you look at the
previous image, it is a solid line here.
Councilmember Kagawa: Yes.
COUNCIL MEETING 26 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Mr. Moule: The only time you would cross this line is if
you are turning into a driveway or if you are parking. In this block where it is
two-way, but one (1) lane, it is dashed.
Councilmember Kagawa: Alright.
Mr. Moule: Again, it is unusual. This is something that
has never been done on Kaua`i, but it has been done in other places on the mainland
and in lots of other Countries as well. But there are something like twenty (20) to
thirty (30) cities where similar treatment has been done usually just for bike lanes
and not for bike and pedestrian combination lanes because it is done in places that
have sidewalks. But it works on streets with much higher volume than this. I am
actually involved in a group that is trying to draft language for the national manuals
that are used for markings to actually add this to it. It is allowed in the manual, but
it is just not listed in there. They are talking about volumes up to two
thousand (2,000) cars a day. We are looking at volumes of ten (10) homes here, which
I guess might be less than that, you are maybe looking at one hundred (100) cars a
day, at most.
Councilmember Kagawa: We have some highly used one-lane roads up
in Kapahi.
Mr. Moule: True.
Councilmember Kagawa: I guess it just takes local knowledge when
they come together. I do not know if they look at each other or whatever, and then
one goes to the side and then get back on the road. For this one, since we are talking
about some of the children may be very young because we are going to tell them that
it is a safe now, so we are going to encourage it. But I would hate to see the cars
confuse the children by going on that side. Anyway, it is such a small amount of cars
that hopefully it will not even be a problem at all.
Mr. Steinmetz: It is a very short block and really, we are only
talking about the residents who live on that block because we are prohibiting pick-up
and drop-off.
Councilmember Kagawa: Yes.
Mr. Steinmetz: In theory anyway, it should only be people
that live on that street or people visiting people that live on that street and no one
else.
Councilmember Kagawa: Are we talking about Kamali`i Street?
Mr. Steinmetz: Just that last...
Mr. Moule: This portion.
Councilmember Kagawa: Oh, it is just the last leg right there?
COUNCIL MEETING 27 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Mr. Steinmetz: Yes.
Mr. Moule: Yes.
Councilmember Kagawa: Okay.
Mr. Moule: Just this. I just counted ten (10) or eleven (11)
houses that have driveways there.
Councilmember Kagawa: Oh, okay.
Mr. Steinmetz: It is only that block.
Mr. Moule: It is very small.
Councilmember Kagawa: Alright.
Mr. Moule: Again, we are prohibiting pick-up and drop-off
down here, so as long as people are obeying that and it would be enforceable by police.
If it is signed"no pick-up and drop-off' on the street, we are prohibiting people driving
down here to drop-off their children, then they would drop-off here, park here, and
walk them in would be the idea.
Councilmember Kagawa: But then again, if people are still going to do
what is convenient. Even at Kapa'a High School, a lot of the Kapa'a Elementary
School parents use the lower entrance at the high school because in their mind, it is
closer and safer to bring their children. The high school does not condone or
recommend them doing that, but they do it anyway.
Mr. Steinmetz: You bring up...
Councilmember Kagawa: They are going to use whatever way works for
them, right, and it is okay, because it is a good thing. They are dropping their
children off at school. I know that just because you say so, does not mean that they
are going to follow.
Mr. Steinmetz: You bring up a really good point. We have
spoken with the school and the neighborhood about this, that there is a
communication component of this as well that we are hoping that we could actually
doing striping maybe over the school break at summer, so by fall...there is
communication through newsletters and things to all of the parents about what this
new approach is. We have had really good success on our Walk to School days, for
example, of getting KPD to come out and help. Maybe initially, there is some
enforcement. We are not going to guarantee that KPD is going to be out there all of
the time, but if we have as part of this overall communication, education, and
enforcement part to kind of set it up early so people understand what the changes
are. Then also, for people that still want to drop-off their kids, they can park on this
street in that thirty (30) minute zone and they can either let their child walk from
there or walk with their child. So really, rather than dropping off here, we are still
COUNCIL MEETING 28 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
providing a drop-off now that has parking and does not have that awkward
turnaround and everything. We are still trying to meet that need,just in a safer way.
Councilmember Kagawa: Yes.
Mr. Steinmetz: I just wanted to go back to one other picture
here. Really, what we are trying to do...I mean, people are walking and biking now
and sharing this road with cars. It is just all kind of a jumbo right now, so what we
are trying to do is designate some space so bicyclists and walkers know where to walk
and drivers now where to drive. Granted, there will be some crossing of that for
parking and driveways; but, the general consensus of the community is this will be
more orderly and safer for everyone just by designating these spaces and having
people be a little bit more aware of where people are supposed to be using whatever
they are using whether it is a bike, car, their feet, or whatever.
Councilmember Kagawa: Thank you for your work.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you, Council Chair Kaneshiro.
Page 21, the no school drop-off signs, where exactly is that sign?
Mr. Moule: This is draft language on this. We will figure
out exactly how we want to word the sign. We are showing that at the entrance to
this portion of Kamali`i Street. We kind of copied this sign from other places where
the whole street is "no drop-off' in other communities on the mainland where there
is back entrances to schools. It is very a similar situation where I have seen this
before. It is like a back entrance to school, the pick-up and drop-off is supposed to be
at the front, and they say, "You cannot drop-off on this street." That is right at
this...not the entrance to all of Kamali`i Street, but the entrance to this last block of
Kamali`i Street.
Councilmember Chock: Okay. If people do not see that sign and are
headed in that direction, they will probably continue to try to drop-off their son or
daughter. They will go down that street right there.
Mr. Moule: Kahe Street.
Councilmember Chock: Yes. Right now, if they did not park and take
their kids out and walk them, they would kind of do a U-turn around right in there.
They would do what they are doing right now to drop-off their kids.
Mr. Moule: Do you mean down here in the cul-de-sac?
Councilmember Chock: Yes. Well...
Mr. Moule: Or here?
COUNCIL MEETING 29 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Councilmember Chock: I guess I am asking now that you are going to
close the street off basically, right?
Mr. Moule: To drop-off, yes.
Councilmember Chock: They are there, they are going to drop-off their
child. They are going to try and do a U-turn right over there to get back out, correct?
Mr. Moule: Yes, but as we pointed out, we also have this
right turn restriction into Kahe Street. If they are in here during school arrival or
dismissal time, they have already broken a law to turn left or right into here.
Councilmember Chock: Right.
Mr. Moule: We intend to allow drop-off in this general
location, but the idea, and this is something that we will work with the school on and
they were very much involved in this process and support this project. But I think
the idea would be that there would be a lot of information sent out to the students. It
would be similar to how we did it for Hardy Street when we were going through that
project and the roundabout in trying to get people to drop-off in different places where
you send fliers out home with kids. If someone is there, they can give them a flier.
"Look, this is not the proper place to drop-off." We intend to work with the school.
There is the Safe Routes to School Task Force that meets every quarter, I believe,
and this is something that we can probably work with the task force on potentially
and the school, and let people know, "Look, you want to drop-off back here, can you
do it. You just have to go back up and around." It does not show the whole block
here, but if I go back a couple of images. "You go up and around this way and drop
your child off. If you are coming from the neighborhood, you are going to come in this
way, drop your child off, and then go back home wherever you live further back in the
neighborhood." That is sort of the intent and we think it is a workable solution. I am
not going say that no one is ever going to do the wrong thing, because they will.
People disobey laws. It is a challenge we have all of the time. But in this case,
because it-is a pretty logical situation and makes things more orderly, we think we
will get good compliance overall and that it will be a useful and simple thing. The
other thing I should say is that it is just striping. It is easy to reverse it. If we find
that it fails, we can change it. We think, the public believes, and I think you we will
hear from the public today, that this is the best solution for the back of the school
that we can do with a relatively small amount of funds.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I want to thank you for what you folks have
done. To me, it is a very natural extension of what is already there. On page 21, it
where it says "no school drop-off/pick-up," I would say "beyond this point" so then you
lack the confusion on that. I will say that I rode on this path with my bike for six (6)
years with my kids. It is a really solid stream of people that go up there, children and
some parents. I do not think you are going to have any problems because right now,
you are eliminating the backflow. I think it already has the parking on the right.
You are just fixing a few little problems. I do not think you are adding any. I am just
COUNCIL MEETING 30 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
trying to address that for Councilmember Brun's concern that this is what is there
anyway. I am just saying really, good job and I whole-heartedly support it. My
change would just say "beyond this point." I think people will get used to doing it
when you have that Kahe Street to pull off. If they have a kindergartner, they can
walk her up.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Evslin.
Councilmember Evslin: I would like to second that thank you to you
folks. We received a lot of testimony over the last couple of days and so many of them
referenced the charrette process and the work that you folks have done in our
outreach. I think that phoenix is definitely re-rising. You folks did a good job. It is
exactly how a design process should be, really driven by the community and the users
of those streets, all the users. I thank you for that and thank you also to Get Fit
Kaua`i back there, Bev Brody. Just one (1) comment when we are talking about the
two-way street on Kamali`i Street. I live on a similar street right now that has street
parking and it is effectively one-lane for two (2) lanes of traffic. People have to sort
of pull over all the time when a car is coming. I was shocked when I moved in and
how it changed the dynamic of our street in a positive way. Right around the corner
is a much wider two-way street. I live on Kapena Street, Hoolako Street is two (2)
lanes, and there are similar traffic patterns on both. People drive about ten (10) miles
per hour going down Kapena Street and kids play on the street all of the time.
Literally yesterday in front of my house, there were kids throwing a ball across the
street. When you make the corner onto Hoolako Street, it is the same traffic pattern,
just twice as wide. The cars drive much faster and no one ever touches that street.
It was interesting that it slows traffic down and makes the street safer for everyone,
I believe, in a way that I was not expecting. I believe in what you folks are doing. I
am excited to support it. I am also excited to see possibly in the future, if you are
looking to widen that to address Councilmember Brun's concern of possibly having a
separated barrier of cars parked and people walking on the other side. If it becomes
a need, I would like to see that possibly in future. Anyway, thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions from the
members? If not, thank you for the presentation. I thought it was pretty clear on
what you folks are trying to do out there. Thank you.
Mr. Moule: Thank you. I will just add that I want to
thank the public. You will hear from some of them now. They drove this process.
The school and the public really did that. I think that we owe them thanks for their
efforts so that we are here. I think this was a pretty positive process. Thank you, all.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Now, we will take public testimony. We will
start with the people that have signed up and then if anyone else that has not signed
up wants to go after, we will take them also.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: The first registered speaker Sherry
Gonsalves, followed by Scott Schwemmer.
COUNCIL MEETING 31 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Sherry, you have three (3) minutes. The light
will turn green when you start and then state your name. When you have thirty (30)
seconds left, the light will turn yellow, and when the three (3) minutes up, it will turn
red. If you are not done with your testimony, we are going to go through everyone
and people that need can have another three (3) minutes.
SHERRY GONSALVES, Principal, Kilauea Elementary School: Good
morning, Council. My name is Sherry Gonsalves. I am the Principal of Kilauea
Elementary School. I thank you very much for the opportunity to share our support
for this Resolution. Initially, as Lee and Michael shared in their presentation, we
had a lot of support within the Kilauea community. We collected a lot of data to
identify which areas were the higher-need areas. We used that data then to take it
out to the community and some community members living on the streets impacted
and even hosted community meetings in their homes. We feel like we had a lot of
support from the community and those living on the street. As we shared this
information out, we created a community action plan together, so the input that you
see here came from the people living on that street and in the community. We believe
this plan helps to support the safety of our students and parents coming to and from
school on the north end of our campus. It also helps to create a safer environment for
the community, in general, because it will help to improve the traffic flow. Right now,
the only drop-off area at the school is in front of the school, so what we find is people
are using the back unsafe area as a drop-off and so we are trying to work with them.
With this implementation, we believe that it will also help to reduce traffic in the
front of the school from parents dropping off. A large percentage of our students enter
from the back of the school and I believe that once this plan is in place, we might have
less traffic as a result of parents feeling that it is safe for their children to walk versus
being dropped off in the front. We are very grateful for the collaborative community
support. We have reached out to a lot of community organizations such as the Kilauea
Neighborhood Association; we have our school, the Parent Teacher Student
Association (PTSA); and the Safe Routes to School Committee. We are very grateful
to the Kaua`i County Planning Department and Engineering Division, who helped to
make this possible. Thank you very much, again, for this opportunity and for your
consideration in approving this Resolution. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you, Sherry. A quick question.
Councilmember Brun.
Councilmember Brun: Thank you. With the streets both ways, are
you in full support of it at the school?
Ms. Gonsalves: Yes.
Councilmember Brun: You heard my concerns about crossings.
Ms. Gonsalves: Yes.
COUNCIL MEETING 32 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Councilmember Brun: Are you folks in full support of it?
Ms. Gonsalves: Yes. The reason I believe and I am in full
support is because we had a great deal of discussion with the people living there.
Councilmember Brun: Okay.
Ms. Gonsalves: We talked about if they be willing to have this
one-way. We encouraged people to reach out to their neighbors to provide support.
So while we did not hear from every single person, the majority, in general from what
my understanding is, were in agreement of that.
Councilmember Brun: Okay.
Ms. Gonsalves: Again, there were things posed, but when we
talked with the community, this is what they wanted. This is a truly
community-developed plan that I feel they are in support of.
Councilmember Brun: Okay.
Ms. Gonsalves: I do believe that it will help to improve the
safety of our students.
Councilmember Brun: Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Next speaker.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: The next speaker is Scott Schwemmer,
followed by Allan Parachini.
SCOTT SCHWEMMER: I was wondering if I could get the overhead
pulled up, please. Is that possible?
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Scott, you have to state your name for the
record first and then start your testimony. Is that the page you are okay with, or
maybe page 5?
Mr. Schwemmer: Yes, that one. My name is Scott Schwemmer
and I teach fifth grade at Kilauea Elementary School. My wife teaches kindergarten.
I live on the second house on Kamali`i Street there by Momi Street. A couple of things
that I have not heard is that is a dangerous intersection. Momi Street around that
corner, so what I see...I have a second story lanai. I see kids cutting this corner and
then cars coming that way. Another thing that I see addressing your point is, not all
these cars park parallel. There are a couple of houses here. It is really more
congested than what you see in this picture. There are a lot of rentals, I think, so you
see cars parking perpendicular and sticking out. I know there is a daycare or
babysitting service in there, too. Overall, I am here to be your eyes and ears since I
live on that street. What I see is moms with a doublewide stroller jogging with the
dog and a lot of little kids, then you throw in these electric-motorized scooters and
COUNCIL MEETING 33 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
motorcycles. Is it a perfect solution? No. Is it better than what we have? I think so.
Are there any questions for me? Also, in the evening, we have a fairly new little
playground for little kids, so you will see big groups of kids going to the playground
in the evenings. That is it. Thank you.
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as not present.)
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Allan Parachini, followed by Yoshito L'Hote.
ALLAN PARACHINI: Good morning, Councilmembers. Allan
Parachini. I live at Kamali`i Street and Momi Street. It is our carport that you saw
in one of those slide. We are the people who hosted the carport meeting, which was
an interesting example of democracy in action. We started out without consensus or
without complete consensus and ended the meeting within an hour with consensus of
twenty (20) residents of Kamali`i Street. I will just address one (1) concern that
Councilmember Brun raised. As Scott Schwemmer pointed out to you, we on Kamali`i
Street, are in the same predicament as many places on the island are in terms of
housing congestion. There would not be as many cars parked on Kamali`i Street as
there are if normal densities applied and we were not in the housing crisis we are in.
So, we have to be a little understanding and I hope you folks will be a little
understanding that the density dynamics of parked cars would probably preclude the
ideal solution that you are talking about, which would be to create a separate parking
lane. I do not think we can do that with the population we have on Kamali`i Street.
You cannot reduce the population on Kamali`i Street without negatively affecting the
housing crisis elsewhere. It is a difficult situation. I agree that this is the best
compromised solution. Will it be inconvenient for me and my wife? Yes. It is alright.
If it makes it safer for the kids, then all to the better. Thank you.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. The next speaker, Yosh.
YOSHITO L'HOTE: Good morning, Council. For the record,
Yoshito L'Hote. I am the President of the Kilauea Neighborhood Association. I cannot
say and commend enough what Public Works and Planning has done with this
process. I love thinking outside of the box. This was the perfect example of how not
only did they reach out, listen, and come up with solutions, but they actually engaged
the community in the unique way to allow them to make their own choices, which
they will live with. It is perfect and nothing is imposed on anyone. I think to address,
there is going to be a big re-teaching, just like the backward parking that was
happening by the Elsie H. Wilcox Elementary School. Maybe putting cones where
people would naturally turn is an easy solution to retrain people to go the right way.
It is part of an overall study that they have carried out throughout all of Kilauea
town, which involves small roundabouts, sidewalks, and things like that, which we
are also in very much support of and would definitely love to see them implemented
sooner than later. It might address that turn from Momi Street to Kamali`i Street
because I think there is a small roundabout there,just with a small palm tree to slow
COUNCIL MEETING 34 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
down people not to rush around those corners as well as from Kolo Road to Kilauea
Road, which is going to become a huge issue once the shopping center opens, so we
would love to work with Public Works and get those things implemented sooner than
later. But for this Resolution, we are in full support and appreciate the Council
making a decision on that. Thank you very much.
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as present.)
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. That is everyone that signed up.
Does anyone else in the audience want to testify?
BILL TROUTMAN: Good morning. Bill Troutman from Kilauea. I
am the elected community representative for the Kilauea Elementary School
Community Council. I have walked those streets probably four (4) or five (5) times
trying to find a community plan over the last twenty (20) years. This is nothing new
for our Kilauea Elementary School. I live three (3) blocks towards Princeville on Kolo
Road. I took my daughter there and drove her to school every day because it is unsafe
to go along Kolo Road. Now, for the last two (2)years, I have been taking my grandson
to Kilauea Elementary School every day. Traffic has just increased so horrifically.
The Kilauea Elementary School population is up. Kilauea town's population is up.
Kolo Road is becoming very dangerous, which is the issue I want to raise. Now, the
backup of kids getting dropped off at Kilauea Elementary School goes to the exit, so
we almost get into gridlock. We need a solution. There is no good solutions along
Kolo Road. We walked them. We beat it. We measured it. The back way is not a
perfect solution to this, but it is one that can alleviate and actually, there are a lot of
parents who do not use the back way for walking because it is too dangerous with all
of those cars. I have done the traffic detail. They need four (4) staff members at
Kilauea Elementary School just for the drop-off, otherwise, it becomes dangerous and
you are still wanting to throw cones at people because it is an unsafe situation. This
is the best that we have going here. I do have one (1) question though about Kahe
Street being both ways. My question is, if someone goes into Kahe Street towards
Kilauea Elementary School, say a tourist or anyone during the traffic hours, how do
they turn around? They would literally have to go to that cul-de-sac to do a U-turn.
I am just wondering if that is a better out to get rid of that green arrow that is
two-ways. I just wondered of the safety of that. How do they turn around if they get
in that way, and especially if they are dropping off school kids? Literally, the best
room would be at the end of the street, which we do not want. That becomes very
dangerous for people. Thank you. Are there any questions?
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Rather than bringing Mike up for
that answer, I think the solution was having a no left turn and no right turn during
school hours into that road. During school hours when there is drop-off, no one should
be turning in there. If someone does, then they have made a mistake. Hopefully,
people will learn that they do not turn in there during school hours. During school
hours, it is just coming out of Kahe Street. Does anyone else in the audience wish to
testify?
NATALIE HANEBERG: My name is Natalie Haneberg. I am a mother
of a kindergartner at Kilauea Elementary School. I am sorry, I was not planning on
COUNCIL MEETING 35 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
coming up here, but I just wanted to make a point and kind of second Mr. Schwemmer
and Mr. Parachini's comments regarding along Kamali`i Street. The point that
Councilmember Brun brought up about it being a little dangerous and just kind of
reiterate that along the grassy side, there are parked cars all the time there, so
children are always on the street. There is no place where they can really get off onto
the grass. There might be little pockets, but we are on the street getting them to
school. I do believe again, that this is not the perfect solution, as they said, but it is
definitely better than what we have currently in place and it will make everything
slow down and everyone kind of be more aware of...get everything slowed down. That
is about all that I have to say.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you.
Ms. Haneberg: Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: This is your second time.
Mr. Troutman: I forgot to mention the Kilauea seniors looked
at this issue and they asked me to say today that they are in favor of this plan. Thank
you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Anyone else in the audience
wishing to testify? Okay, seeing none, I will call this meeting back to order.
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there any discussion from the members?
Councilmember Brun.
Councilmember Brun: Thank you, Council Chair Kaneshiro. Again,
I kind of struggle with this design. I struggled with Rice Street and I am struggling
here, but we have Kilauea Elementary School, the Kilauea Community Association,
Kilauea seniors, and everyone in support of it, so I will be supporting this. I just
wanted to make that clear right now.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you, Council Chair Kaneshiro. I also
will be supporting this Resolution. I want to thank, first of all, our Planning and
Public Works, Engineering Division for actually hearing what happened on Waikomo
Road and really looking at a different process on engaging the community in that
process. I think what you have seen here today with the presentation is that outcome.
I am really appreciative of that because I think what it has done is it has actually
shed light on priority of that community, and that priority is the children. I am happy
to support it because everyone is making sacrifices in this case in order for that safety
to occur. Ultimately, we are not expending outside of our means at this point. I also
would like to hear more about the larger network that I know is an issue as it relates
to Kolo Road and that whole area, but this is a good first step to take care of our
•
COUNCIL MEETING 36 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
children first and then look at how it is we actually improve the flow as it relates to
the rest of Kilauea. Thank you very much. I will be supporting this.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden and then
Councilmember Brun.
Councilmember Cowden: I want to thank everyone, the community, the
school, and all of you for coming. This is a part of my every day. I really appreciate
the testimony of both Sherry Gonsalves and Bill Troutman when they talk about Kolo
Road, because that is another area where the kids are coming in. I drive down there.
Sometimes I will go the back way just to avoid all of that congestion because during
school times, but really, we need to fix all of that out there. Turning left off the
highway is very dangerous. In the mornings with the sunlight and the rain on your
windshield, and children...because people park on Kolo Road also, so if the kids walk •
out into the streets. I am hopeful that this is going to put more order into what does
work in a chaotic way in the back. This makes it far safer. I think more people will
come there and even from Kolo Road area, you could come down Lili`uokalani Street
and come in through the back. I am a very enthusiastic supporter of this and I
•
appreciate people like Mr. Parachini who, as far as I know, is child-free on that street
who have really good energy towards the kids all the time. Most the people who park
along there are aware. There is probably close to one hundred (100) kids who come
through there in the morning and afternoon, and they are pretty good about it.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Brun.
•
Councilmember Brun: I forget to add thank you, Mike and Doug. I
do not know what you did out there, but it is the first time we have full support.
Michael Moule, not you, Get Fit Kaua`i. I think it is the first time that the community
came in full support of it between all sides. Whatever you folks did out there, good
job. I will be supporting it. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I just wanted to add too, mahalo nui loa to
everyone involved for making this the success that it is. This is definitely a"feel good"
Resolution for me, to Planning and everyone from the County, Get Fit Kaua`i, Kilauea
Elementary School, and everyone from the Kilauea community. This is a good
example, too, of how the process should be in working with the community and
making changes, even small changes, to involve the community so that it is all
positive and we are doing the right thing. I am not worried about the sharing of the
road concept because I think if it can be done successfully anywhere, it can be done
here because with our aloha spirit and how we share the road as it is already. But of
course, anyone driving on that road, please take extra caution and watch out for the
kids walking to school. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Evslin.
Councilmember Evslin: Everyone else probably said it better than I
can, but just thank you again, to everyone involved in this project. I think it is
COUNCIL MEETING 37 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
amazing to me that we are taking away a lane of traffic and yet we have unanimous
support from everyone. That is unusual. I hope this is a model that we can use at
elementary school after elementary school on Kaua`i to really encourage safe walking
to school. Thank you again, Get Fit Kaua`i. Thank you, Lee and Michael. Thank you
to everyone in the community who came out today.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: The phoenix is actually the picture of me
because I did not support the Koloa Safe Routes to School because of the fact that we
were closing a two-way street and changing it to a one-way. I had a lot of calls about
concerns about residents feeling that the change was unnecessary. I would like to
thank Michael, Lee, and Sherry at Kilauea Elementary School. She is doing a
wonderful job there with Kilauea Elementary School. The community's support and
parent's support is the main thing. We can always change these things. If we see
how this Resolution works and there are other ideas, it is a continuous job to look for
more improvements. If funding becomes available, then let us look towards the
permanent changes that would make this plan even better. I think that is the way
we want to go. If we know we are going to repave certain roads down the line, then
let us coordinate our efforts and do what we have to do and make it totally safe where
we do not have these situations that Councilmember Brun is talking about. I think
it is just the beginning and it is a good start. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: I, too, want to say thank you. It is not very
often we get a decision where there is zero (0) opposition. Everyone is in support of
it; all of the testimony we got through E-mail, and testimony that came up here.
Everyone is in support of it. I think it shows how great outreach and community
involvement helps this project through. I think we came up with a low-cost positive
solution. All it is costing us is paint on the roads and some signs. I think it is going
to be positive for the whole area. It is going to be better than what it was. Looking
at some of the pictures with the kids, bikes, and walking kind of gave me a lit bit of
stress looking at it. I can only imagine people walking and driving through there. I
think that is the way it should go. I am glad we took lessons-learned from the
Waikomo Road Safe Routes to School. I think this is how it should be. It makes it
very easy on us to make a decision on it. I will be supporting this Resolution. Are
there any other questions from the members? If not, roll call vote.
The motion for adoption of Resolution No. 2019-19 was then put, and carried
by the following vote:
FOR ADOPTION: Brun, Chock, Cowden, Evslin, Kagawa,
Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL — 7,
AGAINST ADOPTION: None TOTAL — 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes.
COUNCIL MEETING 38 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Motion passes. With that, I will be stepping
out for the next Resolution. We are going go until 10:30 a.m. I think we can knock
out the Resolutions and possibly get Reiko up for the bond. We will see how far we
get.
Councilmember Cowden: What about Parks?
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Parks will be last right after that.
Councilmember Kagawa: We will try to get through whatever we can
and take a caption break.
Council Chair Kaneshiro, the Presiding Officer, relinquished Chairmanship to
Council Vice Chair Kagawa.
(Council Chair Kaneshiro was noted as recused.)
Councilmember Kagawa: We will just take one (1) item and then
Council Chair Kaneshiro will come back. If you can read Resolution No. 2019-20.
Resolution No. 2019-20 — RESOLUTION CONFIRMING MAYORAL
APPOINTMENT TO THE BOARD OF WATER SUPPLY (Elesther Calipjo):
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for adoption of Resolution No. 2019-20, seconded by
Councilmember Brun.
Councilmember Kagawa: It has been moved and seconded to approve.
Is there any discussion? Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I am going to approve him. I am just wanting
to highlight that hopefully, if there are issues that are too close to Grove Farm where
people would be concerned or raising issues, that he would be aware of that conflict.
Councilmember Kagawa: Is there any further discussion? Seeing none,
I just want to reiterate my support of Elesther to the Board of Water Supply. I think
I trust that he will go through the process. If there are questions, we have a process
in place. I trust that he will do the right thing and seek guidance from the Board of
Ethics if there is a question because we want to be clear and transparent, and this is
a volunteer Board. I trust he will do a good job. With that, roll call.
The motion for adoption of Resolution No. 2019-20 was then put, and carried
by the following vote:
FOR ADOPTION: Brun, Chock, Cowden, Evslin, Kagawa,
Kuali`i TOTAL — 6,
AGAINST ADOPTION: None TOTAL — 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: Kaneshiro TOTAL — 1.
Councilmember Kagawa: We will call Council Chair Kaneshiro back.
COUNCIL MEETING 39 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
(Council Chair Kaneshiro was noted as present.)
Council Vice Chair Kagawa returned Chairmanship to Council Chair
Kaneshiro.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Next item.
Resolution No. 2019-21 — RESOLUTION CONFIRMING MAYORAL
APPOINTMENT TO THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION (Beth Ann Tokioka):
Councilmember Brun moved for adoption of Resolution No. 2019-21, seconded by
Councilmember Kuali`i.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there anyone in the audience wishing to
testify on this?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Seeing none, is there any discussion from the
members? If not, roll call vote.
The motion for adoption of Resolution No. 2019-21 was then put, and carried
by the following vote:
FOR ADOPTION: Brun, Chock, Cowden, Evslin, Kagawa,
Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL — 7,
AGAINST ADOPTION: None TOTAL — 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Motion passes. Next item.
Resolution No. 2019-22 — RESOLUTION CONFIRMING MAYORAL
APPOINTMENT TO THE FIRE COMMISSION (Jennie Heatley Chahanovich)
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for adoption of Resolution No. 2019-22, seconded by
Councilmember Brun.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there anyone in the audience wishing to
testify on this?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
COUNCIL MEETING 40 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Seeing none, is there any discussion from the
members? Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: I am going to support Jennie for this position.
I just wanted to say that there has been a lot of talking in the community about what
we are doing about hiring a Fire Chief, and that we have someone ready to go that
has applied. I hope that once Jennie gets on-board, we can determine where to go
with a Fire Chief. I think a lot of people are talking, the men are talking, and I think
there are available candidates out there. We need a leader. The Kawakami regime
has started and it is important that we have a Chief, someone that is going to be the
leader. There are people willing to be the leader. We just need the Fire Commission
to pull the trigger and make a decision. Thank you, Council Chair Kaneshiro.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I want to support Councilmember Kagawa on
that. I think we have some really great people here on-island, too. I hope that those
go into that consideration.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Anyone else? If not, roll call vote.
The motion for adoption of Resolution No. 2019-22 was then put, and carried
by the following vote:
FOR ADOPTION: Brun, Chock, Cowden, Evslin, Kagawa,
Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL — 7,
AGAINST ADOPTION: None TOTAL — 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Next item, please.
BILLS FOR FIRST READING:
Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2736) — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND
SECTION 2, ORDINANCE NO. 891, AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF
GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS OF THE COUNTY OF KAUAI FOR THE
PURPOSE OF FINANCING CERTAIN PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS AND
REFUNDING CERTAIN BONDS OF THE COUNTY; FIXING OR AUTHORIZING
THE FIXING OF THE FORM, DENOMINATIONS, AND CERTAIN OTHER
DETAILS OF SUCH BONDS AND PROVIDING FOR THE SALE OF SUCH BONDS
TO THE PUBLIC: Councilmember Kuali`i moved for passage of Proposed Draft
Bill (No. 2736) on first reading, that it be ordered to print, that a public hearing
thereon be scheduled for March 27, 2019, and referred to the Committee of the Whole,
seconded by Councilmember Brun.
COUNCIL MEETING 41 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any questions from the members on
this? Councilmember Chock. No? Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I just have a process question. Will we have
another time to really be able to speak with Reiko about this?
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Yes. It is going to go to Committee of the
Whole.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: It will end up in Committee. Is there anyone
in the audience 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:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Seeing none, is there any final discussion?
Roll call vote.
The motion for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2736) on first reading, that
it be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be scheduled for
March 27, 2019, and referred to the Committee of the Whole was then put, and
carried by the following vote:
FOR PASSAGE: Brun, Chock, Cowden, Evslin, Kagawa,
Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL— 7,
AGAINST PASSAGE: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Next item, please.
Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2737) — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND
SECTION 2, ORDINANCE NO. 1019, AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF
GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS OF THE COUNTY OF KAUAI FOR THE
PURPOSE OF FINANCING CERTAIN PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS; FIXING OR
AUTHORIZING THE FIXING OF THE FORM, DENOMINATIONS, AND CERTAIN
OTHER DETAILS OF SUCH BONDS AND PROVIDING FOR THE SALE OF SUCH
BONDS TO THE PUBLIC; AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE AND SALE OF BOND
ANTICIPATION NOTES; AND PROVIDING FOR OTHER MATTERS AND
ACTIONS PERTAINING TO THE ISSUANCE AND SALE OF THE BONDS:
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2737) on first
reading, that it be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be scheduled for
COUNCIL MEETING 42 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
March 27, 2019, and referred to the Committee of the Whole, seconded by
Councilmember Brun.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any questions for the
Administration on this one or are we going to wait until Committee? Is there anyone
in the audience wishing to testify on this?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Seeing none, is there any final discussion
from the members? Roll call vote.
The motion for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2737) on first reading, that
it be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be scheduled for
March 27, 2019, and referred to the Committee of the Whole was then put, and
carried by the following vote:
FOR PASSAGE: Brun, Chock, Cowden, Evslin, Kagawa,
Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL— 7,
AGAINST PASSAGE: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We will go back to C 2019-43.
C 2019-43 Communication (02/08/2019) from the Director of Parks &
Recreation, requesting Council approval to reprioritize unexpended funds in the Special
Projects Account, of approximately $345,000.00, for the purchase of up to eight (8)riding
mowers (replacing mowers in the Waimea District, Koloa District, West Beautification,
Lihu`e District, Lydgate District, and Hanalei District) and two (2) utility carts
(replacing the utility carts assigned to the Veteran's Cemetery and Kawaihau
District/Bike Path).
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We already have a motion and second. I will
suspend the rules. Pat, did you want to do your presentation really quickly? How
long do you think your presentation will be? We have five (5) minutes before our
caption break. Do you know what? Never mind. We will take a ten (10) minute
caption before you folks start, then we will not need to break it up. Ten (10) minute
caption break.
There being no objections, the meeting recessed at 10:24 a.m.
The meeting reconvened at 10:38 a.m., and proceeded as follows:
COUNCIL MEETING 43 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as not present.)
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Welcome back. While the rules are suspended,
you have the floor, Pat. State your name for the record.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
PATRICK T. PORTER, Director of Parks & Recreation: Pat Porter, Director
of Parks & Recreation.
WALLACE G. REZENTES, JR., Deputy Director of Parks & Recreation: Wally
Rezentes, Deputy Director of Parks & Recreation.
Mr. Porter: We are here to request Council approval to
reprioritize unexpended funds. This was money that was given to Parks & Recreation
for the purpose of the Vidinha Stadium restroom facility. We wanted to repurpose some
of the money and explain what we decided to do, the plan we came up with to take care
of the restroom problem that we had at the soccer fields, and what we wanted to
reprioritize the money for. First, if you look at the sheets, there is the top view of the
stadium facility. Instead of using the full seven hundred twenty-five thousand
dollars ($725,000) on a comfort station for the soccer fields, we wanted to use less of the
money and open up north end of the stadium to accommodate the restroom issue. In
order to do that, we need to make some improvements to make that happen, so that is
what the handouts are for. If we can look at this first picture, it is the top view. Going
back, one of the biggest issues of why this was never done before was because of the
security of the track and football field itself where there are events going on. In the
past, there would be unattended kids and people in the stadium and it was a liability
and security issue. So what we wanted to do was lock it up so that only the restrooms
and food booth are accessible. We followed the Kaua`i Police Activities League (K-PAL)
model. When K-PAL runs their flag football league, they already open up the north end
of the stadium for the restrooms. They use their squad cars to block the middle road
between the soccer fields and the stadium. They have enforcement power, so they do
that. We are going to follow their model and will be installing gates; one (1) at the
highway side and one (1) on the parking lot side in place of what they use their patrol
cars, for so that the kids and families can go back and forth safely to the restroom. Then
as far as the access to the stadium, there are two (2) entrances to the stands, the middle
where we are looking to put in the rollup gates to secure that and then at the two (2)
ends, we are looking at putting up chain-link fence with gates to secure those ends.
Those are what the pictures are. We will go to the next picture. This is the highway
end. The red square is bigger than what it is going to look like. It is going to be an
eight (8)foot chain-link with a gate to access the stands on that side. This is the parking
lot end. It is the same thing, eight (8) foot chain-link with a gate over there. These are
the two (2) middle accesses. We are going to install the rollup doors in those areas.
Those are the pictures of what we plan to do. As far as re-prioritizing the money, we
wanted to use some of that money to purchase equipment for our Parks & Recreation
Maintenance workers. We were looking at purchasing eight (8) zero-turn riding lawn
mowers and two (2) utility carts for the crews.
COUNCIL MEETING 44 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Okay. Are there any questions?
Councilmember Brun.
Councilmember Brun: Thank you. I was probably the one pushing to
get the money in, and we got in our last budget. After meeting with you folks and
looking at this, I think this is the best solution right now. It will probably cost us a little
bit more money to do the bathroom. I think and we would not have enough with the
seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($750,000) that we put in. I do not think that
was enough. I like what you folks are doing and the direction this is headed. Who is
going to close the gates on Saturday? Is it whoever is using it?
Mr. Porter: Yes. It will be the entity that is using the field.
Councilmember Brun: We just have make sure that someone is there.
For example, once K-PAL or soccer starts the first game of the season, just have
someone there to tell them what to do. But after that, they should be able to do it. Just
make sure that someone from Parks & Recreation there to look it over and talk to them
about it.
Mr. Porter: Okay.
Councilmember Brun: Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you, Council Chair Kaneshiro. I, too,
am thankful for this out-of-the-box thinking. I do not think that what we appropriated
was enough to actually complete the construction of the restrooms that were proposed,
although I was very supportive of it. My only concern, and I think there is probably an
answer because K-PAL already does it when they block off the road, is the flow of traffic.
Obviously,we are closing the road, so people are able to go around from both ends,which
is fine, and maybe it was already tried, so we know that it is not a big impact. My
biggest concern is really, as Councilmember Brun said, there was seven hundred and
fifty thousand dollars ($750,000) appropriated. I believe it went into the Parks &
Recreation Fund if I am not mistaken, so it is within your Department.
Mr. Rezentes: General Fund.
Councilmember Chock: General Fund.
Mr. Rezentes: General Fund of the Parks & Recreation
Department, yes.
Councilmember Chock: Of the Parks & Recreation Department. Just
from an accountability standpoint, I am not comfortable not knowing how it is that we
are going to use that money any longer and having it free-floating. From all
standpoints, from our standpoint, but also from the Administration's standpoint, I
would like to be able to identify where you folks, if it is still within your interest, to
use—which I am sure it is—to identify how it is we use that and if not, for this body to
consider of how that is used moving forward.
COUNCIL MEETING 45 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Mr. Porter: Okay.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: My concerns are purely budgetary and the
process. I would have appreciated in addition to a letter, a document that looked like a
budget document that showed what dollar amounts you started with, what dollar
amounts you are changing, what dollar amounts you are ending with, the percentages,
and the variance, much like how we do in the budget process. This is a large amount of
money. I would want to see the justification. I see you explaining now because I did
not see anything about what the Special Projects account was and where the money is
coming from. I see now, which I appreciate that you are doing something more
cost-effective and utilizing the bathrooms that are there instead of building new ones,
but I still do not see how the dollars and cents add up. If we started with seven hundred
twenty-five thousand dollars ($725,000) and you are repurposing or reprioritizing three
hundred forty-five thousand dollars ($345,000) to the purchase of riding mowers, are
you saying that the balance of three hundred eighty thousand dollars ($380,000) was
spent on these improvements?
Mr. Porter: No, that is...
Councilmember Kuali`i: What is the total cost of all of these
improvements to make the bathroom situation work that, what portion of three
hundred eighty thousand dollars ($380,000)?
Mr. Porter: Twenty-eight thousand dollars ($28,000).
Councilmember Kuali`i: Just twenty-eight thousand dollars ($28,000)?
Mr. Porter: Yes, and that extra money is what...
Councilmember Kuali`i: Then, the remaining three hundred forty-two
thousand dollars ($342,000) or fifty-two thousand dollars ($52,000) is sitting in the
Parks & Recreation Fund.
Mr. Porter: Yes.
Councilmember Kuali`i: When things change throughout the year,
budgets are meant just for your best forecast of what you are going to do in the course
of the year and when they change and you do not spend the money, I think it is good
that the money stays unspent and becomes part of the surplus for the next year. When
you do spend it for an alternate purpose, I think you should come to us like you are
initially asking for the money with full justification of need and urgency. Even to the
extent that you are wanting to allocating three hundred forty-five thousand
dollars ($345,000) to eight (8) riding mowers and two (2) utility carts, I would like to see
the cost of how that breaks down, I would like to see the depreciation schedule, the
maintenance schedule, and the replacement schedule. There are equipment line items
in every budget and there are replacement schedules, so we try to obviously get the most
use of our equipment as possible and then we replace it according to the schedule. Is
COUNCIL MEETING 46 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
this the schedule or are we now jumping ahead of the schedule, and is that really
urgent? Could this wait until July 1st of next year's budget, which is just a few months
away, and should this be part of the new budget process, or do you have to do it the way
you are doing it now? I am really sorry. I kind of put a lot of questions in the overall
scope, but I had to keep going as my thoughts were flowing. But I think you get the gist
of what I am asking.
Mr. Porter: Yes.
Councilmember Kuali`i: For more information and documents with
dollars and figures, where it is coming from, where it is going to, and the justification.
Mr. Porter: Okay. Do you want us to explain now or submit 3,
something?
Councilmember Kuali`i: If you need to submit it later, you can, but I will
just tell you that without all that information, I am not going to vote in favor.
Mr. Porter: Okay.
Councilmember Kuali`i: But you may have the votes anyway.
Mr. Porter: We can put something together. In a nutshell,
since Mr. Rezentes and I started in this Department, the one thing that has been
stressed by the personnel is the lack of equipment and condition of the old equipment.
That was pretty much from day one. I cannot speak for the past Administrations if they
ever did have a replacement schedule in place. For one reason or another, the mowers
are over eight (8) to ten (10)years old and the lifespan of these mowers is around five (5)
years, so they have not been replaced. We are at a point now, where we saw the
opportunity to fix this issue with this and that is why we pursued it.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Porter: But we can put something.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Yes, I want to know.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
•
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you. I am on page with Councilmember
Kuali`i and just trying to really understand the economics. I believe it was seven
hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($725,000) that was allocated before. Right now,
you are asking for a three hundred forty-five thousand dollars ($345,000), not the whole
seven hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($725,000) to be moved. Of the three
hundred forty-five thousand dollars ($345,000), twenty-eight thousand dollars ($28,000)
is going to the fencing. What is that?
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as present.)
COUNCIL MEETING 47 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Mr. Rezentes: No. The three hundred forty-five thousand
dollars ($345,000) was just for the eight (8) mowers and two (2) utility carts.
Councilmember Cowden: Eight (8) mowers and two (2)...
Mr. Rezentes: We were going to allocate a portion of seven
hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($725,000) to the materials that was described
earlier today.
Councilmember Cowden: So, eight (8) mowers and two (2) mules costs
three hundred forty-five thousand dollars ($345,000)?
Mr. Rezentes: We know it is probably going to cost less than
that but that is a high number right now. We are not going to know specifically until
we go out to bid and actually get the bids. We know what we are asking for today is
approval to purchase up to eight (8) commercial grade mowers and two (2) utility carts.
Councilmember Cowden: What is a typical commercial grade mower?
Mr. Rezentes: It all depends on the type and the brand,
whether it is diesel or gasoline and it depends on what type of specifications you put or
additional items that we may want to purchase that could go along with the mower.
Councilmember Cowden: So there are other heads that go on the front or
are there other little tractors?
Mr. Rezentes: Some of them have other components to line
fields and different things like that.
Councilmember Cowden: I did bother to look up a bunch of them and I
did not find anything. I just did the simple math. Ten (10) pieces of equipment that is
thirty-four thousand dollars ($34,000) apiece. I am sure there is some shipping and
different things.
Mr. Rezentes: We believe it will come less than that.
Councilmember Cowden: About how much less?
Mr. Rezentes: We do not know until we bid and ultimately get
the low bidder. We are comfortable that the number we are providing is more than
adequate to cover the purchase of eight (8) mowers and two (2) utility carts.
Councilmember Cowden: We would be seeing the remnant amount? If
they cost fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) or twenty thousand dollars ($20,000)
apiece, would that come back to us and we would know where that extra money is?
Mr. Rezentes: That would just stay with the Park account,
yes, or the account that was appropriated by Council.
COUNCIL MEETING 48 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. It seems high.
Mr. Rezentes: I agree, it is a high number. We did not want
to go below. We did not want to give a low number and have to come back. Ultimately,
the price that we get will be dictated by low bid.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Just to follow-up on my statement, what are
the plans with the fund? We are talking about three hundred forty-five thousand
dollars ($345,000) plus. Is it your intention to come back at budget with a plan for
that money that has not been expended, and if so, maybe as a follow-up, I would like
to know what that is.
Mr. Porter Yes, that would be a good plan.
Councilmember Chock: Will you come back to us with it?
Mr. Porter: Yes.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Brun. •
Councilmember Brun: Thank you. I guess to answer the question
about being high, I think they got ripped enough times coming here when they tried
to put an exact amount and they got ripped because they were asking for more money.
I think that is why they are going pretty high on this, just to make sure that they
have enough money. Something that we might want to look into because if are going
to use those toilets, I brought this up to you, the handicapped, Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA). Can we figure out how to get down and maybe use some of
the money to figure out how to get down that side of the hill, or at least keep a couple
of handicapped port-a-potties on the top? We can get rid of the rest, but keep a couple
locked and open it up on the weekends.
Mr. Porter: That was the plan to start with to keep the
handicapped ones on the top, but also to get a plan to start...
Councilmember Brun: If we building a bathroom, we are only going
to have two (2) stalls. Right now, we have thirty (30) stalls in a stadium, so I would
rather use the thirty (30) stalls, if we are able to get them ADA accessible.
Mr. Rezentes: Are you talking about the higher level of the
park on down?
Councilmember Brun: Yes.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i.
COUNCIL MEETING 49 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Councilmember Kuali`i: You had mentioned the need to go out to bid,
when would you initiate going out to bid and how long will it take?
Mr. Rezentes: I hope we can get something out within
two (2) or three (3) weeks. That would be the goal, and hopefully we can get the
equipment soon. I am not sure how long is appropriate. We need to talk to Purchasing
as well as the vendors on what would be an appropriate lead time for delivery of the
equipment. We definitely would want to move and we would have to move soon,
because we are using this current fiscal year moneys.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Is it your intention to move quickly and want
equipment before July 1st of the new budget year?
Mr. Rezentes Yes.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Is it definitely possible in two (2) to three (3)
weeks and another whatever?
Mr. Rezentes: One (1) month for bidding. I am not sure, a
month and a half. We would definitely would want the equipment before the end of
the fiscal year, yes.
Councilmember Kuali`i: The last part as far as going forward. I know
this is a new Administration, but the thing and I appreciate your information about
the average lifespan of the mowers are five (5) years and that you have been using
them for about seven (7) or eight (8) years, so they are well due to be replaced. It
sounds like then...is there not any kind of depreciation schedule and replacement
schedule? If not, are you going to make sure that you have that going forward and
have that part of the budget?
Mr. Porter: Yes. Currently, we have not found any from
what we have been looking through, but it is all around, one of the big things that
Wally and I are trying to stress is accountability. So that will be tied in and yes, we
will definitely be implementing an inventory and all of that.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Evslin.
Councilmember Evslin: Thank you for your flexibility here. It seems
like a positive direction to be able to take a previous plan that you can do a lot cheaper
and changing direction. I think that is positive. I also want to note that just within
the last hour what we have seen with flexibility when it comes to road uses. For
example, we just talked about with Kilauea reducing a lane and what you folks can
do by blocking off that lane during soccer matches to utilize the bathrooms really
opens up a lot of possibilities. I just want to commend you for your creativity. I also
support the use of it for equipment. I think prior to the election, just as a member of
the public, what I have heard many times from Park employees that there is a lack
of equipment and how it limits their ability to do a great job. So when you talk about
COUNCIL MEETING 50 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
accountability, it is important to make sure that they have the right equipment so
that they can be held accountable to do the job right. I appreciate that. I would just
mirror what Councilmember Chock had said about making sure that we have a good
grasp of what is going to happen to the remaining three hundred twenty thousand
dollars ($320,000). I am sorry, I did have a question. When are you planning to install
the chain-link fence?
Mr. Porter: All of the materials were delivered, so we got
our welder are working on the gates. We are going to do it all in-house with our
facilities maintenance employees.
Councilmember Evslin: Right now?
Mr. Porter: Right now, yes.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: Thank you. So if I divide that amount by
ten (10), it is thirty-four thousand five hundred dollars ($34,500) each. It seems high,
but I just want to make sure when we buy it, do we have adequate space to store it
and make sure that it does not get left out in the open? We used to have the big
Hitachi mower fronting the Wailua Golf Course and I used to receive a lot of
complaints from the public, "Why is there nice big equipment just sitting there?" One,
it is not good for the equipment and two, you do not buy that kind of equipment if you
are not going to use it. In construction, that is a "no-no." You buy something that
you know you will use. I know you will use the mowers, but do we have someplace to
store it?
Mr. Porter: Yes. That is something that was brought up
by district supervisors of each park district, so we have been talking to them. We are
looking at options that are cheaper that we can do in-house with containers and
modifying them and putting in a lean-to on it with a workspace. That is what they
used do when I was with State up at Koke`e. So it is a cheaper option and things that
we can implement soon.
Councilmember Kagawa: Is there a possibility of getting those donated
from the shipping companies or is it not that expensive to buy?
Mr. Porter: For a modified one if you want to modify it
with a rolling door, you can get it for about four thousand dollars ($4,000) to five
thousand ($5,000) dollars.
Councilmember Kagawa: So we may end up purchasing? If we do not
have a place to put them, I would rather see them purchased just to make sure that
we have those equipment safe. It is no secret, I went to visit the Kapa'a Transfer
Station based on an employee complaint, and he showed me two (2) backhoes that
had rags in the gas tanks. He said the reason why is the chronics would go in through
a fence, there is a gap that the body can fit through the chain-link fence, and they
would steal the gas every day. They lost the gas caps. We had a rag stuck in it. So
COUNCIL MEETING 51 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
I do not know if the Kawakami Administration has addressed this, but I brought this
up. This was going on for a while. The million-dollar question is, why did we not just
fix the chain-link fence gate so a body could not fit through the crack. Actually when
the cap is gone, you steal the gas, you risk things being put in there that could actually
destroy the whole machine. If you put water, soda, or something else that does not
belong in there, you could destroy the whole machine. Again, I just want to make
sure that we have a plan and Pat, you said it, to make sure that we take care of the
equipment. The Council hears about this and who knows how much more other
situations there are? I think we have to do all we can to treat it like it is our own and
take pride. If we get new equipment, take pride as if it is your own. I think when
you reach that point, that is when we will achieve success. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions from the
members? Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: Are these mowers stored regionally? Are they
stored in the areas? When you have eight (8) mowers, do they go on a truck and go
out to the parks, or are they at the parks somewhere in that area?
Mr. Porter: It is different between the districts, but they
are stored at a central place right now.
Councilmember Cowden: Indoors?
Mr. Porter: Yes, well covered. Not all of them are fully
indoors, but they are covered.
Council Chair Cowden: Okay.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: Have we checked with Department of Public
Works to see if the auto maintenance shop is able to service the machines or are we
looking at contracting out? I always thought that if our auto maintenance employees
are overwhelmed, then just prioritize. I know it is with Union rules, but we are
constantly hearing from the base yards that they are doing it with their hands
because the machine is there. If we cannot do it, then for the good of the public, we
should be going out to experts in the private sector that can fix it for the appropriate
fee. I would rather see that happen than the machine just sits or we use it broken
and it breaks more.
Mr. Rezentes: Currently, the Transportation Agency's small
equipment mechanic does the servicing on our mowers. We thank them a lot for
supporting us. We know sometimes we overwhelm them with some of these aged
equipment because they do break down at various times. If you go by Transportation,
you will probably see a few of our mowers in the hopper waiting to get repaired or
serviced. We definitely think this request will give us a leg up because we would be
able to have new and better equipment. One of the things that we want to look at is
whoever wins the bid, seek the manufacturer's advice on the periodic maintenance
COUNCIL MEETING 52 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
scheduling and make sure that we adhere to those requirements whether it is a
change oil or whatever type of requirement there is to maintain the warranty. One
of the first things we did was actually go out and meet with the small engine repair
staff there on some of their challenges that they see. To be honest with you,
sometimes what we are doing is cannibalizing parts from one that no longer works,
but using them for another one. That is how we have been getting along. I think it
will not only help our Parks staff get the appropriate equipment, but also help with
the Transportation Agency's backlog and doing other things that they need to do other
than work on our mowers and small equipment.
Councilmember Kagawa: The Transportation Agency mechanics are
the...
Mr. Rezentes: They have a small equipment mechanic and a
helper who helps us with our small equipment needs, yes.
Councilmember Kagawa: Okay. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions from the
members? If not, thank you. Anyone in the audience wishing to testify? Seeing none,
I will call this meeting back to order.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there any final discussion from the
members? Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: I just want to commend Pat and Wally. I
think they are trying to solve the bathroom problem at the soccer field immediately,
and I appreciate that. This has been a problem for a long time. I coached soccer
many years. I even had to drive some players to my house, which is relatively close,
because there were no portables and we did not have the key to the bathrooms. I
coached Hawai`i Youth Soccer Association (HYSA) and American Youth Soccer
Association (AYSO). I was not the only one. A lot of times it is easy for boys to run •
to the bushes, but when you have girls, you need restrooms. Now we have those
portables. Portables are portables. If it does not get serviced on time, it is pretty
nasty. So I am glad that after thirty (30) years that we have the Kawakami
Administration address this. I hope that at least for the girls especially, that it will
be a much more enjoyable place to have practice and games, and make sure that if
they have to use the bathroom, we have something that they can use. I am glad for
that. For me, the portables are not consistent. They are not consistent and it can
really leave a bad taste in everyone's mouth. The portable is a last resort for a concert
or something, but when you have every day use like soccer, we have to provide
something better. I appreciate Pat and Wally for taking the lead. I think this is a
good solution. It may not be the best solution because it requires some modifications
to our stadium use, but beggars cannot be choosers.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Brun.
COUNCIL MEETING 53 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Councilmember Brun: Thank you, Pat and Wally. It is great to see
we are moving on it. I sent a memorandum over for all of the bathrooms. The
County's bathrooms are port-a-potties right now, and I got that back. You folks are
moving and working and doing what you can. To me, it is kind of shameful that we
have a County park and our bathrooms are not running. We have port-a-potties. We
have soccer games every Saturday, and I get a text with feces and maggots in those
port-a-potties. It is the first game on Saturday at 8:00 a.m. I think it was getting
ridiculous. I like what you are doing and is the best solution. I think it would cost
us way more money and we would only have two (2) stalls out of it. This one, we get
so many stalls, but I am worried about the ADA. If we can make sure that we open
it on weekends until we can get a ramp so they can get down to the regular bathrooms.
Thank you. I like the direction you are moving in. I went to the Transportation
Agency also, and I saw three (3) mowers outside. They are busy there, too, but I never
heard one complaint that they are doing repairs. They were really happy to be doing
the repairs. I like the teamwork between Department of Parks & Recreation and the
Transportation Agency. Keep up the good work. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you, Council Chair Kaneshiro. I will
be supportive of this as well. I think actually, it is a good improvement because I can
foresee now that it opens up other options for parks and use of the parks even for
other events. I like the discussion about thinking about all of the implications. Now,
are we going to continue maintaining? We have to clean those bathrooms and make
sure they are up to speed. Those things cost money, even as it relates to the mowers,
their housing, maintenance schedules, and all of those things. When you look at the
pot of money you are looking for, I want all of those things taken into consideration.
I think the big issue has been not having the tools necessary to upkeep our parks. We
all know our parks have been an issue, but we have not had the tools. That is a big
part of what we have been hearing from our employees. So now that we do, we have
to support them to make sure that they have access, can maintain it properly, and
have standard operating procedures in order to ensure that we are getting from point
"a" to point "b." Regarding the extra funds, I think it is still a concern. I am looking
forward to hearing back from you folks or working with you folks on what it is we can
look at in building your capacity. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I will be supporting this. Thank you, as they
all have said. In alignment with Councilmember Kuali`i, it would be really good for
me to see after you are making the purchases and what is gone, I would like to see a
line item sheet of where the costs go. Also, if we can have a paragraph as the
resolution is found for where we are going store them so that we can see they are
going in a safe place, that would be good. I would imagine that might be a few months
out, but I think those are really important things to follow-up on. I just wanted to
acknowledge that as we talked about other really creative ideas that you all are
working on, maybe some of the remainder of that seven hundred twenty-five
thousand dollars ($725,000), I look forward to what you come up with.
COUNCIL MEETING 54 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I am going to support this resolution. I
appreciate your answers to my questions. I have to see that you basically shared the
condition of the existing mowers and how they definitely need to be replaced if they
are already two (2) to three (3) years over their lifespan. The request initially just
would have been clearer with the numbers and then the explanation/justification, like
I said. I do think, too, that in order for our parks to be maintained better and our staff
to be doing a good job, they need good equipment. In order to have good equipment,
we have to have good management of equipment replacement. It is really important
to have depreciation schedules, maintenance schedules, and replacement schedules.
For the replacement part, all I would want to see is the replacement schedule; what
was our plan when we bought it new, what was our plan for replacing it, and
budgeting it. It might make more sense if we had multi-year budgets, but as it is
what it is in a one-year budget, you can still plan forward. I hope you can do that
going forward as you committed to. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: I am glad you brought this to the floor. The
reason this seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($750,000) came about was because
last budget, we were getting E-mails almost every single weekend of bathrooms,
port-a-potties at this field that were not maintained, unusable, and we would get it
every single weekend. I think the frustration grew on our side, what is the solution?
Why can these things not be maintained before the kids go out and play soccer? For •
us, what can we do? The only thing we could do was allocate money to it and hope
the Administration would do something with it. I was not the biggest fan of allocating
seven hundred thousand dollars ($700,000)to a bathroom at the park. I did ask, "Can
we open up Vidinha Stadium and allow them to use it?" In the end, we needed to do
something and the whole Council agreed that we needed a bathroom there and we
were going to allocate money there. I am very happy that you came up with a
different solution, a cheaper solution. I think the solution you came up with is very
•
workable and makes a lot of sense. You thought about the safety of people crossing
from the park to the stadium and blocking off the road. It is very promising what you
folks came with. As far as the money goes, I think in the past, I would have probably
asked for all of the money back. Let you spend the thirty thousand dollars ($30,000), •
take everything back, and reallocate it somewhere else that there is a need. I do see
that, I think we all saw that we were getting a lot of complaints on parks and you not
having the resources do what you need. I do see the need for you folks to have that
money. I have seen you folks be very receptive on complaints. I have gotten E-mails,
and Facebook posts, and you have come to a solution really quickly of cleaning it up,
•
replacing a door, or fixing something. It is a new administration for me. We cannot
always be strict and take everything back. We have to give you the opportunity to
succeed, and in this case, that is what we are going to do. We are going to give you
the opportunity to succeed, but still hold you accountable to make sure you get a good
deal on the mowers and that you set up a proper maintenance and replacement
schedule. I think we would doing ourselves a disservice if we did not provide you with
the tools that you need do your job. With that being said, I am sure in the future, you
•
•
COUNCIL MEETING 55 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
are going to get questions on maintenance schedules of equipment, buildings,
bathrooms, paintings, and roofs. You name it, we will probably ask about it, so if you
could start thinking about that. I know there was probably something put together
in the past, so if you could find that. But replacement of roofs on bathrooms,
replacement of roofs on neighborhood centers, and things like that. Just a
replacement schedule so we know what is coming up in the future. We have seen it
before with police vehicles where they have a schedule of the police vehicle, when it
was purchased, how old the vehicle is, how many miles it has, and the suggested
mileage for the cars. They come in and say, "These are the cars we are replacing, we
have used them x amount of years over its the life and x amount of miles over its life."
The cost-benefit of continuing to use the car that we need to repair versus buying a
new one with way less maintenance is a decision that they have made. I think we
are going to see a lot of that coming in from Parks also. Usually, I would ask for that
money back, but in this circumstance, I think we need to provide you with the tools
that you need. Again, along the lines of what Councilmember Chock said, a plan for
the rest of the money, what are you going to do, how is it going to be used, and what
is the impact going to be on the parks? With that, I am supportive. Councilmember
Brun.
Councilmember Brun: Thank you. I think with blocking off the road,
it will also open up the food booth. I know HYSA, they have really big soccer turnout,
so this a safe way to use the food booth. It is another big plus with that. I just thought
about that. I am sorry.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there any other discussion?
The motion to approve C 2019-43 was then put, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Motion carried. Thank you. We still do have
Executive Session. Could I get a motion to go into Executive Session?
Councilmember Chock: We have to read it.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Sorry, Clerk.
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
ES-979 Pursuant to Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) Sections 92-4 and
92-5(a)(4), and Kaua`i County Charter Section 3.07(E), on behalf of the Council, the
Office of the County Attorney requests an Executive Session with the Council to
provide the Council with a briefing, discussion, and consultation regarding the
Quarterly Report on Pending and Denied Claims. This briefing and consultation
involves the consideration of the powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and/or
liabilities of the Council and the County as they relate to this agenda item:
COUNCIL MEETING 56 FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Councilmember Kagawa moved to convene in Executive Session for ES-979, seconded
by Councilmember Brun.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there anyone in the audience wishing to
testify on this?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Seeing none, roll call.
The motion to convene in Executive Session for ES-979 was then put, and
carried by the following vote:
FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION: Brun, Chock, Cowden, Evslin,
Kagawa, Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL — 7,
AGAINST EXECUTIVE SESSION: None TOTAL — 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We will be heading into Executive Session in
the next five (5) minutes. With that, Council will be done. We do have a public
hearing at 1:30 p.m., so we will need to be back here at 1:30 p.m. just for that public
hearing item. We will go into Executive Session.
ADJOURNMENT.
There being no further business, the Council Meeting adjourned at 11:21 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
JA K. FOUNTAIN-TANIGAWA
County Clerk
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