HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/29/2019 Council minutes COUNCIL MEETING
MAY 29, 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, May 29, 2019 at 8:33 a.m., after which the
following Members answered the call of the roll:
Honorable Arthur Brun
Honorable Mason K. Chock
Honorable Luke A. Evslin
Honorable Ross Kagawa
Honorable KipuKai Kuali`i
Honorable Arryl Kaneshiro
Excused: Honorable Felicia Cowden
APPROVAL OF AGENDA.
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for approval of the agenda, as circulated,
seconded by Councilmember Kagawa.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there anyone in the audience wishing to
testify on the agenda?
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 for approval of the agenda, as circulated, was then put, and carried
by a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Cowden was excused).
Council Chair Kaneshiro: The motion is carried.
MINUTES of the following meetings of the Council:
April 10, 2019 Council Meeting
May 8, 2019 Public Hearing re: Resolution No. 2019-23, Bill No. 2738, and Bill
No. 2739
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve the Minutes as circulated, seconded
by Councilmember Kagawa.
COUNCIL MEETING 2 MAY 29, 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 6:0:1 (Councilmember Cowden was excused).
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Motion carried. Next up, we have interviews.
First interview is Ricky R. Watanabe for the Civil Service Commission. Ellen, would
you like to say a few words before we begin the interview, and then we will open it up
for questions.
INTERVIEWS:
CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION:
• Ricky R. Watanabe —Term ending 12/31/2022
ELLEN CHING, Boards and Commissions Administrator: Good
morning, Councilmembers and Council Chair. Ellen Ching, Boards and Commissions
Administrator. As a former County Clerk, I find myself in an odd position of
introducing you to someone whom many of you are far more familiar with than I am.
For thirty-one (31) years, Ricky served as a leader and member of the Council
Services staff. Ricky currently volunteers on the Charter Review Commission, and
while both commissions are equally important, the Civil Service Commission is at a
critical juncture. Over the next several months, the Commission will work on hiring
the Director of Human Resources. As a recent retiree, I am pleased he is willing to
continue to contribute his energy, knowledge, and expertise to the Civil Service
Commission, at this point in time. Without any further delay, I give you Ricky
Watanabe.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Do you have anything to share, Ricky?
RICKY R. WATANABE: If I get appointed, I am looking forward to
working with the Civil Service Commissioner's and the Department of Human
Resources (HR).
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Okay, thank you. Are there any questions
from the members for Ricky? Are there any comments from the members? If not,
thank you.
Mr. Watanabe: Thank you.
COUNCIL MEETING 3 MAY 29, 2019
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Next up is Reid R. Kawane for the Charter
Review Commission.
CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION:
• Reid R. Kawane — Term ending 12/31/2022
Ms. Ching: I am equally pleased to introduce Reid R.
Kawane. Reid is a local, young entrepreneur, and a Kaua`i High School graduate;
"yay" for Kaua`i High School, my old alma mater. He also attended the University of
Northern Colorado, in Greeley, and graduated with a Bachelor's in Industrial
Chemistry. He has "bucked the trend," our "brain drained," and returned to Kaua`i
to make a difference. He is tech-savvy and, yes, he is a millennial. As a first-time
ever commissioner, we anticipate fresh ideas and new perspectives.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Reid, do you want to say a few words?
REID R. KAWANE: No.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any questions for Reid? Are there
any comments? If not, thank you. We will be voting on it later, I think in the next
couple of weeks. Thank you, Reid for wanting to serve. I think he is one year out of
being a millennial because he is one year older than me. I think he is 1980, but I
think "millennials" start at 1981.
Ms. Ching: I actually Googled this to make sure.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Okay. You are still a millennial. Thanks
Reid. Next up, Clerk.
CONSENT CALENDAR:
C 2019-110 Communication (05/08/2019) from the Mayor, submitting his
Supplemental Budget Communication for Fiscal Year 2019-2020 and Proposed
Amendments to the Budget Bills, pursuant to Section 19.02A of the Kaua`i County
Charter.
C 2019-111 Communication (05/06/2019) from Council Chair Kaneshiro,
providing written disclosure of a possible conflict of interest and recusal relating to
Agenda item C 2019-108, "Right-of-Entry Agreement by and between the County of
Kaua`i and Grove Farm Company, Inc., TMK No. (4) 2-8-005:006," due to his
employment with Grove Farm Company, Inc.
C 2019-112 Communication (05/08/2019) from the Director of Finance,
transmitting for Council information, the Condition of the County Treasury
Statement quarterly report as of February 5, 2019.
COUNCIL MEETING 4 MAY 29, 2019
C 2019-113 Communication (05/09/2019) from Councilmember Cowden,
providing written disclosure of a possible conflict of interest and recusal relating to
Agenda item C 2019-102, a request for Council approval to accept a donation from
the Russian Center New York for travel-related expenses (approximately
$2,000 - $3,000) to participate in a peace conference as part of a delegation from the
United States of America to Vologda, Russia.
C 2019-114 Communication (05/16/2019) from the Director of Finance,
transmitting for Council information, the Period 7 Financial Reports — Statement of
Revenues, Statement of Expenditures and Encumbrances, Revenue Report, and
Detailed Budget Report as of January 31, 2019, pursuant to Section 21 of Ordinance
No. B-2018-841, relating to the Operating Budget of the County of Kaua`i for Fiscal
Year 2018-2019.
C 2019-115 Communication (05/16/2019) from the Hawai`i State Association
of Counties (HSAC) President, transmitting for Council approval, HSAC's Fiscal
Year 2020 Proposed Operating Budget, and HSAC's Board of Director nominations
for the National Association of Counties (NACo) and the Western Interstate Region
(WIR) for the 2019-2020 term, pursuant to Section 5, Section 5A, and Section 5C of
the Bylaws of the Hawai`i State Association of Counties, Inc.
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to receive C 2019-110, C 2019-111, C 2019-112,
C 2019-113, C 2019-114, and C 2019-115 for the record, seconded by
Councilmember Brun.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there anyone in the audience wishing to
testify on the Consent Calendar?
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: If not, are there any questions or discussions?
The motion to receive C 2019-110, C 2019-111, C 2019-112, C 2019-113,
C 2019-114, and C 2019-115 for the record was then put, and carried by a vote
of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Cowden was excused).
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Motion carried. Next item, please.
COMMUNICATIONS:
COUNCIL MEETING 5 MAY 29, 2019
JADE K. FOUNTAIN-TANIGAWA, County Clerk: Chair, this brings
us to page 3, Communication C 2019-116. Did you want to take this with the Bill and
have the two (2) members recuse themselves?
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Yes.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Given that, Vice Chair Kagawa, you can run
the meeting.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Will we do this and the Bill right now?
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Do you want to do these items now?
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Yes, because I believe myself and
Councilmember Evslin will need to recuse ourselves. I will be recusing.
Council Chair Kaneshiro, the Presiding Officer, relinquished Chairmanship to
Council Vice Chair Kagawa.
(Council Chair Kaneshiro and Councilmember Evslin were noted as recused.)
C 2019-116 Communication (04/16/2019) from Ka`aina S. Hull, Clerk of the
Planning Commission, transmitting the Planning Commission's recommendation to
amend Chapter 8, Kaua`i County Code 1987, as amended, relating to Zoning
Designation in Puhi, Kaua`i: Councilmember Kuali`i moved to receive C 2019-116 for
the record, seconded by Councilmember Brun.
Councilmember Kagawa: Is there any discussion? Does anyone have
questions for the Administration at this time? Is there anyone in the audience
wishing to testify on this?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
ALICE PARKER: Good morning. Oh man, I lost half my
audience. Alice Parker, for the record. Okay, I signed up for Planning Commission,
but they are good on this point. My problem is the use of"MF" acronyms. In my case,
"MF" is "Multi-Faceted." Now, they should have been explained the first time they
are used. For us, "LPF," Lowly (Inaudible) on citizen's," or"Local People." So please,
let us know what you are talking about, we pay the taxes and we vote. Thank you.
Councilmember Kagawa: Thank you, that was a little enthusiastic. Is
there anyone else wishing to speak on this? I am not ready to crucify anyone on this.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Do you want the Bill?
Councilmember Kagawa: Yes, go ahead read the Bill.
COUNCIL MEETING 6 MAY 29, 2019
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows:
The motion to receive C 2019-116 for the record was then put, and carried by
a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Cowden was excused).
Councilmember Kagawa: Motion carried. Next item, please.
There being no objection, Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2752)was taken out of order.
BILLS FOR FIRST READING:
Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2752) — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING
ZONING DESIGNATION IN PUHI, KAUAI (Island School, Applicant) (ZA-2019-2):
Councilmember Chock moved for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2752) on first
reading, that it be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be scheduled for
June 26, 2019, and referred to the Planning Committee, seconded by Councilmember
Brun.
Councilmember Kagawa: Moved and seconded to refer. Is there any
discussion from the members? Do we have any registered speakers?
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: No one signed up.
Councilmember Kagawa: Lonnie. Alice wants to come up again. Go
ahead.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
LONNIE SYKOS: For the record, Lonnie Sykos. When I was
online researching today's Agenda, it was not clear to me what this item is actually
about in the zoning redoing.
Councilmember Kagawa: It is First Reading.
Mr. Sykos: Yes, so I do not have any view, one way or the
other. For the public, if you could simply explain to us in a sentence or two, what this
is about would be beneficial.
Councilmember Kagawa: Maybe, I will ask that and we will have public
testimony after.
Mr. Sykos: Okay, thank you.
Councilmember Kagawa: Ka`aina, please provide something in a
nutshell for Lonnie and Alice, to at least let the public know what this is about.
KA`AINA S. HULL, Planning Director: Aloha, Vice Chair and members
of the Council. Ka`aina S. Hull on behalf of the Planning Department. The zoning
COUNCIL MEETING 7 MAY 29, 2019
amendment concerning the Puhi area, is to amend the Agriculture Zoning District to
the University Zoning District. A couple years ago, the Council took action to update
the contents of zoning ordinance to include a University Zoning District that will
allow for ministerial review, if you will, of educational facilities and their accessory/
ancillary type of uses. When the general plan was adopted, it was recommended that
this area, which includes Island School as well as Kaua`i Community College (KCC),
be amended to this University Zoning District. We do anticipate KCC coming in,
eventually, with their application. Island School is a bit ahead of the ball on KCC,
submitting a petition to up-zone their property from "Agriculture" to "University."
Councilmember Kagawa: Are there any questions from the members?
Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Thanks, Ka`aina. Does this include Punana
Leo and Kawaikini area, as well? I forget the boundary line.
Mr. Hull: I do not believe so. I know the applicant was
here, but I do not believe it includes Kawaikini. I can double-check on that.
Councilmember Chock: Later, if you can get back to me. Thank you.
Councilmember Kagawa: Are there any other questions from the
members?
Mr. Hull: Thank you.
Councilmember Kagawa: Okay, we will continue with public testimony.
Lonnie, do you want to go again. This is, basically, to help with Island School. Thank
you. Alice, do you have any testimony...good? Alright, Councilmember Evslin and
Council Chair Kaneshiro will be recused on this item going forward. Again, this is
first reading, it will go public hearing, committee, and then it will come back to full
Council. It is still about a month away. Okay, with that, roll call.
The motion for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2749) on first reading, that
is be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be scheduled for
June 26, 2019, and referred to the Planning Committee was then put, and
carried by the following vote:
FOR PASSAGE: Brun, Chock, Kagawa, Kuali`i, TOTAL— 4,
AGAINST PASSAGE: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Cowden TOTAL— 1,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: Evslin, Kaneshiro TOTAL— 2.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Four (4) ayes. Motion passes.
Councilmember Kagawa: We can take a short break and have our
Councilmembers come back in.
(Council Chair Kaneshiro and Councilmember Evslin were noted as present.)
COUNCIL MEETING 8 MAY 29, 2019
Council Vice Chair Kagawa returned Chairmanship to Council Chair Kaneshiro.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Next item.
C 2019-117 Communication (04/24/2019) from the Deputy County Engineer,
requesting Council approval to apply for, receive, and expend State funds in the
anticipated amount of $461,000.00, from the State of Hawai`i Department of
Health (DOH), and to indemnify the State DOH for the Fiscal Year 2020 grant cycle
for the HI-5 Deposit Beverage Container Program ($301,000.00) and the Electronic
Waste Recycling Program ($160,000.000): Councilmember Chock moved to approve
C 2019-117, seconded by Councilmember Brun.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any questions for Administration? I
will suspend the rules.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Councilmember Kagawa: I do not know if Public Works is here or not. Is
anyone from the Administration here to answer this about the HI-5? They are coming...
they are on their way. We can go to the next item.
The meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We should move the item to the end. Next
item, please.
C 2019-118 Communication (05/03/2019) from the Mayor, transmitting for
Council consideration, the cost items for the United Public Workers (UPW)
Bargaining Unit 1 for the period July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2021, the additional
terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement affecting the last two (2) years of the
contract were recently ratified by the employees of Bargaining Unit 1:
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to receive C 2019-118 for the record, seconded by
Councilmember Brun.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Anyone in the audience wishing to testify on
this? Seeing none. This is just a communication, let us keep our comments to the
actual Bill.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
The motion to receive C 2019-118 for the record was then put, and carried by
a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Cowden was excused).
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Motion carried. Next item.
COUNCIL MEETING 9 MAY 29, 2019
C 2019-119 Communication (05/08/2019) from the Deputy Fire Chief,
requesting Council approval, to accept a donation from the Friends of Kaua`i Fire
Department, of a Low Altitude Rapid Opening (LARO) parachute system, valued at
$7,519.00, for the County of Kauai Fire Department: Councilmember Kuali`i moved
to approve C 2019-119 with thank-you letter to follow, seconded by Councilmember
Brun.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: I will suspend the rules. Lonnie Sykos wants
to testify.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
Mr. Sykos: For the record, Lonnie Sykos. Again, it would
serve the public well, if you had someone from the Fire Department here—even
though this is first reading—to explain what the function of this system is and to
provide us with a spreadsheet that demonstrates what the actual costs are going to
be through the future for whatever this system is for. I am presuming it is for the
helicopter, in case they have a catastrophic loss of power that the helicopter can
parachute to the ground, but I have no idea that is actually what it is. Even if that
is the function for the unit, the question is, how much is this going to cost us every
year to deploy this and is that cost in our current budget? We are in the midst of
approving a budget, and so is the future costs of this factored into the budget, or will
the Fire Department coming to us later in the fiscal year saying, "We need money to
pay for this." That is my basic question, what is it for and what is the financial
long-term cost? Thank you very much.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Anyone else in the audience
wishing to testify?
Ms. Parker: Alice Parker, for the record. Obviously, we
know that these rescues cost a lot of money. I really think it behooves the government
to charge for these rescues. I mean, people are reckless. They go in without cell
phones and do not make a trail to follow their way back out; therefore, they should at
least bear part of the cost because this is unconscionable. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Anyone else in the audience
wishing to testify? Councilmember Chock.
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows:
Councilmember Chock: Chair, just discussion.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Do you have any questions for the
Administration? If we have questions, I want to push it out again, also.
Councilmember Chock: I can get it in writing, that is fine, but I do
have a question about what the operation and maintenance piece of it.
COUNCIL MEETING 10 MAY 29, 2019
Council Chair Kaneshiro: I know Scott said they are on their way. So,
we will move it back. Next item, please.
C 2019-120 Communication (05/16/2019) from the Director of Planning,
requesting Council approval, to receive and expend Federal/State funds for the
Hawai`i Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Program in an amount up to $335,236.00,
and to indemnify the State of Hawai`i in accordance with the State of Hawai`i General
Conditions (AG-008 103D) for administering the subject program. The pass-through
funding will be utilized to continue the implementation of the CZM Program on
Kaua`i commencing July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. Funding will be expended on
salaries/wages, travel, equipment, and supplies for the CZM Program, specifically for
the implementation and enforcement of the Special Management Area Rules and
Regulations of the County of Kaua`i and Shoreline Setback provisions of Chapter 8 of
the Kaua`i County Code: Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve C 2019-120,
seconded by Councilmember Brun.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any questions from the members on
this? Councilmember Kagawa. I will suspend the rules.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you for being here.
Mr. Hull: Aloha, Chair and Councilmembers. Ka`aina
Hull, from the Planning Department.
Councilmember Kagawa: Is this something new or is this recurring?
Mr. Hull: It is actually recurring. We have applied and
received funds for the past forty (40) years for this grant. We do not actually apply for
the grant, the State Office of Planning applies for it. It is a Federal grant administered
by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). There was just an
administrative read from our fiscal folks that while we do not apply for the grant,
because we will be receiving moneys, we have to come to Council for your review of it. I
would say, "That read is relatively new." For the past forty (40) years we have not had
that read and we have just been receiving those funds. We have several CZM positions
in our office. Two (2) of them are vacant, currently, but we intend to—with your
approval, to still apply for moneys from Office of State Planning, should they receive
moneys from the federal government.
Councilmember Kagawa: Will those moneys lapse if we do not fill it?
Mr. Hull: Yes, essentially, they are not utilized. We
definitely want to fill those positions. The reason we are holding off right now from
actively grabbing the position, right now, is because the President has his budget
proposal to Congress was zero ($0) funding for this program. In the Congress
deliberations—and are still going through it—has put in several million dollars into the
program. We anticipate, with congressional approval, getting these funds sent to
Hawai`i, but still, not a sure bet.
COUNCIL MEETING 11 MAY 29, 2019
Councilmember Kagawa: Is it still a question mark?
Mr. Hull: Yes, it still is somewhat of a question mark. We
anticipate it because the same issue happened last year. The President did zero ($0)
fund the grant program and Congress ultimately, put the moneys back in, so we did
receive the moneys last year. They are competitive wise...we did not get any
applications for the two (2) vacant positions. I believe they are applications in now,
from what I understand. However, we have not begun the interview process until we
are sure we are going to get the moneys.
Councilmember Kagawa: Alright.
Mr. Hull: I will also say, too, that the Counties—I do not
want to say compete, but the Office of Planning divvy's up the funds between the
Counties and the City and County of Honolulu has not participated in the program for
the past several years, but they have applied to Office of Planning to get the funds, if
they are available. The Office of Planning has put us on notice with City and County
coming in, if we do have funds in the program statewide, the pie is going to get a little
smaller for all the islands. We want to go up for this amount, whether or not we get
that amount, remains to be seen, but we will know come the end of June.
Councilmember Kagawa: A lot of our planners multi-task, right? They
go into these areas. Is there a possibility of utilizing some of those funds to pay for some
of their salaries when they are working on...
Mr. Hull: Absolutely. In fact, we have used CZM funds
this past year to compensate for some of the salaries. In fact, we had one (1)
planner...because the CZM Planner position was not filled, we had a Civil Service
Planner V, who was doing all the Coastal Zone Management reviews, but now we just
hired a CZM Planner about a month ago. We anticipate him doing...but we definitely
use it.
Councilmember Kagawa: Alright, thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Any further questions from the members? If
not, thank you.
Mr. Hull: Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Anyone in the audience wishing to testify on
this? Yes, Lonnie.
Mr. Sykos: For the record, Lonnie Sykos. I appreciate that
there are many aspects of Coastal Zone Management, but the one (1) area that I have
a question about is, we have an ongoing issue in Hanalei, which is not the only place
that this is occurring, where the shoreline property owners are installing irrigation
systems. Basically, they are cock-a-roaching the beach. We have had dozens and
hundreds of hours of testimony before the County Council through the years about this
and my specific question is, do these job positions provide the County with the
COUNCIL MEETING 12 MAY 29, 2019
manpower to get back involved in that issue to reclaim the beaches for the public?
Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there anyone else wishing to testify? 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 final discussion from the
members?
The motion to approve C 2019-120 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1
(Councilmember Cowden was excused).
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Motion carried. Clerk, let us do C 2019-121, on
page 4.
C 2019-121 Communication (05/17/2019) from the Director of Finance,
requesting Council approval, to apply, receive, and expend Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) funding to defer disaster related costs due to Hurricane
Lane which occurred in August 2018. The total amount of public assistance requested
for Hurricane Lane is $2,590,206.22: Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve C
2019-121, seconded by Councilmember Brun.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any questions from the members on
this? Is there anyone in the audience wishing to testify?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Councilmember Kagawa: Do we have a breakdown of the cost?
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We have it in the...C 2019-121, we have a
twenty-five percent (25%) match on almost all of them. Not all of them though.
Councilmember Kagawa: Is that sheet the breakdown? Okay, I am
good, I just wanted to know if we had a breakdown. I was hoping it was not just that
amount.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Yes, we have a complete breakdown with the
project, the costs, the Federal share, our matching share, and the status.
Councilmember Kagawa: On most of it, did we receive seventy-five
percent (75%) of reimbursement from FEMA? Is that correct?
WADE LORD, CIP Manager, Department of Public Works: Wade
Lord, for the record, Public Works. Councilmember, these are the projects that we
submitted to FEMA. Most of them are still in the review que by FEMA. There are a
couple that have been approved already for funding, but that process takes several
COUNCIL MEETING 13 MAY 29, 2019
months for FEMA to get through. These are the projects as proposed and inspected
by FEMA and our teams.
Councilmember Kagawa: Did you say some were already approved?
Mr. Lord: I believe a couple have already been approved.
Councilmember Kagawa: Which ones?
Mr. Lord: I do not have that in front of me at the
moment.
Councilmember Kagawa: I would appreciate on the next round, giving
us a list of which ones were approved and which ones are the question marks.
Mr. Lord: I can tell you, sir, that the Wailua Beach...we
have a list of the approved ones. The stream debris removal project, Project FEMA
No. 66151, that has been obligated by FEMA.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is it any project that says, "FEMA obligated,"
is approved?
Mr. Lord: That is correct.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Okay, so we have a column for that.
Councilmember Kagawa: Where is that?
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Under "FEMA status."
Mr. Lord: Under "FEMA status."
Councilmember Kagawa: If it says, "FEMA obligated," it means it is
approved?
Mr. Lord: That is correct.
Councilmember Kagawa: Okay, there has been quite a bit that has been
done. Alright, thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions from the
members? Ken, do you have anything?
KEN SHIMONISHI, Budget Analyst: Ken Shimonishi, Budget Administrator.
Aloha, Councilmembers. Just to be clear, we are here to request Council approval to
apply, accept, and expend, but as Wade had mentioned, we have projects that have been
approved. Some of these projects already had our matching component already
expended because part of the emergency response—we involved staffing and
whatever—plus we came to Council for an emergency money bill. Initially, it was one
COUNCIL MEETING 14 MAY 29, 2019
million dollars ($1,000,000). We used probably about one hundred thousand ($100,000)
of that to do some immediate work. So some of these projects will require the
Administration to come back with a money bill to fund a matching portion of that. The
total of which we are calculating right now, at about five hundred sixty-one thousand
dollars ($561,000). I wanted to be sure the Council was aware that while you give us
the approval now, hopefully, that there will be subsequent action forthcoming. If you
want a list of those projects, I can read them off to you now. Part of the work that still
needs to be done is re-verifying the scope of some of these areas, just so the Council is
aware that will be forthcoming.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: Okay, now I have a question. Is the five
hundred sixty-one thousand dollars ($561,000) a matching portion or it is a portion that
is not going to be...
Mr. Shimonishi: That would be the County's twenty-five
percent (25%) matching portion.
Councilmember Kagawa: Alright. Did the Council appropriate that
amount?
Mr. Shimonishi: No, that is where we would come back with a
money bill.
Councilmember Kagawa: Is that part of this list?
Mr. Shimonishi: Correct. If you look down the list, the third
project from the top, Public Works — Stream Debris Removal, and if you go to the
twenty-five percent (25%) match, approximately one hundred nineteen
thousand dollars ($119,000), that is one (1). The next one below that, one hundred
thirteen thousand dollars ($113,000), Wailua Beach Debris. Two (2) projects below
that, Public Works — Anahulu Road and Powerhouse Road, roughly seven thousand
eight hundred dollars ($7,800). The next project below that,
Parks & Recreation — Ha'ena Beach Park, roughly twenty-six thousand dollars
($26,000). The next project below that, Public Works—Waihohonou Culverts, another
four thousand five hundred dollars ($4,500). Three (3) projects below that, Public
Works — River Mouth Debris Removal, Wailua, Anahola River, and Kapa'a Stream,
two hundred forty-one thousand dollars ($241,000). Two (2) projects below that, Public
Works — Keapana Stream Debris Removal of roughly, forty-eight thousand
dollars ($48,000). We do not have the matching requirement yet for those projects there
and would require a money bill before Council, the total of which is roughly five hundred
sixty-one thousand dollars ($561,000).
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Can that money come from our emergency
money that came from the State?
Mr. Shimonishi: These are not projects yet. Backing up...the
State twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000), Act 12, was really related to the flooding
COUNCIL MEETING 15 MAY 29, 2019
event in April, not to the Hurricane Lane side. If we can determine that some of these
are actual flood litigation work, then there is a possibility we can use some of that
money. If not, it will have to come from our General Fund Reserve, which we set aside
for disaster efforts.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Okay. Are there any questions from the
members? If not, thank you. Did we 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 final discussion
from the members? Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: What I am going to ask for, in a future meeting
in my Committee is, these debris removals are huge and it happens every flood, right?
The debris at Wailua Beach is dangerous for the integrity of the bridge, sometimes.
These big trunks are coming down and it happens in Hanapepe, as well, it gets stuck
under the old bridge, even the new bridge. I think, at some point, after all these years,
every flood, you have tons of debris coming down, I would think at some point, we are
going to say, "How can we prevent some of that or even half of that from coming down
in the first place?" Obviously, it is happening more mauka and with all our engineers
and professionals, do we have a plan to try and beat the rubbish before it comes down?
That is one of the things I want to have and see if we can maybe, outsmart the rubbish,
because I think we are not doing enough. We react after it is already down and it is so
much trouble to grab it out of the water, right? At some point, can we maybe minimize
it a little bit by planning and see what is happening mauka and working with private
landowners or what have you or even through law; passing some legislation that will
force those responsible landowners to take some measures. I would like to see some of
the steps taken, because the way I see it, after every flood, we have these kind of bills.
A lot of times, you are not seeing these bills because the County is having to do it
themselves with volunteers or what have you. That is what I want to put on my
committee and I have a year and a half (1 Y2) left to make as much trouble as I can.
Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there anyone else?
The motion to approve C 2019-121 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1
(Councilmember Cowden, was excused).
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Motion carried. Let us go back to C 2019-117.
C 2019-117 Communication (04/24/2019) from the Deputy County Engineer,
requesting Council approval to apply for, receive, and expend State funds in the
anticipated amount of $461,000.00, from the State of Hawai`i Department of
Health (DOH), and to indemnify the State DOH for the Fiscal Year 2020 grant cycle
for the HI-5 Deposit Beverage Container Program ($301,000.00) and the Electronic
Waste Recycling Program ($160,000.000).
COUNCIL MEETING 16 MAY 29, 2019
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We already had a motion to approve and a
second on it. I will suspend the rules. Councilmember Kagawa.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Councilmember Kagawa: I had a question. Is this a new program that
the County is taking over? I had a conversation during the legislative session with
Representative Daynette "Dee" Morikawa. She is very frustrated with the
State—thinking that perhaps the County should take it over. Maybe, we can do a
better job of getting more participation. She even talked to me a little bit about
raising the amounts of the containers, something of that sort. If we had a better
program in place with more participation, then we would eliminate that much more
items in our waste stream.
(Councilmember Brun was noted as not present.)
ALLISON FRALEY, Solid Waste Program Development Coordinator: Good
morning, Councilmembers. Allison Fraley, Solid Waste Program Development
Coordinator. The grant for the Deposit Beverage Container (DBC), the HI-5, that we
are requesting approval for, is the same grant that we had from the State for the last
ten (10) years or maybe, thirteen (13), I am sorry about that. Our opinion is, that we
are actually working well with the State. We are monitoring the program as it is in
legislation here on Kaua`i. To modify the deposit beverage amounts, that is true, we
would get higher participation because the recycling rate has gone down over the last
few years. If we had a ten-cent ($0.10) deposit, then yes, that would probably make
people recycle more, but there is always push-back from the beverage industry, if you
want to raise those rates, too. But that is something that could happen through the
next legislative session. If the Council were supportive of us putting in testimony for
that or working with the State to raise those fees.
Councilmember Kagawa: Have you heard those same conversations
from the legislature that I have about wanting the County to, perhaps, I
guess...frustration with the State's Department of Health side in?
Ms. Fraley: They are our grantors, we are not frustrated
with them. They are giving us staff and they are actually funding the Kekaha and
Koloa redemption centers, which were not originally there before we worked with the
State to get those funded. I did hear about that Bill though, after it was proposed.
So we looked at our budget to see how we could run it independently and it would
cost significantly more than what is our share of the grant sources that they give us.
I think that this grant has been working well over the years and we are very happy
to be staffed. They pay for two (2) staff to do monitoring of the program and they are
monitoring all the time to make sure our residents have a program that is, you
know...it is the same program the State intended through its legislation.
MICHAEL TRESLER, Executive Assistant to the Mayor: Councilmember,
Michael Tresler, Public Works, Fiscal Officer. I think, what we had run into, at some
point in the year, was that the recyclers were actually not being reimbursed. It was
affecting their cash-flow and so they actually shut-down temporarily. That affected
COUNCIL MEETING 17 MAY 29, 2019
our recycling efforts, but that was between them and the State. It did not involve our
contract with them. Yes, we were affected by that and maybe that is part of what you
are discussion and talking about because it was a concern.
Councilmember Kagawa: Alright, thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions from the
members? If not, thank you. Are there any public testimony? Alice.
Ms. Parker: Alice Parker, for the record. Recently, there
was a letter in the newspaper regarding ease of recycling. Now, some of us, all of us
are aging, and some of us more rustily than others, and cannot get to the recycling
centers. We really need to have something...I would like to mandate, everyone have
curbside recycling. Also, in Los Angeles, it was pointed out that the stores will handle
the recycling. They collect the fee and then, they take the deposits back. So we have
to do something to make it more convenient for the public because I think the
ninety-five percent (95%) to one hundred percent (100%) of us want to recycle, but it
is not possible for some of us old folks. Thanks.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Anyone else, Lonnie?
Mr. Sykos: For the record, Lonnie Sykos. First, tip of the
hat to our County recycling personnel function. I am not sure what the correct term
for it is, but Allison and the people that work there, I think they do a great job. As a
County, we could do better at recycling but our staff—doing a great job. The thing
about taking things back to the store that you purchased it from—when I was a small
kid, back in the 60's, we use to wonder around looking for soda bottles and we would
get a penny a piece, so you could make your"walking around money" picking up soda
bottles and taking them to the nearest store. The difference between that world and
today, is all of those soda bottles were going to be sterilized and refilled with Coca-
Cola or Cheerwine or whatever had been in it. In today's world, most of these items
are disposable and have to be processed and recycled into a new container. So the
stores will rapidly end up with a Health Department problem of having all these
beverage containers attracting rats, cock-a-roaches, and all of that, while they store
it. Therefore, I leave it up to the experts to figure out what is the most efficient way
to recycle. To that degree, I encourage the County Council to push forward and get a
recycling facility functioning. When I read in the newspaper about how complex the
deal is—that we cannot deal with the complexity. When I go on vacation, my
mother and my step-mother live in communities that are very much like Kaua`i in
size and distance from major cities. They have all had for at least twenty (20) years.
All you do is drive into a warehouse, three (3) guys come out and separate everything
in the vehicle. They do not have some big long line and a bunch of people. Your car
or pickup truck is emptied in two (2) or three (3) minutes. Electronic's go one place,
can's go another, and you are out of there. I think the County, basically, has never
done it, so they are afraid to take the leap of faith, but it is not that difficult to set-up
the recycling center and get all of those things out of our dump. I make the final
observation, that in a price tag ten (10) years ago, of sixty million
dollars ($60,000,000) to create a new dump...if we can keep this one open by reducing
the amount of things going in, that is the smart political economic thing to do, and
COUNCIL MEETING 18 MAY 29, 2019
not have things keep going into the dump that does not have to, and then forces us to
build a new one. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Is there anyone else wishing to
testify?
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there any final discussion from the
members?
The motion to approve C 2019-117 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1
(Councilmember Cowden was excused).
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Motion carried. Next item, C 2019-119.
C 2019-119 Communication (05/08/2019) from the Deputy Fire Chief,
requesting Council approval, to accept a donation from the Friends of Kaua`i Fire
Department, of a Low Altitude Rapid Opening (LARO) parachute system, valued at
$7,519.00, for the County of Kaua`i Fire Department.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: I will suspend the rules. Councilmember
Chock.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Kilipaki for
being here. We wanted to get an overview of what the product is that you are
investing in, what its function is, and also the cost for its ongoing use.
KILIPAKI VAUGHAN, Deputy Fire Chief: Aloha, Council Chair Kaneshiro,
Vice Chair Kagawa, honorable Councilmembers. For the record, Kilipaki Vaughan,
Deputy Fire Chief, Kaua`i Fire Department. This is a seminal moment for the
Friends of Kaua`i Fire Department. I think, Council Chair, during budget discussions
asked and wished that every department would have another benefactor. We are
lucky to have two (2) in our Department; one (1) for Kaua`i Lifeguards
Association (KLA) and now, Friends of Kauai Fire Department. This has been a
massive work in progress for many years and we are finally at this table—our thanks
to Friends of Kaua`i Fire Department. This donation of a LARO or Low Altitude
Rapid Opening parachute system is meant for helicopter short haul situations; where
you have a rescuer at the end of the line and a patient. If the helicopter, for some
reason, gets in trouble, they can pickle the load, and the parachute will deploy from
underneath the helicopter. Hopefully, save the rescuer and the patient. We procured
this particular piece of equipment back in 2012 or 2013, and it has hit its expiration
date on this. It has been deployed once, purposefully, as far as for repackaging. After
that, it expires after about five (5) years worth of usage. We are actually a year
overdue on this particular LARO, we are happy that the Friends of the Kaua`i Fire
Department has stepped up to provide this necessary equipment, and we are asking
for your indulgence and consideration in approving this for our use.
•
COUNCIL MEETING 19 MAY 29, 2019
Councilmember Chock: Thank you. Is the fund part of the relief fund
or part of a new organization?
Mr. Vaughan: This is an entirely new organization. The
relief fund was strictly for personnel; if they experienced hard-times or a death in the
family, births, as well, but this is strictly for...following the model of the Kaua`i
Lifeguard Association.
Councilmember Chock: Which is a separate nonprofit, correct?
Mr. Vaughan: Yes, separate nonprofit.
Councilmember Chock: Who runs that? Who organizes that board for
nonprofit?
Mr. Vaughan: For the Friends of the Kaua`i Fire
Department, on the board is myself, as well as, Chief Westerman, as the Treasurer,
we have Fire Fighter Andy Oda, as the Vice President, as well as, Ray Keahi, as the
Secretary.
Councilmember Chock: Is this all internal?
Mr. Vaughan: Yes, it is all internal for now. We are looking
to transition into having plank holders come in and trade positions.
Councilmember Chock: You need a doctor.
Mr. Vaughan: Yes, we need a junkyard dog, in the same
respect. Thank you Doctor Downs, as well.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions from the
members? If not, thank you.
Mr. Vaughan: Thank you, I believe we will probably be back
before you, fairly soon.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We already took public testimony. Are there
any final discussion from the members for this? Lonnie, you already testified. This
is your second time, you have another three (3) minutes, if you want. This will count
as your second time.
Mr. Sykos: Yes, for the record, Lonnie Sykos. I have about
thirty (30) seconds. My only question is, when this is a self-contained unit, is my
understanding, is there any annual costs for the maintenance and training besides
the donation of seven thousand dollars ($7,000)? Are there any other expenses
associated with this? Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. From what I have heard, it is not
something new. It has already been incorporated into whatever budget we need. I
COUNCIL MEETING 20 MAY 29, 2019
am getting a nod that there is no ongoing maintenance on it. We are just replacing
one (1) that is expired. Do you have a question?
Councilmember Chock: No, Chair, it sounds like a single deployment,
so you press the button and it acts as a safety mechanism, basically.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Okay, I will call this meeting back to order. Is
there any final discussion from the members?
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded
as follows:
The motion to approve C 2019-119 with thank-you letter to follow was then
put, and carried by a vote of 6*:0:1 (*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;
Councilmember Cowden was excused).
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Motion carried. Next item, Legal Document.
LEGAL DOCUMENT:
C 2019-122 Communication (05/02/2019) from the Mayor, requesting Council
approval of Dedication Deed (Kohea Lot — Lot 3B (Sewer Pump Station)) from D.R.
Horton — Schuler Homes, LLC, to the County of Kaua`i, located at Hanama`ulu,
Lihu`e, Hawai`i, Tax Map Key (TMK) No. (4) 3-7-003-030 (por.).
• Dedication Deed
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve C 2019-122, seconded by
Councilmember Chock.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any questions from the members on
this? 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: Are there any final discussion from the
members?
The motion to approve C 2019-122 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6*:0:1
(*Pursuant to Rule No. 5(b) of the Rules of the Council of the County of Kaua`i,
Councilmember Brun was noted as silent (not present), but shall be recorded as
an affirmative for the motion; Councilmember Cowden was excused).
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Motion carried. Next item.
COUNCIL MEETING 21 MAY 29, 2019
C 2019-123 Communication (05/06/2019) from the County Clerk, transmitting
a claim filed against the County of Kaua`i by Jennifer Tomacder parent of Xoen
Duarte, for personal injury, pursuant to Section 23.06, Charter of the County of
Kaua`i.
C 2019-124 Communication (05/09/2019) from the County Clerk, transmitting
a claim filed against the County of Kaua`i by James Vaughn, for damage to his
vehicle, pursuant to Section 23.06, Charter of the County of Kaua`i.
C 2019-125 Communication (05/13/2019) from the County Clerk, transmitting
a claim filed against the County of Kaua`i by Carlos Canales, for damage to his
vehicle, pursuant to Section 23.06, Charter of the County of Kaua`i.
C 2019-126 Communication (05/21/2019) from the County Clerk, transmitting
a claim filed against the County of Kaua`i by Darryl D. Perry, for lost of income,
constructive discharge, and impugned reputation, pursuant Section 23.06, Charter of
the County of Kaua`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to refer C 2019-123, C 2019-124, C 2019-125,
and C 2019-126 to the Office of the County Attorney for disposition and/or
report back to the Council, seconded by Councilmember Kagawa.
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, are there any discussion from
the members? Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: Yes, the last claim is, you know, you think you
have a bad day, then you read that, and it just gets worse. Anyway, frustrating, you
know. I think, with Kaua`i Police Department (KPD), we have a new Chief, and you
just have to be hopeful that we can turn things around over there. It has been a
while, there is a lot of pilikia that has been coming out of there. Over the six (6)years
that I have been here it has been a constant migraine headache. I like the new Chief,
I hope somehow, he can get the men there to play as a team. I like to relate things to
a sport, so hopefully, they can be a team again. Time is going to tell. Anyway, I had
to mention that one.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: I think we feel your frustration. Is there any
other comments from the members?
COUNCIL MEETING 22 MAY 29, 2019
The motion to refer C 2019-123, C 2019-124, C 2019-125, and C 2019-126 to
the Office of the County Attorney for disposition and/or report back to the
Council was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Cowden
was excused).
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Motion carried. Next item.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE:
A report (CR-COW 2019-10) submitted by the Committee of the Whole,
recommend that the following be Received for the Record:
"CR-COW 2019-01 Communication (05/13/2019) from Committee of the
Whole Chair Kaneshiro, transmitting the proposed increases to, deductions
from, and other proposed amendments (plus/minus sheets) to the Mayor's
Fiscal Year 2019-2020 Annual Operating and Capital Improvement Projects
Budgets,"
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for approval of the report, seconded by
Councilmember Kagawa.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follow:
The motion for approval of the report was then put, and carried by a vote of
6*:0:1 (*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; Councilmember Cowden was
excused).
A report (CR-COW 2019-11) submitted by the Committee of the Whole,
recommended that the following be Approved on Second and final reading:
"Resolution No. 2019-23 — RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING THE REAL
PROPERTY TAX RATES FOR THE FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2019 TO
JUNE 30, 2020 FOR THE COUNTY OF KAUAI,"
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for approval of the report, seconded by
Councilmember Kagawa.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
There being no objection, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
COUNCIL MEETING 23 MAY 29, 2019
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follow:
The motion for approval of the report was then put, and carried by a vote of
6*:0:1 (*Pursuant to Rule No. 5(b) of the Rules of the Council of the County of
Kaua`i, Councilmember Brun was noted as silent (not present), but shall be
recorded as an affirmative for the motion; Councilmember Cowden was
excused).
A report (CR-COW 2019-12) submitted by the Committee of the Whole,
recommended that the following be Approved as Amended on second and final
reading:
"Bill No. 2738 —A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO THE
OPERATING BUDGET AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR FISCAL YEAR
JULY 1, 2019 TO JUNE 30, 2020 (Fiscal Year 2019-2020 Operating Budget),"
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for approval of the report, seconded by
Councilmember Kagawa.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follow:
The motion for approval of the report was then put, and carried by a vote of
6*:0:1 (*Pursuant to Rule No. 5(b) of the Rules of the Council of the County of
Kaua`i, Councilmember Brun was noted as silent (not present), but shall be
recorded as an affirmative for the motion; Councilmember Cowden was
excused).
A report (CR-COW 2019-13) submitted by the Committee of the Whole,
recommended that the following be Approved as Amended on second and final
reading:
"Bill No. 2739 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE
FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2019 TO JUNE 30, 2020 (Fiscal Year 2019-2020 CIP
Budget),"
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for approval of the report, seconded by
Councilmember Kagawa.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
COUNCIL MEETING 24 MAY 29, 2019
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follow:
The motion for approval of the report was then put, and carried by a vote of
6*:0:1 (*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; Councilmember Cowden was
excused).
RESOLUTIONS:
Resolution No. 2019-23 — RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING THE REAL
PROPERTY TAX RATES FOR THE FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2019 TO JUNE 30, 2020
FOR THE COUNTY OF KAUAI: Councilmember Kagawa moved for adoption of
Resolution No. 2019-23, seconded by Councilmember Kuali`i.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: This is on Real Property Tax Rates. Is there
anyone in the audience wishing to testify on the Resolution?
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 or comments from the
members? Again, members, if you want to talk broadly about the budget, I would say
we do it on our Bills for Second Reading, Operating Budget—whatever comments, we
can have them in the Operating Budget. That is just my comment. Can we have a roll
call vote on the first Resolution?
(Councilmember Brun was noted as present.)
The motion for adoption of Resolution No. 2019-23 was then put, and carried
by the following vote:
FOR ADOPTION: Brun, Chock, Evslin, Kagawa,
Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL — 6,
AGAINST ADOPTION: None TOTAL — 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Cowden TOTAL — 1,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — O.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Six (6) ayes. One (1) excused.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Next item, please.
•
COUNCIL MEETING 25 MAY 29, 2019
Resolution No. 2019-36 — RESOLUTION APPROVING THE FISCAL
YEAR 2020 PROPOSED OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE HAWAII STATE
ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES: Councilmember Kuali`i moved for adoption of
Resolution No. 2019-36, 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. Are there any comments or
questions from the members? If not, roll call vote.
The motion for adoption of Resolution No. 2019-36 was then put, and carried
by the following vote:
FOR ADOPTION: Brun, Chock, Evslin, Kagawa,
Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL— 6,
AGAINST ADOPTION: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Cowden TOTAL— 1,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— O.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Six (6) ayes. One (1) excused.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Next item, please.
Resolution No. 2019-37 — RESOLUTION APPROVING NOMINEES TO THE
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND
NOMINEES TO THE WESTERN INTERSTATE REGION BOARD OF DIRECTORS
FOR FISCAL YEAR 2020: Councilmember Brun moved for adoption of Resolution
No. 2019-37, seconded by Councilmember Kuali`i.
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. Are there any comments or
questions from the members? Councilmember Chock.
•
COUNCIL MEETING 26 MAY 29, 2019
Councilmember Chock: Thank you, Council Chair. I just want to
suggest to this body, we are losing the Western Interstate Region (WIR) seat now, but
after July, hopefully, we will have more clarity on where the National Association of
Counties (NACo) is with the presidential seat for Hawai`i. Perhaps, that is something
we might want to consider moving for. It would seem only right that we continue to
look in that direction for the WIR seat.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Originally, we sent this Resolution back
because there were some decisions made at Hawai`i State Association of
Counties (HSAC) that we did not agree with. Historically, we have always had the
NACo seat and when it came back from HSAC, we ended up with a WIR seat. We were
able to go to HSAC and they were able to change it back to the way it was, so I am happy
with it. Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: Has Hawai`i Island already approved the new
NACo and HSAC seats, or are we waiting?
Council Chair Kaneshiro: I am not sure.
Councilmember Kagawa: We heard that the votes were there, but for us,
it would be a benefit if they voted against it, then we just keep things the same and we
just have two (2).
Ms. Parker: "WIR?"
Councilmember Kagawa: "WIR," means, "Western Interstate Region."
That is similar to NACo, which is the National Association of Counties, but it is just the
Western Region, it is a western conference. I like to think of it in sports. I want to
thank, Councilmember Chock, he is the one who gave up something. He was there at
HSAC and he was supporting what we wanted because, we felt the NACo was more
important even though he was giving up his personal seat. I commend Councilmember
Chock for not looking after his personal interest, but for the team. That is how we need
Kaua`i Police Department (KPD) to be. They can disagree, but at the end of the day, do
what is right for the island even though sometimes personally, it might not. I always
like to say,"When you give up something personal,it will come back ten-fold in the end."
Councilmember Chock, you can await good results in the future. I thank you for
supporting us and keeping us a team at the last HSAC. It is a different makeup and
Jade and Codie, they saw it firsthand. This is a new HSAC—it is not where you go and
everyone agrees—some people see that as a positive thing. We have to keep pushing
and look at that aspect that it might be better overall that we have those disagreements
every meeting. Definitely,a different makeup on HSAC and it was even more important
that Council Chair Kaneshiro and Councilmember Chock were there supporting me and
we ended up having the other islands to say, "Hey, if these folks can come together, they
can accept some of the amendments that we wanted." Again, I think, very successful
and thank you folks.
COUNCIL MEETING 27 MAY 29, 2019
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Is there anyone else? If not, roll
call vote.
The motion for adoption of Resolution No. 2019-37 was then put, and carried
by the following vote:
FOR ADOPTION: Brun, Chock, Evslin, Kagawa,
Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL — 6,
AGAINST ADOPTION: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Cowden TOTAL— 1,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — O.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Six (6) ayes. One (1) excused.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Next item, Bills for First Reading, Bill
No. 2753.
BILLS FOR FIRST READING:
Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2753) —A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE APPROVING
A COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT FOR BARGAINING UNIT 1
BETWEEN JULY 1, 2019 AND JUNE 30, 2021: Councilmember Kuali`i moved for
passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2753) on first reading, that it be ordered to print,
that a public hearing thereon be scheduled for June 26, 2019, and referred to the
Committee of the Whole, seconded by Councilmember Brun.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you for seconding so quickly. 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. Are there any questions or
comments from the members? Councilmember Kagawa, do you have a question or
comment?
Councilmember Kagawa: What was that? I think the teammate needs
to wait for the teammate to finish. Thank you. Good job, though, maybe you had the
urge to speak.
Councilmember Brun: You are using up all the time anyway.
Councilmember Kagawa: Thank you or you are welcome. Janine, just
in a nutshell...the current proposal for the one that we have on the table for Fire was
COUNCIL MEETING 28 MAY 29, 2019
two percent (2%) for each of the two (2) next years, step movements, and then a
bonus. What is the United Public Workers (UPW) contract looking like?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
JANINE M.Z. RAPOZO, Acting Director of Human Resources: Good
morning. Janine Rapozo, Acting Director of Human Resources. UPW had a four-year
contract. We are already into the second year of the contract and we are going into
the third year. The Fire contract was for two (2) years and the next two (2) years
would be analogist to the third and fourth year of the UPW contract. Therefore, you
already previously approved two percent (2%) for each of the years for UPW in their
third and fourth year. Part of that agreement allowed for a reopener in the third year
for us to consider whether or not they would get another increase based on an
analogist percentage for step movements, because UPW does not have step
movements in their salary scale. This one point two percent (1.2%) has been
determined to be equivalent to a step movement. That is what is on the table today;
an additional one point two percent (1.2%), in addition to their two percent (2%) that
was already approved in their third and fourth year.
Councilmember Kagawa: Will it be three point two percent (3.2%)?
Ms. Rapozo: For each year, correct.
Councilmember Kagawa: For each year. Who came up with this?
Ms. Rapozo: Basically, the State looked at what would be
an analogist percentage for a step movement. Normally, UPW will always have a
little more of a percentage because they do not have step movements in their plan,
which gives employees and additional raise throughout their career.
Councilmember Kagawa: Yes, but do they have temporary assignment?
Ms. Rapozo: Temporary Assignment, yes.
Councilmember Kagawa: It is almost a step, but a step on the day it
occurs, right?
Ms. Rapozo: Only when there is a vacancy that they can
temporarily assign to.
Councilmember Kagawa: Alright, thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions from the
members? If not, thanks. Is there anyone wishing to testify? Lonnie?
Councilmember Kagawa: I have one (1) more question for Janine before
she leaves.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Okay, go ahead.
COUNCIL MEETING 29 MAY 29, 2019
Councilmember Kagawa: Janine, the one point two percent (1.2%) is
solely attributed to just a step, it is not attributed to the bonuses the firemen are
getting?
Ms. Rapozo: Yes, if you look at the Fire contract, they have
a two percent (2%) plus a step movement. In theory, they are getting three point two
percent (3.2%), similar to UPW, but they are also getting a bonus.
Councilmember Kagawa: Are they getting a three point two percent
(3.2%) plus a bonus?
Ms. Rapozo: Correct.
Councilmember Kagawa: Why would the State feel it is enough to give
a three point two percent (3.2%)? Do they look at the Fire and Police contracts?
Ms. Rapozo: They are involved in negotiations for all the
contracts.
Councilmember Kagawa: Do they feel like the Police and Fire deserve
an extra? Is that the feeling on the board?
Ms. Rapozo: UPW does not go through binding arbitration,
Fire and Police did. So the arbitrator made that award versus this was a settlement
that was reached with UPW. The members had to ratify the agreement.
Councilmember Kagawa: Okay, we tend to negotiate, whereas the
arbitrator solely makes the decision based on his judgment, I guess.
Ms. Rapozo: We put on our cases and the arbitrator will
make a decision. UPW does not have binding arbitration. If they did not come to a
settlement with the employer, they would have to go on strike.
Councilmember Kagawa: Okay, alright.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. I will take public testimony.
Ms. Parker: Alice Parker, for the record. I wanted to
thank, Janine for the definition of"TA," "Temporary Assignment." Now, there is an
increase in pay for that—dependent on what? I know I have filled a "Temporary
Assignment," several grades above me for about six (6) months, but I did not get the
pay because it was not a year, so they made sure it was not a year. In this case, they
get the increase in pay for the "Temporary Assignment," does it continue or is it only
for the duration of the "Temporary Assignment"? Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: It is only for the duration of the "Temporary
Assignment." Lonnie.
Mr. Sykos: For the record, Lonnie Sykos. Always, very
interesting—the Council deliberations over the union negotiations. Our helplessness
COUNCIL MEETING 30 MAY 29, 2019
in much of it. The question that I have is, they have a two percent (2%) pay raise,
and on top of that, they get another pay raise, and some of them, on top of that, get
apparently a cash bonus. My question is—I do not expect anyone to be able to answer
because you would not have this information in hand, but over the last ten (10) years,
what was the annual rate of increase in our largest private sector employers on
Kaua`i? Do hotel workers wages go up at three point two percent (3.2%) a year? I do
not know what the pay schedule is in the destination resort industry,but do the wages
that are going up for our government employees, are they on par with the private
sector, greater, or less than the private sector? I am simply looking at parity in wages,
that if private sector wages are not going up at the same wages as the government
wages and you are taxing the private sector employees to provide the money for the
raises for the government workers, this eventually becomes a ponzi scheme. If
government workers pay raises are significantly more than private industry, we are
creating a financial deficit for ourselves and we are basically, impoverishing the
public. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Is there anyone else? If not, 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 final discussion from the
members? Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: What I do know, Lonnie, is that the private
sector does not have forty-two (42) days off leave per year. They have twenty-one (21)
days of vacation and sick leave that accrues if you do not use it, into a big payment
when you retire. That is a huge benefit that is not enjoyed by many in the private
sector. I think the pay—it all depends, some profitable companies do have similar
increases, like three percent (3%), I would think. There are some that barely get
raises, like my wife's company, well, I should not talk about that. Anyway, right now,
we are in a bind, State government is about thirteen billion dollars ($13,000,000,000)
in the hole for Employees' Retirement System (ERS) payments with a twenty (20)
year plan to catch up. What does that mean? That means the future is going to be
paying for that problem. If the State was responsible, they would raise the General
Excise Tax (GET) or do something that will catch them up immediately. You do not
pass a burden on because you are not financially responsible to the next generation
of kids. The State is in that position where three point two percent (3.2%) per year is
not going to make it easier for them to pay their bills and this is every union. Police
and Fire are even higher than three point two percent (3.2%), because they are adding
a bonus on top of it. We are being Santa Claus, but we cannot afford to be Santa
Claus, but we are going to do it anyway. I am a teacher and we always get the worse
deal of all the unions, because we have the most employees. It is easiest for
government to be less generous to the largest amount. We are holding up rates
teachers forty-ninth (49th) in the nation out of fifty-one (51), including District of
Columbia. The teachers get killed and we have the largest vacancy rate, three
thousand (3,000) I think, short of teachers. You would think that would be a priority.
Public school teachers that teach your kids. You have three thousand (3,000)
COUNCIL MEETING 31 MAY 29, 2019
substitutes teaching core subjects, like math and English. You talk about backwards
thinking, that is what the State excels at, right now. We need to be tough at
negotiations. Until you pay your bills, we seemingly are being generous. I can
understand being generous to those who are having a hard time recruiting, like
Police. You leave the pay status quo and have large vacancy numbers, in City and
County of Kaua`i, you are not going to fix the problem. I can see that one, but how do
you avoid it? Nobody wants to be a cop right now. Obviously, in Honolulu, that place
is nuts, I mean, it is tough. This is just a start, it is all not budgeted. We have the
round building and the driver's license building needing significant repair—mold
remediation, people are getting sick—we are going to get sued, if we do not fix those
things right away. We have big raises again that are not even in the budget, yet. I
am very frustrated. I know we cannot afford it. The arbitrators say, "We are generous
to the Fire, because we have the ability to pay." I do not see the arbitrator
deliberating during our budget. He is probably smoking a cigar in Honolulu. It is
ridiculous, the whole system is failing, and it is broken, right now. Yes, we do need
major fixing, but it will not be done here on this table. I do not know what to say.
The State is jammed up and they are forcing these raises upon us when we cannot
even fix what needs to be fixed. So this is very frustrating.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there anyone else? Councilmember Evslin.
Councilmember Evslin: To quickly answer Lonnie's question, is he
still here? The Bureau of Labor statistics says, "Average increase in wages 2017-2018
was two point three percent (2.3%)." That is all.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further comments? If not, roll
call vote.
The motion for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2753) on first reading, that
it be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be scheduled for
June 26, 2019, and referred to the Committee of the Whole was then put, and
carried by the following vote:
FOR PASSAGE: Brun, Chock, Evslin, Kagawa,
Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL—6,
AGAINST PASSAGE: None TOTAL—0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Cowden TOTAL— 1,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL—O.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Six (6) ayes, one (1) excused.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Next item, please.
BILLS FOR SECOND READING:
Bill No. 2738, Draft 1 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO THE
OPERATING BUDGET AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR FISCAL YEAR
JULY 1, 2019 TO JUNE 30, 2020 (Fiscal Year 2019-2020 Operating Budget):
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve Bill No. 2738, Draft 1, on second and final
COUNCIL MEETING 32 MAY 29, 2019
reading, and that it be transmitted to the Mayor for his approval, seconded by
Councilmember Brun.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there anyone in the audience wishing to
testify on our Operating Budget? This is the final time. Okay, Lonnie.
There bring no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
Mr. Sykos: For the record, Lonnie Sykos. Some years ago
I sat through three (3) years of budget negotiations. I came almost every day to the
County Council and watched the whole three (3) weeks of budget. It was hard not to
fall asleep sometimes, but it was extremely interesting at times, as well. One of the
things that I discerned, was every year when we received the end of the year budget
report, we rolled over about fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) a year. That number
is down compared to our last budget, which was a little over ten million dollars
($10,000,000) a year. I think we had about ten million two hundred thousand dollars
($10,200,000) we rolled over from the previous budget. My observation is, that it is
horrible money management. I understand why you would want to have an extra ten
million dollars ($10,000,000) in case something happens, but we have an emergency
fund. The problem with leaving ten million dollars ($10,000,000) buried inside the
budget, is if we acknowledge we had the money by putting it in an account so the
money was sitting there, we could borrow against it, it would positively impact our
credit rating, but by having the money buried inside the budget, it does not have any
of those other values. Now, if we have a big storm or something, it is great to have
ten million dollars ($10,000,000)just laying there. The flip side of it is, if we want to
build affordable housing, we cannot go out into the world and say we have this ten
million dollars ($10,000,000) available because it is not anywhere where it is readily
available. I sat through and watched you people, in absolutely your best good faith,
go through the budget and try to pull out the fat. What is problematic to the public
watching this, is why do you not pull the ten million dollars ($10,000,000) out? That
is not easy to do...I mean, I do not know where it is, I watched this whole thing go on,
I am not an accountant or Certified Public Accountant (CPA), so I cannot figure out
where the money is, but there is ten million dollars ($10,000,000)buried in there. My
basic question to the Council is, is it wise, going into next year's budget to take that
ten million dollars ($10,000,000) out and either spend it, or put it into our emergency
account and get our budget more aligned with what our actual expenditures are?
Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Is there anyone else who would
like to speak on the budget?
Ms. Parker: I second him.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: If not, 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: Are there any final comments from the
members on the budget? Councilmember Kuali`i.
COUNCIL MEETING 33 MAY 29, 2019
Councilmember Kuali`i: Is this our last opportunity?
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Correct, this is second and final reading for
the budget.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Will it just be Capital Improvement Projects
(CIP) after this?
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Yes.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I do want to say appreciation to you Chair and
to the staff for the budget message. I think it was very well written and summarizes
our experience in this year's budget. With a budget of two hundred and forty-two
million dollars ($242,000,000) Operating Budget and thirty-six million
dollars ($36,000,000) in CIP, it is clear that our budget keeps growing. It is the first
year for new Administration. Overall, I think we did a pretty good job with the
budget, but I still think we can do better. It is important that the budget is
structurally balanced and we are fully funding our reserved fund. I appreciate
Councilmember Evslin's attempt at proposing a tax rate considerations and trying to
come up with money's for things like the Open Space, whose funds have been
depleted. I would say to any Councilmember in the future, when you do such a big
and bold proposal, watch what little pieces might be in there that causes someone to
have to be recused. I was not able to be part of that discussion because I had to recuse
because there was a forty thousand dollar ($40,000)piece that I had to recuse on, but
it was in the whole package. Our Real Property Tax Collection is at one hundred
forty-four million dollars ($144,000,000) with an Operating Budget of two hundred
and forty-two million dollars ($242,000,000), it is more than half. I want to see us do
better with our Real Property Tax Relief Programs. In our budget message, we do
have a summary on the home preservation limit differential and the very low income
tax credit. Respectively, it is one hundred thirteen thousand dollars ($113,000) and
one hundred four thousand dollars ($104,000). If you add that together, that is two
hundred sixteen thousand dollars ($216,000) and with an Operating Budget of two
hundred and forty-two million dollars ($242,000,000), that is less than
one-tenth (1/10th) of one percent (1%). I think it is important that we have these
exemptions and these relief programs in place. We probably need to do a better job
helping our citizens take advantage of it, especially our kupuna. One specific thing,
maybe, the kapuna, they come in and give their birth certificate and have the age
exemption after sixty and seventy, or whatever those ages are, and it goes higher as
they get older, but on the low-income exemption, they have to come in every year with
their tax returns. Many kupuna, who are living on a fixed income of social security,
they do not file taxes each year. They may not even be participating and taking
advantage of this relief that they really need because every dollar means a lot to them.
I will follow-up with Real Property Tax and see if maybe something can be done there.
Obviously, this is going to be our first year with the General Excise Tax (GET) and
we have to stay on top of that because again, that is tax dollars coming from the
citizens among us, that impact the citizens who are struggling the most. We need to
make sure we are spending that money wisely and getting as much roads repaired as
possible. I appreciate Vice Chair Kagawa's proposal on the overtime cut and I was
happy to support that. In our message here, we talk about pension spiking, Police
COUNCIL MEETING 34 MAY 29, 2019
and Fire coming to us saying, "They will do a better job with managing overtime." I
think we need to stay on top of that and make sure they do, because it is a significant
amount in our budget. Overall, I think we need to keep budgeting tighter. We had a
few small cuts that I had proposed that passed with the vacant positions and reducing
them. I appreciate management doing a better job with that too, but I still think we
can do better. Especially, since we are fully funding our retirement and reserve—on
the reallocated positions—the only cuts we had one hundred eleven thousand dollars
($111,000)of the two hundred and forty-two million dollars ($242,000,000) Operating
Budget, that is less than one half(1/2) of one percent (1%).
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Actually, I will give the members ten (10)
minutes. You do not need to use the entire ten (10) minutes if you do not want to, but
I am only doing this because I did ask all the members not to make comments
throughout the entire process where they could have made a lot of these comments
along the way. It is our only and last time to talk about the budget, so let us give
them ten (10) minutes. Again, you do not need to use all ten (10) minutes if you do
not need to.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I only need thirty(30)seconds more. I am just
about done. I just wanted to say we need to budget tighter. With only one hundred
eleven thousand dollars ($111,000) we did not even have enough cuts to...I wish we
could have provided additional funding's to the Humane Society because I think when
they came forward, their program that they were explaining about expending and
improving their spay and neuter program—I think it is an investment because in the
long run it would save us more money and probably save animals lives, as well.
Lastly, I mainly want to say mahalo nui loa, thank you to everyone. Especially, the
Administration for all the work they have to do just to bring it forward to us and to
our staff who does most of the work to make it easier for us to digest everything and
to do our fiduciary responsibility to do the best we can with the budget. Mahalo to
everyone and mahalo to you Chair.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Councilmember Evslin.
Councilmember Evslin: Yes, I want to start off by mirroring what
Councilmember Kuali`i said and thank you to staff for the work they did throughout
this process. As my first budget process, you folks made it as easy as possible for me
to understand what we are doing. Especially, good job on the turn-around time from
getting the supplemental budget printed out and presented to us. Also, I want to
thank Councilmember Kuali`i who I think did a lot of work in carrying the load so
that we could find the money for the Humane Society and ultimately for the battered
women's program. I ended up voting against those proposals, because I was hoping
for a revenue increase, but I think without the work he did, we would not have found
that money, so I appreciate that. Also, to Councilmember Kagawa, I thank for
consistently raising the issue of spiking. I do not think anyone brought more
attention to that than Councilmember Kagawa and I think it is important that we
break that paradigm somehow, so thank you for your effort in that. Also, to the
Administration, I think it is a testament to the work they did. They came with a
budget that we spent four (4) weeks on and we changed point zero zero one
percent (0.001%)or something of it, right? All that work we barely changed anything.
COUNCIL MEETING 35 MAY 29, 2019
I think that was a testament to a good budget. Just for me, some sort of initial
takeaways was that I appreciated the process, and for me, getting to understand what
each department does, and going line-by-line was very valuable. One of the
surprising things, was in how little we measure outcomes, from outcome
perspective—what we are paying for, how much those outcomes cost, and whether we
are achieving them. In my own company, we buy carbon fiber and epoxy to make
canoes. It is not enough just to measure what we are spending on the carbon fiber.
It is important to know what we are producing and I feel that in so many ways we do
not know what we are actually, producing here. It is hard to make a decision on a
budget when we are operating blindly from that perspective. Lastly, as far as my
own proposal went, I recognize now in hindsight, that it was doomed. Just from the
amount of different things that I was trying to tinker with. I think, for me though, it
is important...I think we all do, to recognize the depth of our housing crisis,
especially, and just to recognize that taxes have an impact in affecting behavior,
right? We have one (1) in six (6) homes as a Transient Vacation Rental (TVR) and we
have a large number of vacant homes. I recognize there are problems with the
residential investor tax rate, but I do think we need to do more to discourage those
activities through property taxes. On the other side of it, we also need to put more
money towards public housing, right? We need to do everything we can to reduce
barriers to home construction for families to encourage more homes to be built, but
we are not going to solve this problems. As many homes as we encourage, it is not
going to help those who are under sixty percent (60%) of median income, right? We
need more public housing for that. I do hope going forward, and maybe next time, I
will be better prepared to do something that might get the votes to pass. All in all,
thank you everyone for this, it was a good experience, I am proud of the budget.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you, Council Chair. I, too, will do a
real quick thank you to the Administration for taking us through this process.
Especially, to our staff for all their help with all the volume of questions that go back
and forth, in trying to figure out what is going on, and how we can make a
determination at the end. Our budget processes are getting more streamlined in a
sense and getting to the point. I would say after five and a half(5 1/2) years of being
at this Council, there is a couple takeaways for me as others have mentioned today,
Lonnie Sykos, here. The first is definitely, our job is to try and figure out how to not
increase the budget as much as possible. We know that the biggest expense and
increase comes from our salaries, so we need to be able to continue to focus on that,
thus, we run into this big problem about how we engage with that decision process,
because it is not within the Council's purview. We are not at the discussion or
decisionmaking table as it relates to how these increases occur, so how do we get a
handle on it, how do we look at it every year? Look at what I have seen, which has
been really, very difficult to decrease the budget. We have seen anything from one
hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) to three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000)
on any good year of deductions or cuts come from this Council. What I am seeing on
an annual basis is where we are always looking and we need to look at are these
salaries. We also know, that we cannot even get at capacity to fill these positions.
We are in this circular situation of not being able to fill positions, then raising where
we should not be raising, potentially. We end up not being able to cut those positions
COUNCIL MEETING 36 MAY 29, 2019
because we need to fill majority of them, which makes up majority of the budget. The
other part that was interesting to me, as I heard, if we have ten million
dollars ($10,000,000) in excess, which is...that is hypothetical...if it is ten million
dollars ($10,000,000) fat that we have or flexibility in the annual budget, most of it
in salaries for positions that are not funded or we need to fill. To me, every budget is
a budget, you also have to take that into consideration what it should be and this is
the kind of things when we look towards our Director of Finance to come back to us.
We have had great recommendations about what the reserve should be and I think
we met that goal. The question really comes down to, what should the percentage be
in terms of any budget that this County produces on an annual basis in terms of
flexibility, right? So on a two hundred forty million dollar ($240,000,000) budget, is
ten million dollars ($10,000,000) actually feasible? Is that okay? Is two point four
percent (2.4%) really what we should be at? What is the percent we should be at? In
order to know what our goal is as a body to try and cut to, so we have the kind budget
that is operable and sufficient. All in all, I am very pleased with the Council's work
on it. We do ask the right questions and we are moving in the right direction. There
are some specific decision that, I guess, we need a little bit more leverage on, in trying
to control this budget. Thank you to everyone, I really agree with Vice Chair
Kagawa's comments on where we should be looking, I agree with the work that
Councilmember Kuali`i every year does in terms of looking at the positions and how
we might question, whether or not they are needed or not. I also, appreciate
Councilmember Evslin's attempt to look at the tax structure, because I do think that
is a big area of work that is needed and I look forward to continue to work on that. It
should be a little more complex so it hits the right places and supports the community
where we need the most. I would have actually supported some of what was
presented, if perhaps, it was not all in one amendment to the tax code. With that
being said,we just keep moving forward and perhaps we can look at that forthcoming.
Thank you, Council Chair for always providing the leadership on the budget every
year. I am ready to vote on this.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Councilmember Brun.
Councilmember Brun: Do not worry, I will be quick. Thank you
Chair, for running an efficient budget. I thank the staff for all that you did. I am a
little disappointed we could not cut a little more, like Lonnie said, "Ten million dollars
($10,000,000),"but it is hard to find. There is a million dollars ($1,000,000), I thought
we could have cut, but did not get the votes to do it. We will see within the year, if
they can implement the two (2) projects they are trying to put in for three million
dollars ($3,000,000). I was a little disappointed we could not cut that. One hundred
thousand dollars ($100,000) are pennies that we cut from the budget. I will be
supporting it, I will not be the lonely vote that will not approve it. Thank you, Chair.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: Thank you. I would like to thank, Council
Chair for your leadership on the budget and our staff and all the other members for
all of your hard work. I look at this budget and of course, it would have been nice to
have the support to make the deep cuts I had proposed to Fire just as a penalty
measure for what happened in the prior year with spiking. It was an accounting
COUNCIL MEETING 37 MAY 29, 2019
measure that I had proposed, because I have left that door open if they should have
run out and show no evidence of spiking and come back with a legitimate request to
replenish those moneys that I cut, that I would be willing to support it. That is how
this whole year is going to work, this budget is one small step. Whenever we have
things we want to change, we can always do a money bill. It never ends at this
Council, but what I think our greatest accomplishment was this year was we have
allowed our new Mayor Kawakami to go with his budget information cut by one
hundred thousand dollars ($100,000). I still think he has a full budget and as a new
Mayor ,it is nice to have your full set of weapons and try to fix a lot of the problems
you fore sought. I must commend Mayor Kawakami, we have had many discussions
in the brief time he has been in office, some things that are not even in the budget,
yet, that we know we need to address. I have mentioned about repairs needed to our
round building, as well as our Finance and Planning building; the buildings have
become run down—twenty (20) years old. It is like a house, if you use it every day,
things will start breaking and our repair staff is not capable of fixing that many
things. I went to the Mayor Kawakami's office, it is the same room with two (2)
different door handles, those are the types of things when one (1) breaks we will get
the door to work, but I think a Mayor's office should have all matching door handles,
right? You are the center piece of this County—when important people come to visit,
we want to show we have class and the ability to have those simple things that our
top officials should have. It goes beyond, we have mold problems, it needs to be
repainted, we have staff wanting to move in different areas, I think we should do it
right, have everyone situated where they should be. We have grown over the past
twenty (20)years. Let us take care of that building. It is a beautiful County building.
I think it is the best County facilities for our employees, main facilities, but it needs
to be fixed. That is my next priority, to help the Mayor fix what we have. I
understand a lot is going into affordable housing and all of this, but before we take
deep measures into other areas, I would like to fix what we have. That is important
and responsible to do, especially, when we have mold issues that can affect some of
our employee's health and our user's health, as well. Again, with that being said, I
want to thank the Chair. We have all these contracts coming before us, and this
salary changes being proposed, is really going to change the outlook on of our budget
and our future. I hope this Council can take those measures seriously when we have
them, because if we negotiate tough, I am not saying do not give them anything, I
think we are doing our job for our taxpayers. If we do not negotiate well enough, then
we will never fix those things I am talking about without increasing taxes. That will
affect majority of our taxpayers who are not County workers, who do not benefit from
pay increases. They will rely on us, by electing us, to say, "Hey, do what is reasonable
or do the right thing, we trust you, and that is why we vote you in." A lot of them rely
on us to make sure we give our taxpayers the best we can. We are going to take care
of our employees, there is a balance, there is a way to take care of our employees and
taxpayers at the same time. That is what we must do, not give excess, but give what
we can afford to give at this time with the moneys that we have. Those will be the
most important pieces that will affect this budget—is our decisions on the contracts
COUNCIL MEETING 38 MAY 29, 2019
of our union employees. We want to do it fairly, but yet, we want to make sure it is
responsible for our taxpayers and the future of this island. Again, with that I look
forward to working with all of you on the budget, because it is continuous. We can
always make changes, there will be changes made, and of course, we will see a lot of
transfers the Administration will do that we will not be too happy about, but it is part
of life, right? We affect what we can affect. When we cannot affect it then we make
trouble. Thanks.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I just read my notes wrong, I put out one
number wrong. I said one hundred and eleven thousand dollars ($111,000) worth of
cuts over the two hundred and forty-two million dollars ($242,000,000) Operating
Budget was less than half percent (1/2%) of one percent (1%). It is acutally, point
zero four five percent (0.045%), so it is less than one twentieth (1/20th) of one
percent (1%).
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Evslin.
Councilmember Evslin: I am sorry, I read my notes wrong too.
Number one (1) on my list of thank-you's was our Chair Kaneshiro, good job on
running incredibly efficient meetings. During the initial discussion over Chair,
almost everyone said you ran very efficient budget meetings as...and I was not sure
what that meant, until we sat down and ran very efficient budget meetings here, so
thank you very much.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Are there any further comments
from the members? If not, for me, I want to thank all of you folks, all the
Councilmembers for sitting through those three (3) weeks of budget meetings. They
are pretty brutal. Again, coming prepared, I think, everyone sees the budget binder
we bring. It is...I do not know how many pages, it is probably this thick, we look
through every single page of it, so I want to thank the members for taking the
time...coming to the budgets prepared...again, coming to budget decisionmaking
prepared, with well-thought-out proposals. I also want to thank the Administration
for their hard work, I know, you probably think we are a pain in the butt, a lot of
times when we ask a bunch of questions—send questions over—but it is part of the
process and part of our learning process, also. I apologize, you may have a lot of
questions you think do not make any sense, but for us it is part of our thought process
and we need the answers on it, which you have provided and I appreciate your hard
work on the budget. Also, our staff, I always need to thank them because without
them I do not think I could run an efficient meeting. We would not be as prepared as
we are when we come into the budget without our staff, and they have to sit through
all the meetings too, so thank goodness for you folks. As far as the budget goes, I just
want to highlight there were no changes to Real Property Taxes, which I think is
COUNCIL MEETING 39 MAY 29, 2019
always a good thing for the public. I do want to caution, I guess, if we think about
changing tax rates, we need to be cognizant of why we are changing it and what the
long-term affects are of it. It is easy to increase a tax rate, get projects you want that
year, but what happens to that money the next year. That money will go elsewhere,
it will get absorbed through the budget and the next year we will say, "Now, what
projects do I want?" What am I going to do? Raise taxes again? For me, it is not a
good cycle to get into. I would rather us work within our parameters, not change the
tax rates, and try to get our projects through, work with the Administration ahead of
the budget, and maybe try to get the projects we want funded that way. It is pretty
scary if we start increasing tax rates incrementally to get projects that we want,
because it will never end. Then, we have seven (7) Councilmembers, so that could be
seven (7) proposals in one (1) year to increase taxes for everyone to get their projects.
It is something to think about. It was a healthy budget, I would say. We did see
increases to the budget. We are finally receiving a full year of General Excise Tax
(GET), which accounted for the increase in the budget. We do see a residual from the
increase taxes we did last year to TVR and Residential Investor rates, which was
about four million dollars ($4,000,000), so that helped our budget again this year. I
do want to stress how happy I am that we have maintained a balanced budget, we
did not use reserve fund to balance the budget, which I think would be the worst
possible thing we could do. Not be able to balance our budget correctly and just take
from our savings and say, "We will just fill it with our savings." On the other hand,
we did, we met our reserve fund balance, which was brought about by our long-term
financial plan and I think that reserve balance is very important. We saw how
important it was when we had natural disasters. We are not hesitant to say, "Are we
going to give them the money?" It is, "The money is there, we have the reserve, let
us give the money now, so we can get our community back to where it needs to be." I
am very proud we all respected that reserve target and we still continue to respect it
with the budget. As far as lapsing money, I am kind of indifferent on it. You hear
stories about federal government, where people are trying to spend down their money
as much as they can, they are buying new cars. We are not doing that. Obviously,
we are getting a lapse and the departments are not saying I have a million dollars
($1,000,000) or I have five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000), I am going to spend
on everything, which for me it is reassuring because when we have that lapse, that
money will be spent on one-time expenses only and it does come through Council and
the budget. That is a lot of times when we have critical things met at that time, with
that money. I am not too upset with a lapse. Part of that ten million dollars
($10,000,000) was our one point three million dollars ($1,300,000) for self-insurance,
which is going to lapse unless we have to use it. So, it was about eight point eight
million dollars ($8,800,000) of lapse. Historically, we have lapsed around that much,
but if every department spends up to a penny, then I would have some concerns about
how are we getting so close to a budget by spending up to the penny amount of our
budget. I am okay. As far as, our budget goes, I think we all know what our biggest
complaints were as we ran for Council, as we were in the community that roads is the
hugest concern we have. We probably receive E-mails every week on it. I am proud
COUNCIL MEETING 40 MAY 29, 2019
to say the General Excise Tax (GET) is going to provide a means for us to take care
of our roads. It may not happen in a flash, but there is planning that goes into it,
there is money for the roads, and we will eventually see our roads get better.
Unfortunately, it may not be in Councilmember Kagawa term who voted for GET to
get the roads money, but the roads will start looking nice and maybe the
Councilmembers at that time will take credit for all the nice roads when we had to
take the punches to have the GET passed. It will take time, it takes engineering,
coordination with the State to get a lot of our major roads—you hear of Koloa Road,
Maluhia Road, and Olohena Road—those are all projects we need to work with the
State on to do engineering. It takes time, we have the money to work on roads.
Housing is a major issue. In the past, last year, we increased taxes and housing was
a major issue, we had put money towards housing, I think it was around two million
dollars ($2,000,000). Again, with the money that we increased last year, I am happy
to say the Administration continue to leave two million dollars ($2,000,000) in the
housing fund, so they have about four million two hundred thousand dollars
($4,200,000) in their housing development fund. Rather than saying, "One (1) year
we raise taxes, we infuse two million dollars ($2,000,000) in housing, next year, we
will drop it back to what it originally was," no, they left money in there. We are going
to try and address housing as much as we can. We have a lot of affordable projects
coming up, now. We have projects all over the island that we have worked on in the
last ten (10) years. Housing is a major issue on Kaua`i. Parks has always been a
major issue. We have put a lot of resources to parks and we expect to see changes at
our parks. Of course, overtime and spiking are issues we have red-flagged and
continue to talk about, and will continue to talk about it, not only through budget,
but through collective bargaining and future things that come up at Council. As far
as special projects go, I think Kaua`i Humane Society should be happy. In the past,
we have not always funded them properly. Our excuse was, we do not know if they
are recording their expenses correctly, we do not know if the allocation between
County and Kauai Humane Society is correct. That has been corrected, we did an
audit a couple of years ago. We have established what it should be. This year, we
fairly funded it, we found the money to give them what it was. It is a new year, new
Administration, and people can start off on a new foot, without saying we are cutting
their legs, not giving anyone money. They have the money for it, now is the time to
perform. Administrative initiatives, obviously, we saw a lot of Information
Technology (IT) upgrades that will, hopefully, help the County. IT upgrades are not
the most championing of projects. Councilmembers are not going to say, "Yes, I made
us update our IT system." We may say, "I brought a new park online or new
playground facility," but I think our IT is in dire need of upgrades and getting a more
collective system everyone can use. Also, the budget took into account projects that
are coming up, being conservative we budgeted for it knowing it will come up. We
will hear more about it in the Council meetings. One in particular is the Kaua`i Sea
Bird Habitat Conservation Program, which unfortunately, we did not get to have a
conversation here in the open, it will happen, but it was three hundred eighty
thousand dollars ($380,000) in our budget we needed to put in to allow for night
COUNCIL MEETING 41 MAY 29, 2019
football games, to allow to have lights on at our Convention Hall, and at our
neighborhood centers, which I think is reasonable. Unfortunately, it costs us, the
taxpayers, and the County money to do that. We also have a Waimea land acquisition
coming up, which I think everyone should be happy with. Again, I am glad we
conservatively put it in the budget now, rather than fix our budget, then halfway
through the year, come back and say we need to start doing money bills that will come
out of our reserve. I am glad for that. That is my overview of the budget, I think it
is a good budget, all in all, I believe it allows the Mayor and his Administration the
opportunity to not only address the community's concerns, but also pursue their own
initiatives. We gave them the opportunity to do that and I am happy about the budget
and thankful for everyone and their hard work on it. Thank you. Is there anyone
else? I almost used ten (10) minutes. With that, we will take a roll call vote.
The motion to approve Bill No. 2738, Draft 1 on second and final reading, and
that it be transmitted to the Mayor for his approval was then put, and carried
by the following vote:
FOR APPROVAL: Brun, Chock, Evslin, Kagawa,
Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL—6,
AGAINST APPROVAL: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Cowden TOTAL— 1,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL—O.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Six (6) ayes. One (1) excused.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Next item, please.
Bill No. 2739, Draft 1 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL
YEAR JULY 1, 2019 TO JUNE 30, 2020 (Fiscal Year 2019-2020 CIP Budget):
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve Bill No. 2739, Draft 1, on second and final
reading, and that it be transmitted to the Mayor for his approval, seconded by
Councilmember Brun.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there anyone in the audience wishing to
testify on our CIP budget?
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? Roll call vote.
COUNCIL MEETING 42 MAY 29, 2019
The motion to approve Bill No. 2739, Draft 1, on second and final reading, and
that it be transmitted to the Mayor for his approval was then put, and carried
by the following vote:
FOR APPROVAL: Brun, Chock, Evslin, Kagawa,
Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL— 6,
AGAINST APPROVAL: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Cowden TOTAL— 1,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— O.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Six (6) ayes. One (1) excused.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Do you need to read us into Executive
Session?
ES-992 Pursuant to Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) Sections 92-4
and 92-5(a)(4), and Kauai County Charter Section 3.07(E), the Office of the County
Attorney requests an Executive Session with the Council to provide the Council with
a briefing in the matter of County of Kaua`i vs. KAPHA North Shore, LLC, Civil
No. 18-1-0031 (Fifth Circuit Court). 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 Chair Kaneshiro: May I have a motion to go into Executive
Session?
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to convene into Executive Session for ES-992,
seconded by Councilmember Chock.
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.
The motion to convene in Executive Session for ES-992 was then put, and
carried by the following vote:
FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION: Brun, Chock, Evslin, Kagawa,
Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL— 6,
AGAINST EXECUTIVE SESSION: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Cowden TOTAL— 1,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— O.
COUNCIL MEETING 43 MAY 29, 2019
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Motion carried. With that, we do have 1:30
p.m. public hearing. We do need to be back and also have a certificate for the Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) month and pride parade. We will
be back at 1:30 p.m. for public hearing. Thank you.
ADJOURNMENT.
There being no further business, the Council Meeting adjourned at 10:25 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
JAD FOUNTAIN-TANIGAWA
County Clerk
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