HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/17/2020 Council minutes COUNCIL MEETING
JUNE 17, 2020
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, June 17, 2020 at 8.36 a m , after which the
following Members answered the call of the roll.
Honorable Mason K. Chock
Honorable Felicia Cowden
Honorable Luke A Evslin (via remote technology)
Honorable Ross Kagawa
Honorable KipuKai Kuali`i
Honorable Arryl Kaneshiro
Excused Honorable Arthur Brun*
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Please note that we will run today's meetings
pursuant to the Governor's Supplementary Emergency Proclamation dated
March 16, 2020, Sixth Supplementary Emergency Proclamation dated April 25, 2020,
and Seventh Supplementary Emergency Proclamation dated May 5, 2020
APPROVAL OF AGENDA.
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for approval of the agenda, as circulated,
seconded by Councilmember Kagawa
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding this agenda item)
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Is there any discussion on the agenda from
the members9
The motion for approval of the agenda, as circulated, was then put, and carried
by a vote of 6 0.1*
Council Chair Kaneshiro• The motion is carried Next items are the
minutes.
COUNCIL MEETING 2 JUNE 17, 2020
MINUTES of the following meetings of the Council
June 3, 2020 Council Meeting
June 10, 2020 Special Council Meeting
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve the Minutes as circulated, seconded
by Councilmember Chock
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding these agenda items)
The motion to approve the Minutes, as circulated, was then put, and carried
by a vote of 6 0 1*
Council Chair Kaneshiro. The motion is carried Clerk, next item
please.
CONSENT CALENDAR
C 2020-159 Communication (05/26/2020) from the Acting County Engineer,
transmitting a Resolution Authorizing The Acquisition Of An Easement Interest In
Land Required For Public Use, To Wit The Pedestrian And Bicycle Path That
Constitutes Part Of The County's Public Park System, Situated At Waipouli, District of
Kawaihau, County of Kaua`i, Hawai`i, And Determining And Declaring The Necessity
Of The Acquisition Thereof By Eminent Domain
C 2020-160 Communication (06/05/2020) from the Hawai`i State Association
of Counties (HSAC) President, transmitting for Council approval, HSAC's slate of
officers for the HSAC Executive Committee and Board of Director nominations for
the National Association of Counties (NACo) and the Western Interstate
Region (WIR) for the 2020-2021 term and HSAC's Fiscal Year 2021 Proposed
Operating Budget, pursuant to Section 5, Section 5A, Section 5C, and Section 21,
respectively, of the Bylaws of the Hawai`i State Association of Counties, Inc
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to receive C 2020-159 and C 2020-160 for the
record, seconded by Councilmember Chock
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Is there any discussion from the members on
the Consent Calendar9
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding these agenda items)
The motion to receive C 2020-159 and C 2020-160 for the record was then put,
and carried by a vote of 6.0.1*
Council Chair Kaneshiro. The motion is carried. Next item, please.
COUNCIL MEETING 3 JUNE 17, 2020
COMMUNICATIONS_
C 2020-161 Communication (05/07/2020) from the Director of Finance,
requesting Council approval to dispose of the following government records, pursuant
to Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) Section 46-43 and Resolution No. 2008-39 (2008), as
amended, which have been kept for over seven (7) years and are no longer of use or
value.
• Pre-2013 files to include
o Cash Receipts,
o Treasury Trust Fund documents,
o Totals by Pay Class reports,
o Bank Statements,
o Outside Receipts; and
o Daily SII Reports
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve C 2020-161, seconded by
Councilmember Chock
Council Chair Kaneshiro. No one signed up to testify Is there any
discussion or questions from the members on this item?
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding this agenda item.)
The motion to approve C 2020-161 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6.0.1*
Council Chair Kaneshiro The motion is carried. Next item.
C 2020-162 Communication (05/14/2020) from the Executive on Aging,
requesting Council approval to receive and expend Federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
Economic Security (CARES) Act funds in the amount of$389,892 00, and to indemmfy
the State Executive Office on Aging, to be used by the County of Kaua`i, Agency on
Elderly Affairs to provide Title III Supportive Services, Title C2 Home-Delivered Meals,
and Title III National Family Caregiver Support, for the period June 1, 2020 through
May 31, 2022.
Councilmember Chock moved to approve C 2020-162, seconded by
Councilmember Kuali`i
Council Chair Kaneshiro We did not receive any testimony and have no
one signed up to speak on this item. Is there any discussion or questions from the
members on this item?
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding this agenda item.)
COUNCIL MEETING 4 JUNE 17, 2020
The motion to approve C 2020-162 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6 0 1*
Council Chair Kaneshiro: The motion is carried. Next item.
C 2020-163 Communication (05/26/2020) from Ka`aina S Hull, Clerk of the
Planning Commission, transmitting the Planning Commission's recommendation to
amend Chapter 10, Kaua`i County Code 1987, as amended, relating to the Enforcement,
Legal Procedures, and Penalties that Apply to Violations, and Clarifying the Title for
Chapter 10
Councilmember Chock moved to receive C 2020-163 for the record, seconded by
Councilmember Kuah`i
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Again, we received no written testimony on
this item and have no one signed up to testify Is there any discussion from the members
on this item
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding this agenda item)
The motion to receive C 2020-163 for the record was then put, and carried by
a vote of 6.0.1*
Council Chair Kaneshiro• The motion is carried Next item
C 2020-164 Communication (05/28/2020) from the Acting County Engineer,
requesting Council approval to apply for, receive, and expend State grant funds, in the
amount of $48,000.00, to be used by the Department of Public Works, Solid Waste
Division, to support Electronic Waste (eWaste) Recycling for Fiscal Year 2021.
Councilmember Kuah`i moved to approve C 2020-164, seconded by
Councilmember Chock.
Council Chair Kaneshiro Again,we received no written testimony and no
one registered to speak. Is there any discussion from the members on this item?
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding this agenda item)
The motion to approve C 2020-164 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6 0 1*
Council Chair Kaneshiro. The motion is carried. Next item.
C 2020-165 Communication (06/03/2020) from the Chief of Police, requesting
Council approval, to accept a donation from the Wilcox Medical Center of two
COUNCIL MEETING 5 JUNE 17, 2020
hundred (200) face shields, valued at $2,000 00, to be used by officers with the Kaua`i
Police Department
Councilmember Cowden moved to approve C 2020-165 with a thank-you letter
to follow, seconded by Councilmember Kuah`i
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Again, we have received no written testimony
and no one registered to speak on this item. Is there any discussion from the members?
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding this agenda item.)
The motion to approve C 2020-165 with a thank-you letter to follow was then
put, and carried by a vote of 6 0 1*
Council Chair Kaneshiro The motion is carried. Next item.
C 2020-166 Communication (06/03/2020) from the Housing Director,
requesting Council approval to receive and expend $1,425,000.00 in National Housing
Trust Fund(HTF)Program Year(PY)2018 funds and to indemnify the Hawai`i Housing
Finance and Development Corporation, for the Pua Loke Affordable Housing Project
Councilmember Kuah`i moved to approve C 2020-166, seconded by
Councilmember Cowden
Council Chair Kaneshiro. We have no written testimony and no one
registered to speak on this item Do we have any questions or discussion from the
members?
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding this agenda item)
Councilmember Kagawa. My question is, I sure see a lot of homeless—it
looks like transplants—I am hoping we are going to house the local homeless and local
affordable residents,because what will happen is if we continue to house these homeless
transplants from the mainland, we are going to get a lot of transplants coming here
That was a concern from Mayor Harry Kim way back when they were talking about
these homeless shelters—an expansion of it—then he received push-back, because that
was the fear It concerns me I see a lot of these folks come off of the plane with
backpacks and I am wondering, are we going to house these folks or are we going to
house our local people? That question is for you, Adam
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
ADAM P ROVERSI, Housing Director Aloha, everyone, Adam Rovers',
Housing Director for the County of Kaua`i The HTF funds that we received...quick
background, an annual allocation of federal...can you hear me okay?
COUNCIL MEETING 6 JUNE 17, 2020
Councilmember Kagawa Yes
Councilmember Cowden. Yes.
Mr. Roversi. Annual allocation of federal housing funds that
were given to the City and County of Honolulu, that they were unable to utilize, so there
was a very quick turnaround application process for any other counties to apply for
these funds—we applied for them and were issued with the award. Our intention is to
put these funds into the Pua Loke Affordable Rental Project that is already underway.
That was one of the requirements of receiving these funds, is we had to have a
shovel-ready project ready that could utilize them, so that is what these funds are
intended for, the Pua Loke Affordable Rental Project, over by the Department of Water,
which will be fifty-three (53) units of housing with preference to Kaua`i residents We
are required by the federal government to follow their guidelines with who we are
allowed to put in the housing, what income-levels people who are being placed in that
housing have to be in, and so forth, so the federal government controls what we can do
with that money To get to your point, it does preference Kaua`i residents and placing
people in that housing project once it is complete
Councilmember Kagawa: I see a lot of definitions with COVID-19
Intended new resident—they can be considered an intended new resident when they
come off the plane with a backpack I hope you know what I am talking about I am
talking about long-term residents having preference in these places. Does the federal
government preclude us from doing that?
Mr. Roversi. My understanding is we can impose a
residency requirement, but someone can become a legal resident of Kaua`i, as far as the
federal government is concerned, within a matter of a couple of days It would be illegal
for us to impose a durational residency requirement. Say, hypothetically, "You have to
be a resident for five (5) years to qualify to apply for one (1) of these rental units." My
understanding is that is illegal and the federal government would not permit us to do
that, but we can require that someone be a Kaua`i resident
Councilmember Kagawa- Thank you I am not satisfied.
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Cowden, then Councilmember
Kuali`i.
Councilmember Cowden- Follow-up on what Vice Chair Kagawa just
said I know I have sent a couple of E-mails asking for perhaps a charrette or a visit I
am happy to help with that to the housing encampments. Director Roversi, you know
that I am involved with the camping situations at the parks, so I think if we went and
help sign people up, because when I go tent-to-tent down there most of them are
unaware of the Pua Loke Affordable Housing Project or the project adjacent to it that
has the higher risk therapeutic housing I think there are some people that would be
appropriate for that Are we able to go down there and help sign up these people? So
as we open up our parks, that some of these people are in line for housing Is that
something we can do? Can we go down there and help people sign up9
COUNCIL MEETING 7 JUNE 17, 2020
Mr Rovers]. There are two (2) separate housing projects in
that area that we are working to complete The Kealaula at Pua Loke Street will be
geared more towards people who are currently homeless—the sorts of people who are
now living in our County parks—that facihty is not yet ready to accept applicants and
move-ins, but we are hoping that it will be ready for move-ins in August Women In
Need (WIN) is a service provider that is running and managing that facility and they
are charged with the outreach work to go out into the community to engage with the
other various nonprofit groups on Kaua`i, that make up the Kaua`i continuum of care to
handle the application process and do outreach to homeless community to fill those
units with people who qualify. So there could be opportunities to join with them and
assist them in that process and become a part of that, probably in the not too distant
future, as they have a firm move-in date set and begin to ramp-up for that project That
will have twenty-two (22) units, I think a maximum occupancy of about sixty (60)
individuals The affordable rental project that I mentioned, which this HTF funding is
about, that is just now breaking ground, so that facility will not be ready for move-in
and completion for about another year, so we are a little premature to think about
outreach to get people into those units at this point
Councilmember Cowden. I have explained that to them, but among the
people living in the parks there are many employed people, many with a trunk load full
of construction tools that go off to work every day I understand they will not necessarily
be able to go right into a house, but whether it is those or any of our other housing
projects, we have a number of different possibilities and options. Just addressing
Councilmember Kagawa's concern, I would say, last I looked seventy-five percent (75%)
of what is at Salt Pond are probably Polynesian ancestry—either Marshallese or
Hawaiian—there is a long-standing population at Lydgate. If we went and helped them
at least get on a list for the future, regardless of what happens in between, there are
many that are working and they are families So that is one way that we are able to
address the issue that he is concerned about is that if we build these places there are
people on the list possibly for a year or two (2) that could go into that I want to
re-emphasize the importance of looking at the houseless encampments and more at
Amin and Lydgate, it is people continuing to be removed from their housing because
they cannot afford it that are ending up in those places I think that we should get the
list filled with people, so when it is a couple years out, they have moved up the list
Please think about that I have asked and I have not received a response, but that has
been a request for about two (2) months from me
Mr. Roversi. Okay, I am unfamiliar with any written
request to my office, but I am happy to sit down and discuss anything that you would
like if I get one
Councilmember Cowden Okay, I will send it again
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Kuali`i
Councilmember Kualfr Good morning, Adam. Thank you for being
here Just some basic questions, this development has how many units9 I think it is
fifty-four (54) When is it expected to be completed? When can folks move in? And
when is your application process going to be open?
COUNCIL MEETING 8 JUNE 17, 2020
Mr Roversi We are hoping that groundbreaking will take
place this month to begin work The estimated construction timeline is approximately
a year, so we are hoping to have it available for move-in in the summer of 2021 There
are fifty-four (54) units total, one (1) of them is a manager's unit, so there will be
fifty-three (53) units of housing; one (1), two (2), and three (3) bedroom apartments It
is designed to serve primarily people who make sixty percent (60%) of the Area Median
Income (AMI) and below, although there are a few units that allow up to eighty
percent (80%) of the AMI and below I would envision that the formal application
process would begin a month or two (2) prior to the expected completion date—so
ballpark, this is no promise—I would envision application processes would be starting
to ramp up perhaps May/June of next year What other items did you ask in there?
Councilmember Kuali`i That was the first part, now I have a couple
more questions.
Mr Roversi Okay.
Councilmember Kuah`i. Being that we have this time, I know at the
Housing Agency you have programs where you work with our families or people to get
them ready for homeownership and there are waitlists for things like Section 8, the
rental program. Can you also work with our families and individuals to get them ready
for rental for this project, being that it is so far up9 Even though you cannot—according
to the federal guidelines with the funding—put a timeline on how long they have to live
here, can you do a requirement of them having gone through your program? Such as
the homeownership program, but one for rentals, then be qualified to become a renter
for that project9 In that sense, that would at least give a period of time and perhaps a
way of working with our local families
Mr Rovers' That is something I could inquire with the
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), whether we can impose some
sort of educational requirement for move-in to the rental units. Anecdotally, the Home
Buyer Education Program that we have is a requirement of purchasing a home through
the County Home Buyer Program. It is designed to help people get over the difficulties
of qualifying for financing and understanding the realities of homeownership and
getting them situated so that we do not place them in a home that they then quickly
cannot afford and end up being evicted, because they cannot cover their mortgage. Just
as a general comment, we do not usually have any difficulty filling rental units and
there is a less obvious need for financial education for renters than for people getting
into a thirty (30) year home purchase situation. But I take your point of the idea and I
would be happy to inquire with HUD, who controls how we use all this funding, to see
if that would be an allowable preference for future rental projects
Councilmember Kuali`i The only thing I would add is that it may not
even be a program that we have to administer, because I know there are several
nonprofits that do basic financial empowerment type training, which would get folks
ready to be a responsible renter—to have the financial management skills to make sure
rent is paid and things like that. I know for sure the Young Women Christian
Association (YWCA), I would imagine other nonprofits, as well, maybe even the State
Just a matter of whether it could be a mechanism we could use, whether we actually
COUNCIL MEETING 9 JUNE 17, 2020
put the staffing behind providing the additional training,but at least make it some kind
of requirement Thank you
Mr Roversi You are welcome
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Are there any further questions?
Councilmember Evshn
Councilmember Evslin. Adam, thank you for coming. I want to briefly
express my appreciation It seems like there is a lot of action happening right now, from
your shop between Pua Loke, the WIN project, and the tiny home villages, and I know
a lot of this is the culmination of years of work, but I appreciate you and your team's
move here. Just one brief question, could you speak a little bit to the overall funding
for this, how are you leveraging County funds? I know you may not have exact figures
here, but how much County money is going into the project and how is that being
leveraged to get access to these types of Federal funds here?
Mr. Roversi Sure, so do not hold me to these exact numbers,
because they are all of the top of my head, but they are within the realm of
reasonableness. The Pua Loke Rental Project, the Affordable Rental Project of
fifty-three (53) units that the HTF funds that this current discussion are going towards
is ballpark a twenty-eight million dollar ($28,000,000) construction project What has
made that possible, initially, was approximately two hundred thousand
dollars ($200,000) in County funding that paid for all the imtial pre-developmental
work—the environmental review, and the archeological review that were required, the
approvals by the State Historic Preservation Department, and so forth We imtially
used our development funds to identify and do all the pre-development work required
to start the process of getting a place like this put together. The next step is to partner
with a nonprofit or for-profit private developer with our land, so we utilized County
funds of about two hundred thousand dollars($200,000)to do the pre-development work
to essentially qualify this property for a project to attract developers Then to create a
realistic financing package, so that a developer can pay to build one of these projects
that by definition is going to have a limited rental income, because of the income group
that it is serving, we help to create the financing package In this particular case we
imtially put approximately three million dollars ($3,000,000) of the HOME Investment
Partnerships Program (HOME) and HTF funds—those are HUD grant funds. We put
approximately three million dollars ($3,000,000) of those funds into the project and we
put another five hundred thousand dollars($500,000)in County development funds into
the project, so that is a total of seven hundred thousand dollars ($700,000) in direct
County funding, and three million dollars ($3,000,000) in Federal grant funds Then
the private developer themselves utilizes the demonstration of County funding to apply
for and qualify for Federal tax credits to provide additional funding to the project of—I
do not have this exact number—I believe it was in total around eight million
dollars ($8,000,000). Then with the combination of the Federal grant programs, the
County development funds, and the tax credit program funds, they can then get private
financing to cover the rest of the project through the construction period, that then
allows them to have sufficient equity in the project that once it is completed, they can
rollover into permanent financing with a private lender and/or their tax credit lenders
that can be supported by the amount of rent that they will reahstically expect to bring
COUNCIL MEETING 10 JUNE 17, 2020
in from that project So without the County's subsidy of that seven hundred thousand
dollars ($700,000), that twenty-eight million dollar($28,000,000)project would not have
happened, so that is the way we leverage. Seven hundred thousand dollars ($700,000)
is not a tiny amount of money, but compared to a twenty-eight million
dollar ($28,000,000) project, that is the way we leverage our County funding to get a
much larger project off the ground and completed
Councilmember Evslin. Thanks, that is incredible.
Mr Roversr The specific item that we are dealing with
today is some additional HTF funding that, as a surprise to us, became available and in
part because some of the bids for this specific project came in higher than originally
expected and budgeted for It was helpful to be able to add this additional Federal
funding into this particular project to be sure that it can get to completion without
running into any financial roadblocks
Councilmember Evslin Thank you So seven hundred thousand
dollars ($700,000) in County money for a twenty-eight million dollar ($28,000,000)
housing project is a good way to leverage our funds One quick follow-up, in broad terms
again, so I think you have three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) in the Housing
Development Fund for this coming year, do you have a broad estimate of how that is
leveraged or what that turns into in terms of federal money?
Mr Roversr We hope to be able to complete the
pre-development work to an exact dollar amount We hope to be able to utilize the
existing development funding to kick-off another affordable rental project similar to the
Pua Loke project, as well as all the pre-development work necessary to get the
single-family residential portion of the Lima Ola Housing Subdivision off the ground
and moving forward I would envision that if we used Pua Loke as a model, we would
be looking at another twenty-six million dollar ($26,000,000) to thirty million
dollar ($30,000,000) multi-family rental project The Lima Ola Project is tentatively
thirty-three (33) single-family homes If we say each one is about a four hundred
thousand dollar ($400,000) house, that is another twenty-eight million
dollars ($28,000,000)to thirty million dollars($30,000,000)in construction. All of which
clearly benefits the future, either homeowners or renters, but usually all of that
construction money is also going into the Kaua`i economy, as well—paying carpenters,
electricians, plumbers, landscapers, et cetera—so it is not just generating housing, it is
generating significant economic activity for our island, as well
Councilmember Evslin Great Sorry for going down that tangent, but
I appreciate your answers and the work you folks do.
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Kuah`i
Councilmember Kuah`r Adam, I have one more question about the Pua
Loke rental You talked about having one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, how
many of each? How was that decided? Does the federal funding play any role in how
you can decide how many of which type to do?
COUNCIL MEETING 11 JUNE 17, 2020
Mr Rovers'. That is not determined by the federal
government Typically, that is developed by the developing partner that we came up
with They usually do a market study based on their experience, projected need, and
they have projections of the rent that can be received from each of those units They
have a picture in their mind about the income that the project needs to generate in order
to pencil out financially to be able to be built. That is a umt mix that arises mostly from
their experience and their own understanding of what the market needs and where the
demand lies. Anecdotally, oftentimes there is obviously...
Council Chair Kanesh'ro. Adam, hold on Anyone that is on, if you can
double-check to mute your microphones (mics).
Councilmember Cowden Mics.
Councilmember Kual'`'. The testifiers
Council Chair Kanesh'ro• Okay, Adam
Mr. Rovers'. Anecdotally, at the Koa`e Housing Project,
which is currently at completion and moving in, I think they have twelve (12) of the
buildings currently available for applicants and renters, right now in Koloa They had
a similar mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom, and as a proportion they had relatively
few one-bedroom units must as a note, those rented quickly. They had more difficulty
finding people who wanted the larger units, so we are envisioning possibly for future
projects trying to tilt the balance more in favor of studios and one-bedroom units,
smaller units, just because at least in recent past there seems to be an increase in
demand for those, whereas I think before it was the larger units are generally more
desirable. I would have to pull up paperwork to be able to get you the exact umt mix
for the Pua Loke project.
Councilmember Kuahf". Thank you I know it is about the demand in
the market, but I think that may be a place where we can play a role too, in the demand
by people who are moving here, like Vice Chair Kagawa, to take advantage of programs
that we intend for our local families It would be interesting to see if those folks coming
are not the ones most interested in the one-bedroom apartments—that is why the
demand is so high. Maybe if the three-bedrooms are hard to rent, instead of making
more one-bedrooms, we should take it down to two-bedrooms Can the Housing Agency
work with the developer on what they are studying and try to influence that to reach
more local families?
Mr Rovers'. Yes, we certainly can impose requirements on
the developer at the early stages and we can tell them what type of project we are
looking to develop Then it is up to them to bid on doing the job or not, whether they
think it is appropriate
Councilmember Kual'`' Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro Adam, thank you for that information It is
interesting about the demand for the one-bedroom versus the two- or three-bedrooms
COUNCIL MEETING 12 JUNE 17, 2020
When we went out to those projects and saw what they were trying to do, I was hopeful
that they would be taking in families, so I was thinking the two- and three-bedroom
units would be the ones to have gone first, because those were the units that would be
bringing in families—parents, kids—trying to break the cycle of homelessness It is
interesting that you say the demand is mostly for one-bedroom units. I would ask as
we do outreach, try to reach out to see what families we can bring in Again, I am still
hopeful and excited about the project, because the whole intent of it was to break the
cycle of homelessness Get a roof over these families heads, allow people to have a stable
life, and house—not worry about where they are going to live, where their next meal is
Then in turn the kids can start to concentrate more on school or that home environment,
rather than worry where they are going to sleep I still think it is a great project and I
look forward to seeing some of those types of success stones as we move forward
Councilmember Cowden
Councilmember Cowden First, I want to thank you for all the work you
are doing and being on it for being able to get this one million four hundred twenty-five
thousand dollars ($1,425,000)—very good and that helps us to be able to do other things.
I am just going to make a suggestion, when we are looking at the size of the units, if
they play off what happens a lot in the condo set where there is essentially what can be
a lock off that takes a two-bedroom unit and make it be a three-bedroom good sized unit,
or it could be more of a studio and a two-bedroom That is something to consider in the
future, because there is a lot of apartment unit designs like that, that we see
particularly directed at the visitor industry and we could probably shape it that way
and have the flexibility must to put that in your mind Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro Are there any other questions from the
members? Councilmember Kuali`i
Councilmember Kuali`i Adam, you had said that this rental project is
dedicated to sixty percent (60%)AMI and below and a few at eighty percent (80%)AMI
and below, could it be that the low demand for the two- and three-bedrooms are also
because even at the lowered rent, people in that situation who have that need cannot
afford it9 Are the rents set at thirty percent (30%) or forty percent (40%) of their
monthly income?
Mr Roversi I do not have the specific rents in front of me
My observation was that the one-bedroom units were in high demand. I do not think
they are having difficulty filling the two- and three-bedroom units, it just was a little
slower, so it is not as though we have empty units sitting there with no people willing
to rent The rents are established based on HUD defined rents I can try to pull up the
website. All the rents are on the Koa`e Makana website, I want to say the
three-bedroom units are about one thousand two hundred dollars ($1,200)—that is
defined and required by HUD On top of that, we have many units out there that are
part of our project based voucher program, so we are providing rental assistance to
people who live in those specific units, which is subsidizing the even already low one
thousand two hundred dollar ($1,200) month rent. There are numerous subsidized
units in that facility We are also working very hard to specifically place our Housing
Choice Voucher (HCV) rental assistance voucher holders in that project, which also
helps filling any gaps in their ability to pay the rent.
COUNCIL MEETING 13 JUNE 17, 2020
Councilmember Kuah`i: The bottom-line is,you are saying, even though
the two- and three-bedrooms took longer to rent out, the demand is indeed still there,
so we are helping our local families If we had more two- and three-bedrooms we could
probably help more local families.
Mr. Rovers': Yes, Koa`e Makana project is one hundred and
thirty-three (133) units I think if we could have built two hundred and fifty (250), I do
not think we would have a problem filling them.
Councilmember Kuan`i Okay, so then my original suggestion based on
what Vice Chair Kagawa was saying is we should try to push for more local families by
perhaps pushing for more two- and three-bedrooms, and less one-bedroom units Thank
you.
Councilmember Chock. Thank you, Chair. This is a follow-up to Chair
Kaneshiro's question or comments about getting families into the units I want to say
about two (2) years ago your predecessor surveyed and had a sort of cross agency group
working on putting some of the houseless famines into homes At the time, I think they
had about thirty (30), they had about half of the fifteen (15) famines into homes and we
had a small list I am curious, just to get a sense of what it is we are dealing with,
because this was pre-COVID-19 of course, and how we can draw that connection to what
the need truly is Are you familiar with the work that happened previously and how we
might be able to continue that?
Mr Rovers' I am not familiar specifically with what you are
talking about, but I can tell you about what we are currently doing. When it comes
specifically to the homeless community, we work with the Kauai Community Alliance,
which is a network of Kaua`i nonprofits and they utilize a computer-based system The
acronym is Coordinated Entry System (CES) and it creates a running list of homeless
individuals with all their contact information It works in advance to help them gather
sorts of financial documents and identification documents that they need to qualify to
be able to move into one of these projects That collection of nonprofit organizations
together with the County Housing Agency works to maintain a running list in this CES
program of individuals who are currently homeless to essentially a move-in ready list
of individuals to draw from when we have projects available.
Councilmember Chock That is good.
Mr Roversi• I am not sure what was compiled previously,
but I know that CES list is what we currently utilize and we need to ramp it up It
needs to be better utilized to help incorporate more of the folks who are now
congregating at all of our county beach parks into the list I know that during the
COVID-19 emergency, a lot of the nonprofit groups that we rely on that partner with us
to do this work, they themselves sent all their employees to stay at home and ceased a
lot of their outreach work that assists in creating this list and doing the work that it
takes to get people on them Now that some of the rules have been relaxed, I know that
they are all, in the last couple of weeks, ramping up once again their outreach work to
the community and attempting to get back on this sort of work you are talking about
COUNCIL MEETING 14 JUNE 17, 2020
Councilmember Chock- Thank you. If there is an updated or current
listing would we be able to get a copy of that data?
Mr Rovers'. I can get you some numbers of people on the
list The last time I checked the list had fifty-five (55) people on it. Because it contains
all of their personal information, I do not think the specifics can be shared.
Councilmember Chock: Understood.
Mr Rovers' But those are the numbers. I can relate just
number-wise to give you a picture Before COVID-19, at the recent statewide homeless
point in time count—they did a survey of homeless individuals on Kaua`'—'t is all
publicly available Do not hold me to this, I could be ten (10) off, it was about three
hundred seventy-nine (379) homeless individuals counted on the island of Kaua`' They
do not presume they have counted every single one, but that is their estimate and they
try to do the same technique every year, so they can judge changes over time Before
COVID-19, just under three hundred seventy (370) or three hundred eighty (380)
homeless individuals on Kaua`' As I understand from the Department of Parks &
Recreation who has been doing their own outreach work through their rangers to the
people who have concentrated in county beach parks—they have been seeing counts of
their own in the two hundred and forty (240) area. If we only have fifty-five (55)people
on the CES list, there is obviously a lot of people who we need to interact with to help
them get into the system to the extent that they can be qualified for housing It is a
complicated picture There is no one-type of homeless individual. There are people
suffering from substance abuse problems, people who are simply in an economic bad
place, they are people suffering from mental health issues, so simply being on the list is
not necessarily the solution for everyone. It takes a multi-faceted approach to be able
to serve a wider array of people who find themselves without a house. I did not mean
to go off topic
Councilmember Chock. Yes, I will not veer us too much more I think
the point was if we can find out how many families are on that list, but we can continue
this conversation, thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Kagawa
Councilmember Kagawa Adam, I have a better question for you. Are you
familiar with the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which provides homeless
assistance for students that attend public schools—such as buying them gear, paying
their fees—it is a Federal act and it identifies which students are under homeless
situations?
Mr Roversi I am not familiar with that, no
Councilmember Kagawa. Would it be possible for your staff to check with
the schools, because I believe those should be priority I believe every child that is in a
homeless situation should be first in priority to get into housing They should not be
attending public school in a homeless situation. I do not know if we have the
collaboration with the schools to identify those, but it is readily available I have a list
COUNCIL MEETING 15 JUNE 17, 2020
at Waimea High School that I can provide to you, but every school has one and I am
wondering if that can be done At least, since this is a Lihu`e project that those in this
district at least be contacted to see if they may want to get into that housing, because
like I said,it is pitiful and heartbreaking when you see students have to deal with trying
to get an education while under a homeless situation They could be living in that big
Ahukiru camp. It is troubling that we cannot get our things together with the State and
Federal government and put those on the list first, somehow.
Mr Rovers]. I would be more than happy to reach out to the
Department of Education (DOE) to see if we can put our heads together and cooperate
with the information that they have
Councilmember Kagawa. Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro Is there anyone else? If not, thank you, Adam
There being no objections, 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 Thank you. This whole situation; I have seen
numerous situations that concern me. At one time, Mayor Harry Kim came in and
wanted to do a homeless project that would be specifically targeted for homeless on the
Hawaii Island Then the brakes were put on because of the situation that I brought
up. They feared that if they did provide the facilities—again, like Adam said there are
Federal guidelines—it is going to be very difficult to control taking care of your local
homeless population Then we saw it again during COVID-19 when Honolulu City and
County cooperated with the State and set up that homeless shelter by Keehi Lagoon to
keep social distancing and they had the restroom and shower facilities, and food
available there Then Mayor Kirk Caldwell started slamming Governor Ige, because he
said we are providing the facilities, security with the police, and we are looking at the
encampment and half of the individuals just flew in or were homeless transplants.
When you ask what is local? If you came here homeless for five (5) years and you have
been homeless all this time living at the parks, does that make you local? I do not think
so. I do not think that fits the bill I had this conversation with Gary Hooser and he
asked me, "What is local7" It is a broad definition, but I think it is having to live in a
community and serving the community in one way or another, not just taking from the
community When you come over homeless, what benefit do you provide to the island?
When you fly over, like right now, with a one hundred dollar ($100) fare and you are
stuck here, are we supposed to provide the housing for you? Are we supposed to let you
stay at the beach so our locals cannot go to the beach? I think this is a burden, nothing
good is coming out of it Please correct me if I am wrong If we do show aloha to these
individuals, we are going to have thousands more coming. I already have a lot of
complaints from locals saying, "They cannot enjoy Salt Pond" Even now during
COVID-19, because every pavilion is taken by the homeless. It is sad To me, Salt Pond
is a special place, it is where I grew up We go there every weekend, but now the
community that lives there are complaining to me and asking me, "When are we getting
COUNCIL MEETING 16 JUNE 17, 2020
Salt Pond back9" Like Councilmember Cowden said, a lot of them are locals. Well, we
need to get the locals in housing and then we can have our beach parks back for the
community to enjoy I want to one hundred percent (100%) support these programs,
but I think we need to take care of our local people. They do have amounts set aside for
the homeless for housing. I do not know if it is one thousand two hundred
dollars ($1,200) a month, but in many areas that is not enough to pay rent for a family
Even in Hanapepe, I think two- or three-bedrooms are going for almost two thousand
dollars ($2,000) or one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500), at least It is troubling,
it does not add up, and it is incumbent on us to try to make a difference, because you
are seeing the homeless population grow It will continue to grow with COVID-19 and
the only way it will help is, I believe we have to target our local famihes, because they
are the ones with children, like Councilmember Kualfi talked about They are the ones
that their kids need to go to school and struggle to learn with other kids that have
houses. It is tough No child should be born into an unfair situation like that and have
to go through it I really hope we can target our housing, especially the affordable rental
programs, for local families, especially those that their children are attending public
schools Thank you, Chair
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Kuah`i
Councilmember Kuah`i I wanted to say, mahalo nut boa Thank you,
Adam, everyone in the Administration, and the Housing Agency who are working on
projects like this. I think both of these projects in Pua Loke is very exciting and I am
happy to see how fast it is moving. It is great when we have something like this in
place, that we show we are willing to invest into, that other opportunities can come up.
So this particular one million four hundred twenty-five thousand dollar ($1,425,000),
the ability for the State to repurpose this money and us to be able to use it for this
project This is only possible because we already had it in place and we were
shovel-ready The only other thing I would say is, because of COVID-19 and how we
have so much work to do with recovery and how the need is even greater, as far as
affordable housing goes in helping our homeless—even more people could be in that
situation—I really want to see us take this example of success and triple or quadruple
our efforts and use the three million dollars ($3,000,000) or whatever we have in our
housing development fund to leverage and maximize, because you showed us some of
the math The twenty-eight million dollar ($28,000,000) project, we have put forward
seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($750,000), as well as the three million
dollars ($3,000,000) in HOME funds, so let us make sure we are putting our part
forward to attract all of these projects and spend down our housing development
funds—that is what it is there for—and to do it at a more rapid pace now, because
of the need and making sure we are doing as much as we can and then more Thank
you, so much
Council Chair Kaneshiro Is there anyone else9
The motion to approve C 2020-166 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6.0.1*
Council Chair Kaneshiro. The motion is carried We do have our two (2)
testifiers for our Committee Meeting agenda item, so I am going to bounce back I
will recess our Council Meeting and go back to the Committee Meeting.
COUNCIL MEETING 17 JUNE 17, 2020
There being no objections, the Council recessed at 9.30 a m
The meeting was called back to order at 9.45 a.m., and proceeded as follows.
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as not present)
C 2020-167 Communication (06/03/2020) from the Planning Director,
requesting Council approval to receive and expend State funds in the amount
of$45,000 00, from the State of Hawai`i Department of Health, Chrome Disease
Prevention and Health Promotion Division, to fund a "Quick Build" Demonstration
Project that promotes walking, bicycling, and transit through safe, connected routes,
and healthy community design, for the project period of July 1, 2020 through
June 30, 2021
Councilmember Kuah`i moved to approve C 2020-167, seconded by
Councilmember Chock
Council Chair Kaneshiro. We received no written testimony and no one
registered to speak on this item Is there any discussion from the members on this item?
Councilmember Evshn.
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to testify
regarding this agenda item)
Councilmember Evshn- If Ka`aina is here it would be good to hear a
little bit of a rundown on it I did not request it beforehand, so it is understandable if
he is not here.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended
KA`AINA S. HULL, Planning Director. Aloha. Sorry, I just stepped away
from my computer Is this for the Department of Health forty-five thousand
dollar ($45,000) funds
Council Chair Kaneshiro- Correct, the "Quick Build"
Mr Hull- Okay The "Quick Build" funds were
established by the Department of Health to provide the County with a relatively small
amount of money to look at various multimodal improvements that can be done on
somewhat of a temporary basis with paint or flower plant improvements to demonstrate
to a commumty how a piece of infrastructure could impact their communities
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Mr. Hull, you may need to sit further back
Mr Hull. Is this better?
Council Chair Kaneshiro Yes
COUNCIL MEETING 18 JUNE 17, 2020
Councilmember Cowden. Yes
Mr Hull Again, it allows for the County to use things
like paint and plants to demonstrate to communities how multimodal strategies can be
used. Sometimes they can be used with paint as opposed to concrete and asphalt, but
just with paint, how a roundabout could work for our project or how walkways can work
if they are widened The Department of Health approached us about a month ago and
said we got this pot of money that you could use We were not competing for it They
just came to us and said they have this pot of money We have the intent to look at
going to the...
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Sorry, Mr Hull you are still coming in a little
patchy. Maybe try sitting further back, that usually helps I do not know, I am not a
technological person
Mr Hull Is that better?
Councilmember Cowden. Yes
Council Chair Kaneshiro Yes.
Mr Hull. Like I said we did not need to compete for this
It was the Department of Health calling us and asking if we would like this money that
needs to be expended within the timeframe allotted Here we are before you We have
some idea with the West Kaua`i Community Plan outreach and working with them to
look at various technical improvements and safety measures for Hanapepe, but if we
are approved to accept the moneys we will keep going back to quick outreach work with
companies to see what type of small projects they like
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Evshn, I cannot see if you have
more questions, but you have the floor if you want to ask Mr Hull anything more
Councilmember Evshn No questions Thank you, Mr Hull I love the
idea I appreciate you moving forward on that and you can do some exciting projects on
that
Council Chair Kaneshiro Mr. Hull, to clarify the intent for this money
you mentioned the West Kaua`i Community Plan, so you were intending on using the
money on the west side?
Mr. Hull. Correct The West Kaua`i Community Plan
has not been adopted yet There are a lot of great ideas popping up in the process, so if
you folks approve it the Department of Health will look at building a master plan with
outreach overall west Kaua`i to look at potential projects the community might want
Council Chair Kaneshiro Okay Are there any other questions from the
members? Councilmember Kualn`i.
COUNCIL MEETING 19 JUNE 17, 2020
Councilmember Kuah`i: Mr Hull, an example of this is what is
happening right now in front of the old court building, because I have noticed there is a
concrete sidewalk along the Elections building and parking lot area, then it just stops,
but they are painting what looks like a sidewalk on the road there, so there is a place
for people to continue walking. They are also painting an area that is hke a divider
where the traffic goes, where there is an open space and a painted sidewalk. That is all
part of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant,
right?
Mr Hull- Correct We did receive the moneys for "Quick
Build" for Lihu`e as well, that is why you see that But Councilmember Kuah`i, we
cannot use this money for hardscape improvements and we cannot use it to build
sidewalks or those types of improvements
Councilmember Kuali`i• Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro. You are still coming in a little patchy, but I
think we could understand what you said Councilmember Cowden
Councilmember Cowden- I looked up on the Internet what those big
green squares mean, that are on Rice Street—does that mean it is a shareable like the
bike and the car can go together—the big green square that is painted on the road—is
that an example of the same thing or no, because it is not part of a popup7 Did you
notice the green squares on the road?
Mr. Hull The squares on Rice Street are part of the
TIGER grant that is to show...
Councilmember Cowden Back up.
Mr Hull I do not think
Council Chair Kaneshiro You are still coming in patchy, Mr Hull I am
sorry.
Councilmember Cowden- You need to back up
Council Chair Kaneshiro- Yes Try again, one more time I am sorry, the
green patches on Rice Street
Mr Hull- The green patches on Rice Street is it better?
Councilmember Cowden- It is better
Mr Hull Okay, the green patches on Rice Street are part
of the TIGER grant, the thirteen milhon dollars ($13,000,000) that was expended
Indeed they are for shareable modes to indicate where on the road should be sharable
with other users of transportation. Theoretically, that could be part of the"Quick Build"
grant There was not too much discussion of that with the West Kaua`i Community
COUNCIL MEETING 20 JUNE 17, 2020
Plan, there was some discussion to that effect, but I think in looking at the West Kaua`i
Community Plan, those were not planned there
Councilmember Cowden. Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro Okay, thank you Anything else from the
members?
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding this agenda item )
The motion to approve C 2020-167 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 Kagawa was noted as silent (not present), but shall be recorded
as an affirmative for the motion).
Council Chair Kaneshiro. The motion is carried Next item
C 2020-168 Communication (06/04/2020) from the Executive on Aging,
requesting Council approval to receive and expend State funds, in the amount of
$42,438 00, and to indemnify the State Executive Office on Aging, for the Healthy Aging
Contract No 20-227, Modification Order No. 1, which will be used towards
EnhanceFitness and Better Choices, Better Health workshops, for the period
June 30, 2020 through June 30, 2022
Councilmember Kuah`i moved to approve C 2020-168, seconded by
Councilmember Cowden
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Is there any discussion or questions from the
members on this item?
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding this agenda item.)
The motion to approve C 2020-168 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 Kagawa was noted as silent (not present), but shall be recorded
as an affirmative for the motion).
Council Chair Kaneshiro The motion is carried Next item.
LEGAL DOCUMENT
C 2020-169 Communication (06/01/2020) from the Acting County Engineer,
recommending Council approval of a Right-of-Entry Agreement by and between the
County of Kaua`i and Grove Farm Company, Inc. to allow access to property located
at Tax Map Key (TMK) No (4) 3-3-018.009, Lihu`e, Kaua`i, Hawai`i to construct
COUNCIL MEETING 21 JUNE 17, 2020
and/or repair portions of Puhi Road for sidewalks and grading, as well as for
construction related to the Puhi Road drainage system.
• Right-Of-Entry Agreement
Councilmember Kuah`i moved to approve C 2020-169, seconded by
Councilmember Cowden
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as present)
Council Chair Kaneshiro- I will be recusing myself from this item
Council Chair Kaneshiro, the Presiding Officer, relinquished Chairmanship to
Council Vice Chair Kagawa.
Council Chair Kaneshiro was noted as recused from C 2020-169.
(Council Chair Kaneshiro was noted as not present)
Councilmember Kagawa. Is there any discussion from the members on
this item? Councilmember Cowden
Councilmember Cowden- I just wanted to thank Grove Farm Company,
Inc for being of assistance in helping our Puhi Road area have better drainage and
sidewalks.
Councilmember Kagawa- Is there any further discussion from the
members?
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding this agenda item )
The motion to approve C 2020-169 was then put, and carried by a vote of
5.0 1* 1 (Council Chair Kaneshiro was noted as recused)
Councilmember Kagawa The motion is carried Let us call the Chair
back
(Council Chair Kaneshiro was noted as present)
Councilmember Kagawa returned Chairmanship to Council Chair Kaneshiro
Council Chair Kaneshiro- Next item, please.
COUNCIL MEETING 22 JUNE 17, 2020
CLAIMS
C 2020-170 Communication (06/03/2020) from the County Clerk,
transmitting a claim filed against the County of Kaua`i by Patricia J Erickson, for
damage to her vehicle, pursuant to Section 23 06, Charter of the County of Kauai.
Councilmember Kuah`i moved to refer C 2020-170 to the Office of the County
Attorney for disposition and/or report back to the Council, seconded by
Councilmember Kagawa.
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Are there any questions or discussion from the
members on this item? Councilmember Kagawa
Councilmember Kagawa• Is this another one on Koloa Road9
Council Chair Kaneshiro Yes, it is
Councilmember Kagawa It is unbelievable how many claims were filed.
I know our process is to deny at the outset, because we are going to encourage a lot
of frivolous claims, but I just want to say that I am glad we are finally going to finally
fix the road Recently, I drove it a couple of times and it is really bad All of our
patchwork too is bad The patchwork that we do...I think need to improve our pothole
repair I do think there is a better method We need to get better If we do the same
thing and it does not work, we need to change the play or change the methods,
because the patchwork that we do does not help
Council Chair Kaneshiro Does anyone have further questions or
discussion from the members?
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding this agenda item )
The motion to refer C 2020-170 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*
Council Chair Kaneshiro• The motion is carried Next item
COMMITTEE REPORTS-
PUBLIC SAFETY & HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE
A report (No CR-PSHS 2020-02) submitted by the Public Safety & Human
Services Committee, recommending that the following be received for the record.
COUNCIL MEETING 23 JUNE 17, 2020
"PSHS 2020-01 Communication (05/21/2020) from Committee Chair
Cowden, requesting the presence of the Chief of Police, to provide a
comprehensive review of the Axon Body Camera Officer Safety Plans (OSP)
and associated technologies,"
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for approval of the report, seconded by
Councilmember Cowden.
Council Chair Kaneshiro Is there any discussion from the members on
this item?
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding this agenda item)
The motion for approval of the report was then put, and carried by a vote of
6.0.1*.
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE.
A report (No. CR-COW 2020-13) submitted by the Committee of the Whole,
recommending that the following be received for the record
"COW 2020-03 Communication (05/21/2020) from Committee Chair
Kaneshiro, requesting the presence of the Managing Director, to provide a
briefing on the new standard operating procedures and business hours for all
County departments/agencies, and an update on the allowable
industries/businesses on Kaua`i as of June 3, 2020,"
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for approval of the report, seconded by
Councilmember Chock.
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Is there any discussion from the members on
this item?
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding this agenda item)
The motion for approval of the report was then put, and carried by a vote of
6.0.1*
Council Chair Kaneshiro. The motion is carried Next item
RESOLUTIONS-
Resolution No 2020-28 — RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE ACQUISITION
OF AN EASEMENT INTEREST IN LAND REQUIRED FOR PUBLIC USE, TO WIT.
THE PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE PATH THAT CONSTITUTES PART OF THE
COUNTY'S PUBLIC PARK SYSTEM, SITUATED AT WAIPOULI, DISTRICT OF
KAWAIHAU, COUNTY OF KAUAI, HAWAII, AND DETERMINING AND
COUNCIL MEETING 24 JUNE 17, 2020
DECLARING THE NECESSITY OF THE ACQUISITION THEREOF BY EMINENT
DOMAIN
Councilmember Chock moved to schedule a public hearing on Resolution
No 2020-28 for July 8, 2020 and refer to the July 22, 2020 Council Meeting,
seconded by Councilmember Kagawa
Council Chair Kaneshiro With that, I will suspend the rules I am sure
we do have questions Troy or Doug, if you want to give us a brief overview of the item,
then I will open it up for questions. Someone has music in the background that we can
hear.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended
DOUGLAS HAIGH, Chief of Buildings Selena, can you turn off that
music, please Sorry Troy did you want me to proceed?
TROY K. TANIGAWA, Acting County Engineer• Yes, Doug you may
proceed.
Mr. Haigh. We have been working on this property for
quite some time. This is part of the bike path that goes from Waipouli Canal Bridge
to Papaloa Road and this property is adjacent to the Mokihana property The
previous landowner gave us permission to include the path in this parcel as part of
the path and the Special Management Area (SMA)permit He had intended to donate
it to us, but unfortunately he passed away Then his trust sold the property to the
current owner. We have been working with the current owner since early 2019. We
sent a revised request to purchase the easement in July 2019 and our offer was based
on the Hawai`i Department of Transportation (HDOT) guidelines We had an
appraisal and review of the appraisal done to assure we had the right dollar amount.
Since that time, we had been in discussion with the owner and it seems to be delayed,
but now we are at a point where we are ready to secure the construction funds for
this phase of the project. HDOT currently has a deadline for us of June 30th to have
"our ducks in a row," so we have submitted to them that we would be proceeding
acquiring this parcel as an eminent domain Basically, we take possession of the
parcel and the court decides what the fair value is We are still in discussions with
the owner, but we cannot put "all of our eggs in that basket," because he has
continually delayed us for many months That is the basic outline of the process that
we have been through
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Okay, Councilmember Chock then
Councilmember Kagawa
Councilmember Chock Thank you, Chair and Doug In reading the
transcript here, it is a little bothersome with the negotiations that have gone forward
COUNCIL MEETING 25 JUNE 17, 2020
What I am reading here and wanted to clarify was that the new owner has asked for
four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000) for the easement. Since then we have had
a counteroffer and then, no response Can you clarify that? Also, is this owner
on-property, on-island, or off-island9 Who is it9
Mr Haigh I am Doug Haigh, Department of Public
Works, County of Kaua`i, Building Division Sorry, I did not say that earlier Yes,
we made an offer of thirty-nine thousand dollars ($39,000) based on our appraisal
He came back with a counteroffer of four hundred ten thousand dollars ($410,000),
which actually exceeded the amount that he paid for the parcel We reviewed that
with HDOT Right-of-Way experts and they said that offer had no merit We came
back with the offer of the thirty-nine thousand dollars ($39,000), which we believe is
a fair price for the property The owner's address is off-island, but we have met with
the owner various times on-island I am not sure what his actual residency status is
at this point
Councilmember Chock- If the eminent domain is contested, will the
whole project be in jeopardy on timings It sounds like you folks need to secure this
lot first before proceeding and this could be dragged out
Mr Haigh. That is a good question My understanding is
our Office of the County Attorney is fairly confident that we have a very simple
straightforward eminent domain, fully supported by State law Basically, once this
Resolution is passed, we will file with the courts and if the courts receive our filing,
then the property is automatically in our possession to take possession of, and the
actual price amount is what gets further discussed in court I have talked with the
HDOT Right-of-Way Branch Manager on how this is going to work and what they
will accept and he has not given me a solid answer, but my understanding is as long
as we are moving forward with the eminent domain process, we were fine as far as
receiving the money Our fallback is, if for some reason if it gets hung up on this
parcel, we will just delete that portion of the project that is funded That is our
agreement with HDOT and Federal Highway that if something strange does happen,
we will be ready to just not construct in that area. We will not construct in that area
until we have possession or a right-of-entry.
Councilmember Chock. Okay, thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa. Doug, I am looking at the map, so the portion
that you are acquiring is fronting the property that you highlighted in yellow
Mr. Haigh. Are you looking at Exhibit "A"9
COUNCIL MEETING 26 JUNE 17, 2020
Mr Tanigawa• I believe that is sheet 1 of the construction
plan
Councilmember Kagawa The area fronting the property shaded in
yellow toward the highway
Mr Haigh: Yes, the area shaded in yellow, if we are
looking at the same thing, is the property easement that we are acquiring It goes
from his property from Papaloa Road to the Mokihana parcel on the other side, which
is currently the driveway to the Bull Shed Restaurant and on the mauka edge of his
property.
Councilmember Kagawa The bike path is going to go past that If you
are heading towards Lihu`e, you will take a left around Coconut Plantation and go all
the way to Courtyard Kaua`i Coconut Beach and it will stop there
Mr Haigh- That is this phase of the construction. At this
point, the Courtyard Marriott is now a Sheraton, again, so these names change—they
actually built the path per our specifications last fall We are in the process of
finalizing the easement so that we have ownership of it, then we can use their
construction cost as part of our soft match, so that is good news Yes, this phase will
go right up to the Sheraton property
Councilmember Kagawa Okay
Mr Haigh Then the two (2) big vacant lots; we have
acquired the easement for those lots, approved by Council Of course, they want to
build it for us, but we do not know when they will build it We are simultaneously
working on getting construction plans ready to go from Papaloa Road to the two (2)
vacant lots, which would be going by Islander and Kaua`i Beach Boy So that is a
future phase that we are working on the construction drawings for Once we complete
this, we will have that connection from Papaloa Road all the way to Waipouli Beach
Resort
Councilmember Kagawa- Okay, that will be the next phase that you are
going to connect
Mr. Haigh. Yes, we will get the construction money for
this phase that we need this land for, then we are going to be working on next federal
fiscal year on getting the construction money for the next stage
Councilmember Kagawa Okay My second question is, is any part of
this path near the beach? I have seen what happened to the other portion that had
been damaged It was undermined and does not look safe, so are we going to try to
avoid that and maybe stay more inland of the erosion?
COUNCIL MEETING 27 JUNE 17, 2020
Mr Haigh We always make the effort to stay as far
mauka as possible During the SMA permit process, that was an issue and we did
make some adjustments to the path and area to try to come in even further inland,
so that is what we will do. Now if for some reason we get accelerated coastal erosion
and the path gets undermined, we have to look at either doing some sort of beach
nourishment or possibly moving inland and acquiring more land Right now, on this
corridor, we are acquiring land from all the hotel properties, because we are moving
as far inland as we can
Councilmember Kagawa To me, if we have to, let us renegotiate earlier
because like I said, we look stupid when we have existing paths that are eroding and
we are saying, well it is unforeseen, but it is foreseen. We know it is coming We
know the shoreline is changing so rapidly that we cannot believe it. We look at all
the areas now and we say, I cannot believe what happened to all the sand, it is gone
I want to make sure we are taking further steps to move more inland, like I said, this
is not pennies we are talking about and when we do acquire it and a few years down
the line it is eroding before our eyes it looks like it is something we should have
thought about earlier I am just saying, I know having the views, riding your bike,
and seeing the water is the ideal goal, but when we have to go back and repair things
and acquire more land after the fact just seems like we should have done that earlier.
Although all the views are important, I think we want to make sure we do not set the
precedent and force ourselves to harden shorelines when we are telling private
owners they cannot do it It is going to be because we want to protect our path that
we should have moved more inland anyway since we see the erosion coming
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Cowden
Councilmember Cowden Thank you. This part where we see the yellow
patch is the open field that is shaded yellow—would the path be in an area where
there is asphalt and boulders on either side?
Mr Haigh- That is correct.
Councilmember Cowden I went and took a look at that and it looks like
right across that, I was trying to see where the bike path would go. Right here we see
an easy line, but that is like two (2) condominium (condo) sets right there, so would
it essentially go through a parking lot of the condo? How does it keep going right
there?
Mr Haigh Okay, it goes in between the Mokihana
property and the Village Manor property, are those the parcels you are talking about9
Councilmember Cowden. Well, it does not look like Mokihana, but it
looks like there are two (2) either apartment buildings or condo sets. I just tried to
COUNCIL MEETING 28 JUNE 17, 2020
look to see if it is in an area that we are already using, but it is not You go down the
driveway.. well, Waipouli Beach Resort, okay, maybe it is called Mokihana, but we
are going to be driving across the parking lot in between two (2) apartment buildings
Mr Haigh We will be going in-between the tennis court
and the Village Manor Condominiums property. If we are heading Lihu`e side of the
property, we cross Kamoa Road and then we travel in between Village Manor
Condominiums property and Mokihana property, on the Mokihana property side, and
then we hit the existing beach easement that is there in the Coconut Beach Resort
property
Councilmember Cowden. In-between those two (2) buildings—that is
already approved, we are going to be able to do it or do we have to eminent domain
that too?
Mr Haigh. We already have agreements with those
two (2) properties in place
Councilmember Cowden Okay I noticed the adjacent property just
mauka is for sale, but they do not have a say on this, right, because the easement is
entirely on the yellow piece9
Mr Haigh That is correct
Councilmember Cowden- Okay Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Evslin
Councilmember Evslin. Thank you, Doug. You might have said this
already, but when is the estimated completion date of construction for this section?
Mr Haigh. That is always a good question We hope to
acquire our federal funds fully in place in August and normally it takes us three (3)
to four (4) months to get under contract. We are probably looking at about a six (6)
month contract to completion, therefore sometime in 2021
Councilmember Evslin Thank you Will it automatically connect to
the already built one at the Coconut Beach, you said "to be determined" for the other
one at the other Coconut Beach Do you have an estimated completion from the
Coconut Beach to Kamoa Road, best guess
Mr Haigh For which again, I am sorry
Councilmember Evslin. For the entire project9
COUNCIL MEETING 29 JUNE 17, 2020
Mr Haigh. We are hoping that by 2022, we will have
everything completed except for possibly the two (2) vacant lots, because we have no
control over when those are going to be built.
Councilmember Evslin. I just want to express my appreciation. I know
that this has been a really long and difficult process inching forward through
countless numbers of different properties and access agreements, et cetera I
appreciate your diligence and seeing this thing all the way through. I also want to
give a shout out to former Councilmember Tim Bynum for his vision here. I am sorry
I know we are supposed to be asking questions here, but just briefly, even during the
lockdown, the bike path has been crowded with residents as a great form of
recreation, exercise, and social connection. It has been a great asset to have, thanks
to Tim Bynum for his vision on this
Mr. Haigh. You are welcome
Council Chair Kaneshiro• What is the anticipated cost for us to pursue
eminent domain?
Mr. Haigh Thirty-nine thousand dollars ($39,000)
Council Chair Kaneshiro• That is to purchase the property.Are we going
to incur any legal costs?
Mr. Haigh I cannot answer that question When we
previously did eminent domain, our attorneys handled all the work, but I am not sure
what the current plan is with the County Attorney
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Are there any further questions from the
members? Councilmember Kagawa
Councilmember Kagawa Doug, the big question is, we were hoping for
something close to forty thousand dollars ($40,000) when the eminent domain goes
through and the courts determine what will be the final decision Are we hoping for
the ballpark of forty thousand dollars ($40,000)9
Mr Haigh. That is correct
Councilmember Kagawa. And then this person will be fighting for four
hundred thousand dollars ($400,000)...therefore, the end result might be somewhere
between those numbers?
Mr Haigh I do not believe so, because it is based on...we
are pretty confident that the process that we followed is the correct process We follow
COUNCIL MEETING 30 JUNE 17, 2020
the law so that our estimate is a good, solid estimate and like I said, HDOT
Right-of-Way Branch Manager felt that his (the property owner) price was invalid.
Councilmember Kagawa. Okay
Mr. Haigh I think we will probably end up pretty much
where we are at
Councilmember Kagawa Okay
Council Chair Kaneshiro Are there any further questions?
Councilmember Cowden, did you have a question?
Councilmember Cowden- I just have a comment.
Council Chair Kaneshiro I will call this meeting back to order
Councilmember Cowden
The meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows-
Councilmember Cowden• I want to echo what Councilmember Evslin
said I have been paying extra attention since this has been on the agenda for the
amount of volume on the bike path and it is profound, it was busy today People going
up and down and those are all residents and they seemed very happy I noticed it
regularly, but I think I presumed a lot of that were people on vacation, but it has been
super busy when there has not been people on vacation I just want to acknowledge
the value that it has for the community.
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Councilmember Chock
Councilmember Chock. Thank you, Doug and Troy, for the briefing on
this. I am a little bit troubled I do not want to incite anger here, but I think I am
very frustrated when I read things such as this where a public interest is identified,
agreed upon, and circumstances change, of course, but when you have off-island
investors and speculators who obviously have an interest of just making money,
because when come to negotiation for a piece of a property, an easement, they are
trying to escalate the prices more than what they purchased the property for I think
it is an example of what we have experienced often in this arena and why there is
frustration across the island I just want to take note of it and maybe even send a
message that it is not acceptable This is a small community that works together for
the benefit of the community If you are here for other purposes, take note
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Are there any further comments from the
members? Councilmember Kagawa.
COUNCIL MEETING 31 JUNE 17, 2020
Councilmember Kagawa• Again, I just want to stress what I told Doug
earlier When I have people telling me, those who use the bike path and walking path,
and they show me pictures of portions built in the past being eroded away,
undermining, because of erosion, which we can call it "global warning" and climate
change—it is here The shoreline has changed so much over the years that one cannot
even imagine how it used to look like before. There was sand in front of Kapa'a Beach
Park and now it is gone The pavilion fell into the water. That is a huge amount of
erosion Our bike path, yes, I think that was former Mayor Kusaka's vision, former
Mayor Carvalho's vision, and former Mayor Baptiste's vision to have that let around
Kaua`i, having that bike path, the walking path around the coastal areas. We know
the erosion is here and we need to make adjustments. If we keep putting it in places
that are for the best view, we risk those portions being undermined, and then what
are we going to do? Are we going to acquire more land and move it? Are we going to
harden the area to protect it, when we are telling private homeowners, "You cannot
harden your shorelines?" We cannot do what is good for us and prevent others from
doing the same If the hardening is not good for the environment and for the other
properties, then let us just avoid that Let us lead by example. If further adjustments
need to be made going forward, wiser decisions being made going forward, then do it
now Do not say, "Cannot help " You can help—do it early, because it is already
coming Areas are eroding It looks fine now, but it will erode We can move it inward
as much as possible is the best solution I agree one hundred percent (100%) with
Councilmember Chock, the only thing is that when you have a good deal, you have to
get it done quickly. If you wait for the person to pass away, things will change When
we get a good deal, bird in the hand, you have to move as quickly as possible Let us
learn that lesson here and next time, while the person is alive, make him sign
everything that is important. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Kuah`i
Councilmember Kuali`i I just wanted to echo the comments of Vice
Chair Kagawa and I also want to echo the comments of Councilmember Evslin in
saying thank you to everyone who has worked on the path and who continues to work
on the path, from Administrations before and staff from before as well The path is
important to our residents I think with COVID-19 a lot of folks have had more free
time and they have invested in their health and that is why so many of my friends
and family have been on the path when they have not been on the path prior. It is
also important to our small businesses along the path. I have a friend who owns a
bike shop with her family and they have been renting and even though there were no
tourists and they were struggling with their business on that end, they have added
sales of bikes In fact, they cannot keep up with the demand Locals are buying bikes
and getting on the path and that is really important I know the path has been used
for recreation and exercise, I just hope that once we get the path and that is why it
is important for it to be fully connected, that more and more of our residents will use
the path as an alternative transportation, getting people off the road Most people are
COUNCIL MEETING 32 JUNE 17, 2020
not comfortable with riding along the highway, you see one (1) or two (2) people once
in a while If the path is fully connected from where people live to where they work,
then I think I would like to see the future where people are using it as transportation.
Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Councilmember Evslin.
Councilmember Evslin I just wanted to echo what everyone has said
here Councilmember Cowden, again, expressing my appreciation This is going to be
huge once this is done It has already been super beneficial for the community as
Councilmember Kuali`i said, not only for recreational use, but also increasing
economic vitality Not only are there bike shops, but there are also food trucks and
all these opportunities for businesses along the path. This little section right here is
that treacherous little section that you see people walking all the time, because they
are sort of spit out onto the road there and they walk that little section or ride their
bike on that section of the road with no shoulder That is going to help out a huge
amount there. As Councilmember Chock stated, yes, it is really frustrating when
there is a property owner trying to recover more than he paid for the property here,
especially because the bike path is beneficial for nearby properties That is why you
see all this willingness from everyone else, all these other (inaudible) and all these
other places in the area, because it helps increase their property values, increases the
use and value of the property, so it is frustrating when you see someone trying to do
this Lastly, Councilmember Kagawa is spot on I am unsure of where this path lays
as far as sea-level rise exposure area, but it is incredibly vital that we are setting it
back sufficiently to make sure that it is not at-risk of erosion or submersion I agree
with everything that was said here today
Council Chair Kaneshiro. I should have spoken before you, so you could
compliment me too.
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding this agenda item)
The motion to schedule a public hearing on July 8, 2020, and that it thereafter
by referred to the July 22, 2020 Council Meeting was then put, and carried by
the following vote
FOR MOTION. Chock, Cowden, Evslin, Kagawa,
Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL— 6,
AGAINST MOTION None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING• Brun TOTAL— 1*,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING None TOTAL— 0.
(Councilmember Chock was noted as not present.)
COUNCIL MEETING 33 JUNE 17, 2020
Ms Fountain-Tanigawa Six (6) ayes
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Let us try to get the next two (2) items done
before we take our caption break
Resolution No 2020-29 — RESOLUTION APPROVING THE HAWAII STATE
ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES SLATE OF OFFICERS, NOMINEES TO THE
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES BOARD OF DIRECTORS, AND
NOMINEES TO THE WESTERN INTERSTATE REGION BOARD OF DIRECTORS
FOR FISCAL YEAR 2021
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for adoption of Resolution No 2020-29,
seconded by Councilmember Cowden.
Council Chair Kaneshiro Do we have any questions or comments from
the members9 Councilmember Kagawa
Councilmember Kagawa• First of all, let me thank Aida for being the
staff for Hawai`i State Association of Counties (HSAC) and being my right-hand
person We are in the same roles that we are going for as vice president, only because
I fought very hard to make sure that we stayed there There was a strong push to
move us to the treasurer spot and the reason why I did not feel that was fair was
because from the time that Kaua`i had the books, we were good Our staff said, "not
much of a problem, not too much headache with doing the treasurer's job," the books
were in line Somewhere along the line when it went to Maui and Oahu, the books
are now not as clean as it was It is very troublesome No one wants to be the
treasurer right now, because they do not want to clean up the mess that was made in
that time and I do not feel that it is fair
(Councilmember Chock was noted as present.)
Councilmember Kagawa. ...for Kauai County to have done its job well
as treasurer during that time and then to now have to clean up the other counties'
mess. It was basically keeping basic paperwork in line, so that when you give it to
the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) that they can perform their audits. There are
missing paperwork and I do not think we should take on the burden to try and search
for the other counties' missing documents when we did our job well as treasurer
Again, I fought and the agreement was that in December when I leave that there will
be discussion as to the changes of the officers One of the things that I told them was
to "Please, when you do make that change, make sure you folks clean up the past
work," and to work hard during these months, even if we have to hire a bookkeeper,
a CPA Sometimes you can solve the problem without having certain documents or
you can make a request to find the numbers that you need that are missing through
other means as typical audit practice I told them to do that, so if we do become
COUNCIL MEETING 34 JUNE 17, 2020
treasurer in January, it is not as messed up as it is currently I am fully supportive
of Kaua`i County doing a rotation in doing different duties, but under that situation,
I do not think it was fair We basically kept things as-is. Maui County is not so happy,
but they agreed that we will wait until December and because of COVID-19 and
everything to do the transition. That is what is coming forward when I leave and
Councilmember Chock was in on the call and hopefully he will be the new vice
president and he can carry forth I just wanted the Council to know that Maui County
was not happy. There was a big push for them to be in the president or vice president
slot, but I just wanted to protect our staff. When we do a good job doing the job that
no one wants, we should not punish our staff for having to fix the mess of other people
Likewise when we have it, I hope going forward that we will continue to do a good job
and make sure we keep all of the records in place when we are the treasurer, because
it is a very important job
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Cowden
Councilmember Cowden First, thank you, Vice Chair Kagawa, for the
work that you have done this year and our staff member Aida, who does a really good
job. Given that you are terming out in December, Councilmember Chock, you are
happy with having that position?
Councilmember Chock. If I am not mistaken, I think it is a question
for the new Council.
Councilmember Cowden. Okay.
Councilmember Chock To have some continuity is important and, of
course, that is why I have been attending to see what I can learn If necessary and if
it fits, I am happy to continue to serve
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Chock is an alternate in
Councilmember Arthur Brun's place Again, just having that continuity, previous
Councilmember Arthur Brun was on as an alternate and not having him around,
Councilmember Chock is familiar with HSAC It is good to have Councilmember
Chock as our alternative and moving forward in December, whatever the new Council
decides, they will be able to go through and see who they want here at that time.
Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock. Are we in discussion?
Council Chair Kaneshiro Yes
Councilmember Chock I would add that I attended the meetings and
I thank Vice Chair Kagawa because one of the ideas is, one, clean up the books,
COUNCIL MEETING 35 JUNE 17, 2020
because it is a mess and before it transitions to anyone else, but also the idea to hire
an accountant or bookkeeper, so that there is continuity no matter what island gets
it, there is someone who has their eyes on the books constantly is a good idea. I hope
the new board takes that into consideration because I think it is through the
transitions that things get lost That is what I think is the issue.
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Councilmember Kagawa
Councilmember Kagawa. I apologize I did not want to be presumptuous
I came up to being the full-time officer for Kaua`i County after serving as alternate
for former Council Chair Rapozo for four(4)years Whatever the new Council decides,
it will decide, but I did not want to be presumptuous with naming Councilmember
Chock as my replacement, so I apologize
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Evshn.
Councilmember Evslin I just want to express my appreciation to Vice
Chair Kagawa for his work on HSAC and his ability to retain that position, which is
a testament to his efforts and leadership on HSAC I think communication from him
and Aida to us have been really good and I have heard great feedback from other
HSAC, off-island councilmembers saying that Vice Chair Kagawa has been doing a
good job as Vice President. I appreciate his work there and I am glad that
Councilmember Chock is sort of interning for the position for next year
Council Chair Kaneshiro Is there anyone else? I just want to echo what
everyone said I cannot thank Aida enough As new members come on from other
counties there is a lot of inconsistency on how we do things Aida has been around to
help guide us as a county and say, "This is how we have always done it," or "this is
something new that they are trying to do," and it helps us She is our link in
continuity to HSAC and she has kept us on the straight and narrow as far as changes
that people have tried to make with HSAC She has seen it all As far as changes that
people want to make that are going to be positive or changes that people want to
make that probably we have tried before and have not worked out, so I just want to
thank Aida also for all of her work in guiding us through HSAC It is very difficult
when you get changes in members. Lucky for us, we have one staff member that is
dedicated to HSAC, but when it goes to the other counties, I believe the helpers end
up being their own personal secretary Therefore, as you get different
councilmembers from the different islands moving up or becoming a president or vice
president, their staff member may not have known how HSAC operates the entire
time For us, we are lucky Aida has always been there. That is a big help to us Just
making sure things run good A lot of times when people have good ideas for change,
but they really have to understand why HSAC runs the way it runs and why it has
been successful for so long Councilmember Chock knows that value. Councilmember
Kagawa knows that value That is an important part that Kaua`i plays in HSAC We
COUNCIL MEETING 36 JUNE 17, 2020
are there to say, "We have been there, done that, I think we should move in this
direction," and we have Aida to tell us the reasons why or why not something would
work Councilmember Cowden
Councilmember Cowden I just wanted to define HSAC, which is
Hawai`i State Association of Counties and so for people who are listening that might
not understand, each of the four (4) counties, we all work together and come up with
united efforts to influence the State Legislature There is a lot more strength when
we work together, when we learn together, and it is a valuable organization. Just so
it is clear what we are talking about
Council Chair Kaneshiro Is there any further discussion from the
members? If not, roll call vote
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding this agenda item.)
The motion for adoption of Resolution No. 2020-29 was then put, and carried
by the following vote.
FOR ADOPTION• Chock, Cowden, Evslin, Kagawa,
Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL— 6,
AGAINST ADOPTION. None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING Brun TOTAL— 1*,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING None TOTAL— 0
Ms Fountain-Tanigawa• Six (6) ayes.
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Next item
Resolution No. 2020-30 — RESOLUTION APPROVING THE PROPOSED
FISCAL YEAR 2021 OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE HAWAII STATE
ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for adoption of Resolution No 2020-30,
seconded by Councilmember Chock
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Is there any discussion on this item from the
members9 Councilmember Kuah`i
Councilmember Kuali`i. I had a couple of questions on the drastic
changes in a couple of line items It would have been helpful if there was some kind
of budget narrative that would have just explained the big changes The two (2) that
I would like to line up and see if anyone had answers to, maybe even Aida, is under
expenses, line number 8, "EC Travel-Air, Ground, Lodging, Registration " It is going
COUNCIL MEETING 37 JUNE 17, 2020
up from seventeen thousand six hundred dollars ($17,600) to twenty-eight thousand
six hundred dollars ($28,600) Related to that under the National Association of
Counties (NACo) section, line number 15, "NACo Board Travel-Air, Ground, Lodging,
Registration," is going down ten thousand dollars ($10,000), from twenty-four
thousand dollars ($24,000) to fourteen thousand dollars ($14,000). Now, I would
assume that it has to do with COVID-19 and there not being a summer convention of
NACo for the reduction of that ten thousand dollars ($10,000), but why would the
executive committee travel go up eleven thousand dollars ($11,000), for a sixty-two
point five percent (62.5%) increase at a time when COVID-19 is reducing our travel
If anything, I think the travel savings should have gone into some kind of reserve and
not necessarily into another travel item.
Council Chair Kaneshiro- With that, I am actually going to take our
caption break and I will give Aida some time I know I saw narrative on the changes,
we will take our ten-minute caption break, we will see if Aida can get us the narrative
on these items, and then we will come back and clarify any questions you have,
Councilmember Kuali`i Ten-minute caption break
There being no objections, the Council recessed at 10 40 a m
The meeting was called back to order at 10.54 a m , and proceeded as follows
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Welcome back. We did receive the narrative
and Councilmember Kuali`i, I know you asked some questions on the travel budget
I believe a lot of it had to do with trying to consolidate where they were recording
expenses. In the past they put some travel expenses in the "Miscellaneous" line item
and what they were trying to do was zero out the "Miscellaneous" accounts that they
were recording expenses in and trying to put it in the actual accounts that it should
be in. For example, they had travel in the "Miscellaneous" account, so they up the
travel budget and hopefully we will be recording...whoever is doing the accounting
will be recording it correctly in the travel budget
Councilmember Kuali`i So that "Miscellaneous — twenty-eight
thousand six hundred ninety-five dollars ($28,695) " That is reduced to zero ($0) The
"EC Travel-Air, Ground, Lodging, Registration," only increased eleven thousand
dollars ($11,000) and the "NACo Board Travel-Air, Ground, Lodging, Registration"
has decreased ten thousand dollars ($10,000) I have just seen this narrative here, so
I do not necessarily see anything beyond...except line number 8. The other one is
number 2 "Conference Income." If the fiscal year (FY) is from July Pt to
June 30, 2021...to zero that out is to say there is not going to be a conference next
year and there will be no income'? The twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) is going
down to zero
COUNCIL MEETING 38 JUNE 17, 2020
Council Chair Kaneshiro• That is the conference that we usually have in
July
Councilmember Kuali`i• For HSAC?
Council Chair Kaneshiro For HSAC
Councilmember Kuali`i: It is usually in May or June NACo is in July
Councilmember Chock Yes, NACo.
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Oh
Councilmember Kualfi• So it will be happening in probably next June
and there will be income, but they just decreased it to zero ($0). I do not understand
Councilmember Kagawa I think on that one they assumed wrong They
projected this year's into next year's conference income They canceled this year's
conference, but then as Councilmember Kuali`i stated, that may be erroneous, but
then it might be correct. Who knows with COVID-19 hanging around, that could be
accurate that we leave it there as zero When Maui County held it before COVID-19,
they did not make much money anyway I would say it all depends. It could be a big
accounting error if the conference is held next June, but then if it is held in the way
and fashion that Maui held it and did not make much money, it would not be a big
accounting error If it makes the kind of money that Kaua`i County makes, then the
budget probably should be amended Who's to say that in June it is happening, so it
is a big question mark as far as trying to project next year's conference income
Council Chair Kaneshiro. I think they are being conservative on it and
anticipating not having a conference. I would rather see us put zero ($0) than put a
number there, spend money, and then not even have a conference and not have
income come in. I think they were trying to play it on the conservative side
Councilmember Kuali`i The numbers do not work out for me. I do not
see answers to the travel line The cuts and adds do not add up.
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Councilmember Cowden
Councilmember Cowden. I noticed the overall budget is down roughly
forty-two thousand dollars ($42,000), so Councilmember Kuali`i, did you when we
are seeing it is going down and down, our totals are down, we are down by almost
forty-two thousand dollars ($42,000) That might account for some of that variance
COUNCIL MEETING 39 JUNE 17, 2020
Councilmember Kuali`i. Yes, if you look "Conference
Income — twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) to zero ($0),
Miscellaneous — twenty-eight thousand dollars ($28,000) to zero ($0), and HSAC
Promotion and Outreach—fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000)to zero ($0) " Right there
you have sixty-five thousand dollars ($65,000) That is already more than the
difference there and I guess the only thing is the change between NACo travel going
down ten thousand dollars ($10,000) and Executive Committee going up eleven
thousand dollars ($11,000)
Councilmember Cowden. Who was supposed to hold the NACo
conference this summer?
Councilmember Kagawa Hawai`i Island
Councilmember Cowden Hawai`i Island. Will they do it next time?
Councilmember Kagawa That has not been confirmed, but I think she
has said that she would want to Again with elections coming up, who is to say who
is going to be in what position? I think when you look at the conference, everything
is on hold until probably December or January, which is when we change officers
They will see at that time what county will hold the conference Hawaii Island's
obligation actually is this year. Next year, they could say, "We do not want to do the
conference," and they would have to stick to the rotation that was there previously or
Hawaii Island could step up and say, "We want the conference being on our island
and we are going to do it because COVID-19 canceled our previous one " We could
have discussions even earlier, but it is just such a big question mark as far as what
is going to happen Who knows if tourists are going to be coming back? Some hotels
have shut down until January
Councilmember Kuali`i• I think I may have found something and I am
going to ask you a question based on that On the last part of the narrative in
number 8, it says, "3) sixteen thousand dollars ($16,000) for members' airfare, ground
transportation, lodging, and registration to attend two (2) conferences (two thousand
dollars ($2,000) times four (4) members times two (2) conferences). That is the sixteen
thousand dollars ($16,000) Is that something new? I would imagine the one (1)
conference that happens every year is the HSAC Conference, so what is the other
conference?
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Aida, correct me if I am wrong, but I believe
they had a discussion on this and it was reimbursing HSAC members for NACo travel
and I think in the past, they were recording it under NACo Board Travel HSAC
members are able to travel to NACo conferences and HSAC would pay a portion of it.
They were recording it under NACo Board Travel, so they would have our regular
COUNCIL MEETING 40 JUNE 17, 2020
NACo board members' travel costs plus HSAC travel costs They decided to move the
HSAC portion into travel-air, ground, lodging for EC
Councilmember Kuah`i• Okay That answers my question. Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Are there any other questions on the budget?
Thank you for looking at that. I know that there were...Councilmember Kagawa, they
were going over the budget kind of a lot, right? Trying to clean it up.
Councilmember Kagawa The question is at the end of the day, are we
having trouble getting reimbursements from HSAC and I think the answer is no As
long as it is legitimate travel that pertains to our by-laws, we find a way to pay it
within our budget Even if amendments need to be made in order to do that purpose,
HSAC has always been very flexible in paying for our purpose, which is supporting
NACo, supporting HSAC members, Western Interstate Region (WIR), et cetera
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Councilmember Cowden
Councilmember Cowden Can someone explain to me why we get a
"NACo Prescription Drug Marketing Fee"? I see the number dropped, but I do not see
a connection with counties and prescription drug marketing fee
Councilmember Kagawa Can staff respond
Councilmember Chock NACo has a program
Councilmember Cowden Oh, okay
Councilmember Chock• I think we signed up for it years ago and so it
is part of that promotion.
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Are there any further questions from the
members? If not, is there any final discussion from the members? Roll call vote
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding this agenda item)
The motion for adoption of Resolution No 2020-30 was then put, and carried
by the following vote
FOR ADOPTION Chock, Cowden, Evshn, Kagawa,
Kuah`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL— 6,
AGAINST ADOPTION• None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING. Brun TOTAL— 1*,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING. None TOTAL— 0
Ms Fountain-Tanigawa Six (6) ayes
COUNCIL MEETING 41 JUNE 17, 2020
Council Chair Kaneshiro Motion passes Next item
BILL FOR FIRST READING
Proposed Draft Bill (No 2794) —A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING
CHAPTER 10, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO
ENFORCEMENT, LEGAL PROCEDURES, AND PENALTIES
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No 2794) on
first reading, that it be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be
scheduled for July 22, 2020, and referred to the Planning Committee, seconded
by Councilmember Chock
Councilmember Chock moved to amend Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2794) as
circulated, and as shown in the Floor Amendment, which is attached hereto as
Attachment, seconded by Councilmember Kuali`i
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Can you explain?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Councilmember Chock I will just real quickly do the amendment and
he can talk about the bill overall This is a bill that has gone through the commission
and it is really an amendment to the bill that we passed last year on enforcement It
attempts to standardize it and have some continuity with Chapter 10 Our staff
worked on it to actually mirror what is in the existing charter ordinance, so that is
why you see a purpose added here under the first amendment and then under civil
fines, number two and number three were to match it up to the thirty (30) calendar
days Number five, there was a request by Councilmember Cowden to increase the
civil fine imposed that have not been paid within ninety (90) days of the order and
also that the director should obtain approval from the county attorney prior to
placement of any liens. The last piece is for some numbering here that was added
under "C," and just some standard language in Section 6 as well. Again, we copied for
continuity what was passed in the previous ordinance and that is what the
amendments represent
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Are there any questions from the members?
Again, we are just trying to match the two (2) sections, so that we do not have
inconsistent penalties Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden My question would be for Planning Director
Hull Thank you for the time you took with me yesterday We discussed this for about
forty-five (45) minutes, but can you please explain again the nuances of this Why
are we calling it Community Development Plan instead of Special Development Plan?
If we, prior to this, had...I see a lot of added wording in here, was there this ten
COUNCIL MEETING 42 JUNE 17, 2020
thousand dollars ($10,000) per day per violation already existing on the zoning
differences?
Mr. Hull. Ka'aina Hull on behalf of the Planning
Department. Just a little background on the bill or a small part of it be the change
in Community Development Plan and Special Development Plan is...for the past
forty (40) years under Kaua`i's Planning regime, the reference to plans or regional
areas like Kapa`a-Wailua, East Kaua`i has a regional plan, North Shore has a regional
plan, West Kaua`i, South Kaua`i, and so on and so forth The terminology was public
plan Since that time it has become pretty standard throughout the planning
community as planning that is done on a regional as well as on a grand level used to
incorporate a lot of am I echoing? I can call in on the phone
Councilmember Chock You are fine
Councilmember Cowden You are okay, but you are not great
Mr Hull If I start echoing again...I switched the
computer from the last time so I hope it works better, but I can spend two (2) minutes
calling in on a phone line, if necessary As I was saying is within the school of
planning, the idea of incorporating the community as much as possible It is their
plan, not so much the government's plan or the developer's plan, if you will, it is the
community's plan So that is the change of terminology there for the community's
development plan as opposed to just development plans A little bit more background
for the proposal before you folks. Chapter 8 of the Kaua`i County Code, otherwise
referred to as the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance (CZO), is an islandwide series of
regulations that regulate land use Within that, we have our Chapter 8 enforcement
procedures and that is laid out very specifically and ensures our staff can go out and
have the legal teeth and parameter to cite and issue violation notices to bring people
into compliance Aside from Chapter 8, the Kaua`i Planning Department has
Chapter 10, which concerns regional plans; plans for specific regions that go above
and beyond the islandwide Chapter 8 CZO regulations and so it is in recognizing that
some of these areas might want standards and a built environment that is different
from other areas (i.e., Kapa'a is different than Koloa, Lihu`e is different than
Waimea). One of the examples is our recently adopted South Kaua`i Community Plan,
but for stringent height limitations Two-story height limitations on developments in
Koloa Town because the community felt that the fifty (50) foot height limit that is
islandwide for the existing zoning district, is not appropriate for that particular
region There are an array of different standards in Chapter 10 that the Planning
Department is tasked with implementing; however, the enforcement section of that
just refers back to Chapter 8, and what it states in Chapter 10 right now is that any
violation of any article or section of this chapter shall be subject to the enforcement,
legal procedures, and penalties provided for in Chapter 8 Therefore, we have
authority already to use Chapter 8 enforcement mechanism to implement and enforce
COUNCIL MEETING 43 JUNE 17, 2020
Chapter 8. It is just that in doing so, in the end of the day grind that our enforcement
officer had, when they send those notices out to bring people into compliance, it is
just murky and muddy, and the layperson also has a problem understanding why we
have to put a Chapter 10 standard in place, yet refer back to Chapter 8 enforcement
procedures Technically and legally we still have the enforcement teeth of Chapter 8
for Chapter 10; we just want to clean it up a little and standardize It is really just a
housekeeping measure
Councilmember Cowden. Thank you for that clarity. It would have
already applied, we are not adding a new burden? It would have already basically
been in there. So if the community development plan comes into place, if someone
has a repair shop of some sort in the wrong area, do they become a legally
nonconforming use? Do they get grandfathered in if it preexists?
Mr Hull Yes, that is correct, Councilmember. If you
have a structure or a use that exists prior to a new regulation being adopted, and that
regulation would essentially prohibit that type of use or structure, that previous
existing use or structure becomes a legal nonconforming structure or in common
terms "grandfathered"—they can legally exist as they are So if you have a
community development plan that comes in and says, previously there were ten (10)
foot setbacks for a structure from the front property line, we want to make them
twenty (20) foot setback because of historic preservation, for example, and there was
a structure in that setback prior to the new regulations, they are not subject to
enforcement and penalties. They are legally nonconforming and can legally exist
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, that is important to me If there is
someone who does create something new and it is wrong, I want to hear the process
for correcting the situation and if they have a double offense, like if there is a potential
of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per day, per violation fine, would it be double, if not
triple, if they had a Building violation, a Planning violation, and a Zoning
violation—the potential for thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) per day, per violation or
would it still roughly be that ten thousand dollars ($10,000) and how is that
managed?
Mr. Hull Yes, I cannot speak to Buildings, they have
their own enforcement parameters. For the Zoning violation, if it is a structure and
what is probably the most common violation occurrence that happens with us, is it is
a structure that did not get the appropriate permits, either they built it and one of
the requirements is that you need to get the necessary permits So say they put up
as shed without the necessary permits, but that shed meets all the standards, the
height, the setback—all they have to do once they get that.. the first thing we send
out is not a violation notice, this is a compliance notice, just putting the property
owner on notice that their property is not compliant with the Zoning Ordinance So
the first opportunity they have is can they get the permits and most scenarios, they
COUNCIL MEETING 44 JUNE 17, 2020
will say, "Yes, either you can knock the structure down, but it all conforms to
regulations, so all they need to do is apply for the permit." That is probably the most
common violation process we have is that someone sets up a structure without the
necessary permits and comes in to get the permits and they receive them within a
month or two (2). The same goes for nonconforming use. Say it is not an outright
permissible use in say a Residential Zoning District, but they are cited for it They
will have to cease that operation, but they can still come in for the permits to get that
operation up and running I think Councilmember when you refer to a repair shop
on Kawaihau Road or on Agricultural land, that is not an outright permissible use
and some of those individuals have come in to get the necessary permits, which is at
the Planning Commission level to bring their operation into compliance. So they can
always look into measures where they can bring it into compliance In the case of
a and with almost all uses, you can pretty much apply for a use permit to determine
through a public hearing process whether or not that use is compatible. I will not say
one hundred percent (100%), but pretty much all uses fall into that category The
only use that is categorically prohibited in certain zoning districts is a vacation rental,
right You cannot come in and say, "You would like to get a use permit for a vacation
rental in this area." That is categorically prohibited that they cannot That is
generally how it plays out. For certain structures that have been built and do violate
the Code and they cannot necessarily get the permits, they do have to essentially
remove that structure or apply for a variance permit, which is a much more higher
threshold of analysis when having that permit at the public hearing Lastly, the vast
majority of those that are not in compliance that we put on notice, come into
compliance relatively within an allotted timeframe that allows them to get the
permits, remove the structure, or cease the operation There are a handful that
ignore that first compliance notice and after sometime of work with them we do levy
the fines on them, because they have not come into compliance. Again, that small
handful—the vast majority of them, when they receive that first ten thousand
dollar ($10,000) fine, they come right into compliance, realizing that we mean
business and if they come into compliance relatively quickly, we reduce that fine
There are some scenarios where they did not pay attention to our compliance notice
right-off-the-bat, but once they received the fine, they realized we were serious about
their violation and came into the office, rectified within a few weeks and we dropped
that fine from ten thousand dollars ($10,000) down to five hundred dollars ($500),
and it is because we are not a department where we are looking at being punitive, we
are a department looking at bringing properties into compliance and that is our
priority
Councilmember Cowden. Last question, at least for now and thank you
My goal is to make sure we do not financially drive people off the island—that is what
my hope is How do you notify them? Especially in properties that have been known
for generations that notification gets lost, so I did not see right here how it is set out
that the notification happens I think that there might be several different methods
we can try to notify; how do we notify?
COUNCIL MEETING 45 JUNE 17, 2020
Mr. Hull. The first method and the method that works
in ninety-nine point five percent (99.5%) of the cases is we send it physically via
certified mail Through certified mail we will be notified when that the property
owner received the mail and opened it, essentially. In a handful of scenarios we will
find that people will intentionally avoid notification, because they do not intend to
come within compliance and they know under Hawai`i State law for us to take more
robust enforcement penalty actions against them, they have to be noticed They
refuse notice In those scenarios, with the Ordinance that passed three (3) months
ago, we have the ability now to post the property, as well as post in the public
newspaper, to put them on notice.
Councilmember Cowden Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Are there any further questions9
Councilmember Chock
Councilmember Chock I failed to mention and staff thank you for
pointing it out, one of the amendments is under civil fines number 6 In the original
Bill that you are looking at it references establishing the planning enforcement
account, but that is already established on the previous Ordinance, so it just directs
the funds to the planning enforcement account Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Thank you Councilmember Evslin
Councilmember Evslin. Mr. Hull, thank you for your run through of
all that. Just briefly, if you are at liberty to say, can you give us a run through of how
or whether the lien power has been used since we granted it to your Department
Mr Hull We have not officially put a lien on any
property, at this point. I can say and it is not me revealing any secrets, because we
are processing them through Court. We do have two (2) actions for two (2) separate
properties going for liens to be placed on those properties, and both of those violations
are egregious violations Both are illegal Transient Vacation Rental (TVR) operations
that refuse to come into compliance with our zoning compliance notice, refused to
come into compliance with our notice of violations and fines, and refused to further
communicate with the Department Refuse to comply no matter how many violation
notices we send out. So at this point we have determined, after well over a year of
attempting to try to get them to compliance, to utilize the lien power that you folks
have approved us to use last year.
Councilmember Evslin Great, thanks
Council Chair Kaneshiro Are there any further questions? Again, we
do have the amendment on the floor, right now, but again the amendment is just a
COUNCIL MEETING 46 JUNE 17, 2020
housekeeping, very similar to the actual Bill, also, just making the language
consistent Are there any further questions regarding the amendment?
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding the floor amendment)
The motion to amend Proposed Draft Bill (No 2794), as circulated, and as
shown in the Floor Amendment, which is attached herto as Attachment was
then put, and carried by a vote of 6.0.1*
Council Chair Kaneshiro- Motion carried. Back to the main motion as
amended. Do we have any further questions on the Bill as amended from the
Councilmembers? Is there any further clarification from the Planning Department?
If not, is there any further discussion? Councilmember Kagawa
Councilmember Kagawa I want to thank Mr Hull and the Planning
Department for trying to level the playing field, make sure everyone follows
the.. There is no sense we have inspections or zoning or permits or any type of
follow-up without proper enforcement, so to have these rules set in place so it allows
our inspections to be sure they validate the law and makes sure the public follows the
law; make sure there is a process that there is a level playing field for everyone that
we make sure we have laws in place too and laws are not meant to be broken—I think
it helps, so again, I want to support and thank the Planning Department We always
have complaints about TVRs, how they operate, how they are a detriment to our
county, but it is very hard to enforce without working with the Planning Department
having a process in place that works and allows our inspectors to do their job and
succeed at it and have property owners comply and follow our laws and respect our
county enforcement who are just trying to make sure everyone plays by the same
rules and is fair for all I think that is what government is for—to enforce rules, be
sure that laws are fair and on the books for everyone to see Again, laws are not
meant to be broken—we are not a third world country. Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Chock
Councilmember Chock. I want to echo some of the sentiment, thank
you, Mr. Hull and your team for following through on everything that is illegal. About
five (5) years ago when we were having these discussions there was huge outcry from
the community to enforce and we looked at about four thousand (4,000) illegal
operations in last year when this original Bill was passed. We quickly moved those
numbers and with the software that you folks have implemented down to a couple
hundred I know at this time we are even lower than that given some of the current
situations So I think that the message I want to share with the public is that you
folks have answered that request to bring people into compliance who are in illegal
COUNCIL MEETING 47 JUNE 17, 2020
activity Let us move in the right direction and everything we have invested in
Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Councilmember Cowden
Councilmember Cowden I want to appreciate the Planning
Department for the work that you do that does take that five thousand dollar ($5,000)
fine down to five hundred dollars ($500). These laws are not just about TVR, this is
about everything, so the part that I get nervous about is the part that is about
everything When we have a government that is going to work kindly with the goal
of solving the problem, I am comfortable with that. What makes me uncomfortable
is the potential that is there and how high it can be, so if it was ten thousand
dollars ($10,000) per day and when I look at how many properties are out of
compliance, particularly for general permitting, maybe less for what is built moving
forward because I think we have a new expectation, so when there is legally
nonconforming ability, all these elements that make it easier that is better to me, but
ten thousand dollars ($10,000)per day—I know that is an existing policy, it continues
to make me very uncomfortable I appreciate you saying that only two (2) TVR had
action taken on them, maybe another time we can look at the people that I am helping
that have nothing to do with TVR, they are all Agricultural properties that are under
debilitating issues that has gone to the Bureau of Conveyances It might be a slight
nuance on this, but I am working with people There is justification for my concerns
Oftentimes when someone is hostile to another party and these things are complaint
driven, I am worried we are setting policy right now that in five (5) or ten (10) years
from now with different people in office, we could have a real problem, we could push
a lot of our community away So I hold that concern, but I appreciate that is not the
expression at present.
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Councilmember Evslin
Councilmember Evslin. Thank you, Chair I am somewhat echoing
Councilmember Cowden One, I think that this Bill is important to pass now, I think
the original lien bill was important to pass also, I voted for it. I think it is critical
that you have the power to force some of these chronic offenders to come into
compliance, especially for TVR because these folks can make so much money with
rent and flouting our laws, so I support it for that reason My original concern, which
I expressed when we first passed the Bill, was I do think we started having unofficial
affordable housing policy based on illegal rentals I myself, when I lived on O`ahu,
lived there for six (6) years, but half the time I lived in units with six (6) or seven (7)
unrelated individuals in the house, which was a violation of O`ahu's Zoning Code and
would be in violation of our Kaua`i Zoning Code, but it was the only way we could
afford a home I think those are just a couple of couples renting a room in a house
situation. I think we have the same situation here in a number of different ways I
am certain that you folks as the Planning Department, right now, you are not using
COUNCIL MEETING 48 JUNE 17, 2020
this power to crack those folks into compliance and I think I heard you acknowledge
it on the floor, Mr. Hull, this sort of black market for housing and it exists for a reason
because we have this myriad of complex laws that makes it hard for people to build
affordable housing. You yourself and your department have worked tirelessly to
untangle that and make it easier for people. That is why I feel comfortable passing
the Bill because I know where you folks are at and I know how hard you work to make
it easier for people to come into compliance and for us to be able to approve more
affordable housing. My fear in the long term is just that your position has a lot of
power knowing it is so important, that I guess we are appointing people like you going
forward in the future that continue to work towards these efforts But anyways I am
going to support this Bill, I supported the last one, but I do have a little bit of
hesitation that we are setting policy for the long term that could be used in a possibly
overzealous and precarious fashion, but thank you folks and for all of your work.
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Kuali`i
Councilmember Kuali`i• I just want to add my thanks, mahalo nut boa
to you, Mr Hull, and everyone at the Planning Department, Administration, and to
those before you I know this has been many years in the making and this is more
about fine tuning the law so that you can do your job better when it comes to
enforcement The community is most concerned about illegal TVRs and making sure
that you have the tools you need, as from the county the funding you need for
enforcement The only thing I would think and I remember when we passed
increasing the fine to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) a day and how that was
necessary because there were violators where the current fine was minor to them and
they could easily pay it because the moneys they were making were incredible—their
daily and monthly rate, so a small fine is no deterrent, if you will, so it was important
for that fine to be increased When you say only two (2) TVRs had action taken on
them, since the ten thousand dollar ($10,000) fine has been in place, most people have
not been assessed or paid those fines.
Council Chair Kaneshiro Mr Hull, you are on mute
Mr Hull Sorry, Councilmember Kuali`i You just
asked if those two (2) properties that we are pursuing lien actions have not paid their
fines
Councilmember Kuali`i Has the ten thousand dollar ($10,000) a day
fine been assessed and collected on anyone?
Mr Hull For those two (2) properties that we are
pursuing lien actions, there have been a number of ten thousand dollar ($10,000)
fines assessed on both of them and they refused to acknowledge or pay That is why
we have stepped it up to the next level In some cases they have refused to appeal
COUNCIL MEETING 49 JUNE 17, 2020
our decision; they are essentially ignoring the authority that Chapter 8, Kaua`i
County Code gives to the Planning Department to shut these operations down and
fine them They do not even appeal our decision, they just keep on operating
regardless, so we have moved those two (2) cases up into the lien scenario.
Councilmember Kuali`i Right, so could the concern of the ten
thousand dollar ($10,000) fine being applied elsewhere Could we have separated out
the ten thousand dollar ($10,000) fine or maybe even something higher for illegal
TVR only? I know I am talking about a future potential Bill
Mr. Hull I will be honest, I do not think it is necessary
at this point, I mean we could take a higher bill, I would not say no to it What we
are finding for the most part is having the ability to hold the line and keep fighting it
out in court in most of these illegal TVR operations I need to thank the Office of the
County Attorney for being steadfast in participating in that process with us, so letting
it unfold—a lot of this is quite honestly going to unfold in the Intermediate Court of
Appeals (ICA) for the next three (3) years We are at that level when we hit them
with fines (inaudible) litigative measure at this point. Like I said earlier, for the most
part, when people get the compliance notice and they receive that fine, they get
shocked and get into compliance relatively quickly It is a handful of bad apples
that...I will not say no to higher fines, but I do not think it is necessary Then
concerning other uses that perhaps the ten thousand dollar ($10,000) fines should
affect only illegal TVR, I would say you do not want to say that just TVR are the bad
apples that can potentially be out there, there are other uses that have pretty
significant negative impact in the neighborhood area that have that ten thousand
dollar ($10,000) fine in there in cases where they do not want to come into compliance
is a useful tool Like I said, I can appreciate Councilmember Cowden and
Councilmember Evslin's concern about any authority having the potential to abuse
their fining power and that is the appointment process essentially, is ensuring that
individuals, like myself, that have these authorities do not abuse them and use them
judiciously and only applying them when necessary.
Councilmember Kuali`i. It does sound like, too, you made the point
about, you are looking more, you are not trying to be punitive, you are trying to bring
folks into compliance and that overwhelmingly that is what is happening When it
comes to the handful of bad apples, how long do you give them? It seems like you are
trying to allow them to be compliant It has been over a year for these two (2) after
they have refused to pay the ten thousand dollar ($10,000) fine and you have now
moved to lien You have given them a lot of time, should we not maybe be giving
them so much?
Mr. Hull. That is part of why we went to Council later
last year to get the lien power So now that we have the lien powers we are levying
COUNCIL MEETING 50 JUNE 17, 2020
on them and we hope to have a much more successful effect at bringing them into
compliance Now that we do have a bit of a "heavier stick" I guess you can call it
Councilmember Kuali`i Alright, thank you so much
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Councilmember Cowden, do you have a
question or discussion9
Councilmember Cowden. Pardon me?
Council Chair Kaneshiro Do you have a question or discussion
Councilmember Cowden- I have a piece of I do not know, can I just say
its
Council Chair Kaneshiro If you are going to ask a question I will
suspend the rules.
Councilmember Cowden No, it is more of a discussion.
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Okay.
Councilmember Cowden. I want to say, I am going to vote yes today
with reservations. I feel like it is important to advance this. I respect a lot of the
intention behind it, but to expect an amendment from me next time and I would like
to work with you, if possible Mr. Hull because I would like to see us find a way to
remove the undue stress that might be there for these either crowded neighborhoods
or properties where we have to help people come into compliance some way without
killing them A lot of the housing is all illegal housing that we have, so I think if we
had some sort of punishment that was appropriate to the valuation of the property or
where we can design something to actually capture the bad apples, because this can
crush the people who do not have money and is not effective with the people who do
I believe I am the only member of the Council who did not grow up on Kaua`i I did
not move here until I was twenty-one (21) and when I have gone back over the years
to other States, I have had the experience of seeing what has become a standard
practice in other places of replacing impoverished areas of a city to becoming a
revenue positive area This type of ordinance or enforcement policy can have someone
come in from the outside and just buy up a whole problematic area that is reliant on
welfare, social services, and costs the County and the State a lot of money—remove
them all and replace it with people who bring a lot of money into it that were
gentrification. This to me is a tool for future gentrification and I understand it is not
the intention of anyone here that would be proposing it or passing it, but I see the
potential of it is really outside of my comfort zone So I want to work with you to
come up with something to at least propose—everyone can say no if they want to, but
COUNCIL MEETING 51 JUNE 17, 2020
I want to have something that does not keep me up at night and very distressed that
maybe five (5) or ten (10) years from now we will replace our population.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Okay Anyone else If not, roll call vote
The motion for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No 2794) as amended on first
reading, that it be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be scheduled
for July 22, 2020, and it be referred to the Planning Committee was then put,
and carried by the following vote
FOR PASSAGE Chock, Cowden, Evslin,
Kagawa, Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL— 6,
AGAINST PASSAGE: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING Brun TOTAL— 1*,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING. None TOTAL— 0
Ms. Fountain-Tamgawa. Six (6) ayes.
Council Chair Kaneshiro- That concludes our business on our Council
Meeting Agenda Seeing no further business and hearing no objections, this Council
Meeting is now adjourned
ADJOURNMENT.
There being no further business, the Council Meeting adjourned at 11 41 a m
Respectfully submitted,
q?() -
JADE K FOUNTAIN-TANIGAWA
County Clerk
'JY
*Beginning with the March 11, 2020 Council Meeting and until further notice,
Councilmember Arthur Brun will not be present due to U S v. Arthur Brun et al ,
Cr No 20-00024-DKW (United States District Court), and therefore will be noted as
excused (i e , not present).
Attachment
(June 17, 2020)
FLOOR AMENDMENT
Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2794), Relating to Enforcement, Legal Procedures, and
Penalties
Introduced by• Councilmember MASON K CHOCK (By Request)
Amend Proposed Draft Bill (No 2794) in its entirety as follows
"SECTION 1. [Findings and Purpose The proposed bill clarifies
the enforcement, legal procedures, and penalties that applies to violations of Kaua`i
County Code Chapter 10, and clarifies the title for Chapter 10 as "Community
Development Plans "] Purpose. The purpose of this Ordinance is to amend
Chapter 10, Section 10-7, Kaua`i County Code 1987, as amended, relating to
Enforcement, Legal Procedures, and Penalties to clarify the enforcement, legal
procedures, and penalties that apply to violations of Chapter 10, and to clarify the
title for Chapter 10 as "Community Development Plans."
SECTION 2 The title of Chapter 10 is hereby amended as follows-
"Chapter 10 [SPECIAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS] COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT PLANS"
SECTION 3 Chapter 10, Section 10-7 1 of Kaua`i County Code 1987, as
amended, is hereby amended as follows-
"[Sec 10-7 1 Designated
Any violation of any article, section or provision of this Chapter shall be
subject to the enforcement, legal procedures, and penalties provided for in
Chapter 8, Article 3 of the Kaua`i County Code 1987, as amended ]
Sec. 10-7 1 Permit Required.
No person shall undertake any construction or development or carry on
any activity or use, for which a Zoning Permit is required by this Chapter, or
obtain a Building Permit for construction, development, activity or use
regulated by this Chapter, without first obtaining the required Zoning Permit."
SECTION 4 Chapter 10, Article 7, of the Kaua`i County Code 1987, as
amended, is hereby amended by adding a new Section 10-7 2 to read as follows.
"Sec. 10-7.2 Enforcement, Legal Procedures and Penalties
(a) Enforcement, Legal Procedures and Penalties
(1) All departments, officials, and public employees
vested with the duty or authority to issue permits or licenses shall
conform to the provisions of this Chapter, and shall issue no such
permits or licenses for construction, development, uses, activities,
subdivisions or other purposes which would be in conflict with the
provisions of this Chapter; any such permits or licenses, if issued
in conflict with the provisions of this Chapter shall be void.
(2) It shall be the duty of the Planning Commission and
Planning Director to enforce the provisions of this Chapter and it
shall be the duty of all law enforcement officers of the County of
Kaua`i to enforce this Chapter and all the provisions thereof.
(3) Any person convicted of violating or causing or
permitting the violation of any of the provisions of this Chapter,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine
not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000 00) After conviction,
a separate offense is committed upon each day during or on which
a violation occurs or continues
(4) Any building or structure or other improvement or
development set up, erected, constructed, altered, enlarged,
converted, moved, or maintained contrary to the provisions of this
Chapter or any use of land contrary to the provisions of this
Chapter shall be unlawful and a public nuisance The County
Attorney shall immediately commence an action or proceeding for
the abatement, removal, or enjoinment thereof in the manner
provided by law, and shall take such other steps, and shall apply
to such courts as may have jurisdiction to grant relief that will
abate or remove such building, structure, improvement,
development or use, and restrain and enjoin any person from
setting up, erecting, building, maintaining, or using any such
building, structure, improvement or development, or using any
property contrary to the provisions of this Chapter.
(b) Civil Fines.
(1) If the Director of the Planning Department
determines that any person, firm or corporation is not complying
with a notice of violation, the Director may have the party
responsible for the violation served, by mail or delivery, or by
posting of the property which address is the most current address
reflected in the Real Property tax records, or by publishing such
notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the County of
Kaua`i should previous notification efforts not be accepted, with an
order pursuant to this Section The order may require the party
responsible for the violation to do any or all of the following. (A)
correct the violation within the time specified in the order; (B) pay
a civil fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000 00) per day
for each day in which the violation persists, in the manner and at
the time and place specified in the order All civil fines shall be
deposited to the Planning Enforcement Account within Fund 251
(2) The order shall advise the party responsible for the
violation that the order shall become final thirty (30) calendar
days after the date of its dehvery or posting on the property, or
publishing of such notice in a newspaper of general circulation in
the County of Kauai The order shall also advise that the
Director's action may be appealed to the Planmng Commission.
(3) The provisions of the order issued by the Director
under this Section shall become final thirty (30) calendar days
after the service or posting on the property, or publishing of such
notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the County of
Kaua`i, of the order. The parties responsible for the violation may
appeal the order to the Planmng Commission pursuant to its
rules The form of this appeal must conform to the Planning
Commission's rules However, an appeal to the Planning
Commission shall not stay any provision of the order.
(4) The Director may institute a civil action in any court
of competent ,urisdiction for enforcement of any order issued
pursuant to this Section Where the civil action has been
instituted to enforce the civil fine imposed by said order, the
Director need only show that the notice of violation and order
were served, that a civil fine was imposed, the amount of the civil
fine imposed has not been paid; that either the order has not been
appealed or that if appealed, the order was sustained by the
Commission and/or any Court action
(5) The Director may place a lien on the property if the
violation has not been corrected or the civil fine imposed has not
been paid within mnety (90) days of the order. The Director shall
obtain approval from the County Attorney prior to the placement
of any liens
A. Said lien shall be recorded with the State of
Hawaii, Bureau of Conveyances or registered in the Office
of the Assistant Registrar of the Land Court, and shall
identify the owner's name, address of the property, tax map
key number of the property, and include copies of pertinent
documentation as to the failure of the property owner to
pay the civil fine Any cost incurred in the filing of the lien
shall be part of the hen for the civil fine set forth
B The hen may be enforced and foreclosed by
action of the Director in circuit court, and the proceedings
before the circuit court shall be conducted in the same
manner and form as ordinary foreclosure proceedings If
the owners or claimants of the property against which a
lien is sought to be foreclosed are at the time out of the
County or cannot be served within the County, or if the
owners are unknown, and the fact shall be made to appear
by affidavit to the satisfaction of the court, and it shall in
like manner, appear prima facie that a cause of action
exists against such owners or claimants or against the
property described in the complaint, or that such owners or
claimants are necessary or proper parties to the action, the
court may grant an order that the service may be made in
the manner provided by Chapter 634, H R S In any such
case it shall not be necessary to obtain judgment and have
execution issued and returned unsatisfied, before
proceeding to foreclose the lien in the manner provided
C. The Director or subordinate shall, at the
expense of the debtor, upon payment of the amount of the
lien, execute and deliver to the debtor a sworn satisfaction,
which shall be entered in the general indexes of the Bureau
of Conveyances or noted on the certificate if a notation of
the original notice was made on any Land Court Certificate
of Title.
(6) The fines collected pursuant to this Section shall be
deposited into the Planning Enforcement Account within Fund
251. The fines are hereby deemed appropriated upon receipt and
may be expended to retain independent contractors to assist in
the enforcement of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance and
other Codes, Statutes, or regulations the Planning Department
has the authority to enforce. The fines may be expended for
materials, supplies, education, training, and legal representation,
and equipment that facilitate inspection and enforcement of such
violations Council notification is required for any single
expenditure from this account which exceeds ten thousand dollars
($10,000 00) Any fines collected when the account has an excess
of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000 00) in uncommitted
funds shall be transferred and deposited into the General Fund
at the close of the fiscal year. The fines collected shall not lapse
at the close of the fiscal year The Planning Department shall
annually report to the Council as part of the Mayor's budget
submittal on March 15th of each year, the expenditures and
outcomes of said account "
SECTION 5 Severability [The invalidity of any word, section, clause,
paragraph, sentence, part or portion of this ordinance shall not affect the validity of
any other part of this ordinance that can be given effect without such invalid part or
parts ] If any provision of this Ordinance or the application thereof to any person,
persons, or circumstances is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect the other
provisions or applications of this Ordinance that can be given effect without the
invalid provision or application, and to this end, the provisions of this Ordinance are
severable.
SECTION 6 [This Ordinance shall take effect upon its approval ]
Ordinance material to be repealed is bracketed New material is underscored When
revising, compiling, or printing this Ordinance for inclusion in the Kaua`i County
Code 1987, as amended, the brackets, bracketed material, and underscoring need not
be included
SECTION 7 This Ordinance shall take effect upon its approval"
(Material to be deleted is bracketed Material to be added is underscored
Highlighted material is new.)
V\AMENDMENTS\2020\FA PDB 2794 Planning - CH 10 Enforcement CNT_ss docx