HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/08/2020 Council minutes COUNCIL MEETING
JULY 8, 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, July 8, 2020 at 9 11 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 Chock moved for approval of the agenda, as circulated,
seconded by Councilmember Kuali`i
(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 members?
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 JULY 8, 2020
MINUTES of the following meetings of the Council
June 17, 2020 Council Meeting
June 17, 2020 Public Hearing re Bill No 2793
June 24, 2020 Special Council Meeting
Councilmember Chock moved to approve the Minutes as circulated, seconded
by Councilmember Kuali`i
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding these agenda items)
Council Chair Kaneshiro Is there any discussion on the minutes from
the members9
The motion to approve the Minutes, as circulated, was then put, and carried
by a vote of 601*
Council Chair Kaneshiro• The motion is carried Clerk, can we skip to
page 2, C 2020-177 We have one (1) testifier We want to allow them to testify now,
at this time
There being no objections, C 2020-177 was taken out of order
COMMUNICATIONS
C 2020-177 Communication (06/22/2020) from the Managing Director,
requesting Council approval to accept and expend additional Emergency Use funding
in the amount of$38,542,373.54 from the State of Hawai`i pursuant to Act 12, Session
Laws of Hawaii 2018 as amended by Act 35, Session Laws of Hawai`i 2019, for disaster
relief and mitigation measures, as a result of the heavy rains and flooding that occurred
in April 2018.
Councilmember Kagawa moved to approve C 2020-177, seconded by
Councilmember Kuah`i
Council Chair Kaneshiro- With that, I will suspend the rules. Maka'ala,
you are the sole testifier on this item. You will have a total of six (6) minutes, if you
need it I am not sure if you can see the light on the screen, but it will turn yellow when
you have thirty (30) seconds, and red when your six (6) minutes are up. You may start
and state your name for the record, please.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony
COUNCIL MEETING 3 JULY 8, 2020
MAKA`ALA KA'AUMOANA. Mahalo, Chair. Yes, I can see the hght My
name is Maka'ala Ka'aumoana, I am the Executive Director for the Hanalei Watershed
Hui (HWH) We wanted to testify today, specifically in strong support to accept and
expend the funds appropriated in this communication This money provides urgent and
longer term work to reduce the impacts of flooding on Kaua`i. Specifically, the north
shore has engaged, as you all know, in commumty resilience and flood mitigation
planning for decades. This funding is required to implement those plans. We
appreciated the previous support of this Council in Resolution No 2019-73, which
recognized the need for science and data to guide our process We would like to thank
Representative Nadine K. Nakamura for her support and hard work on this, and Mayor
Derek S.K. Kawakami, for supporting our commumty in this way This is an example
of true collaboration and the results will benefit us all This money is for "boots in the
mud" and solid science, for sure, will make the differences the community is calling for
Councilmembers, mahalo, for your support and commumty-based planning and
fact-based efforts. That is it. Mahalo.
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows.
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Thank you With that, we will go back to the
interview for the Board of Ethics.
INTERVIEW
BOARD OF ETHICS.
• Kelly M Gentry—Term ending 12/31/2022
Council Chair Kaneshiro Ellen, I am sure you have a fabulous
introduction for Kelly, as you always do However, we cannot hear you
ELLEN CHING, Boards & Commissions Administrator. Can you hear meg
Council Chair Kaneshiro Yes, we can hear you now.
Ms Ching- Great If I can do a little bit of a test for Kelly,
she has been having problems with her audio Kelly, are you able to hear us? Kelly?
Let me check with her now
SCOTT K. SATO, Deputy County Clerk- Kelly, is your microphone still
muted?
Ms. Ching. Hi, Kelly Scott, are you seeing her on mute?
COUNCIL MEETING 4 JULY 8, 2020
Mr Sato Actually, she just left the meeting.
Ms. Clung. Oh, darn
Council Chair Kaneshiro Another option may be—I do not know, Ellen,
if you were texting her, but you might have to call her and put her on speaker or
something like that to make it work
Ms Clung. Okay.
KELLY M GENTRY I can hear you all now
Council Chair Kaneshiro Okay, we can hear
Ms Gentry I am not entirely sure, if you can see me
Councilmember Cowden We can hear you
Ms Clung Yes, we can see and hear you now
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Okay, so Ellen
Ms Gentry I am sorry I just assumed it was a privacy
thing, so I could not hear you all
Council Chair Kaneshiro Ellen, we will let you start and then Kelly can
chime in right after that I am sure you will give a good introduction for Kelly
Ms Ching. Thank you, Chair and Councilmembers Good
morning, Ellen Ching, Boards& Commissions Administrator This morning I am happy
to introduce Kelly Gentry. Kelly earned a Bachelor's Degree in Social Work and
Nonprofit Management from the University of Wisconsin Superior For many years she
travelled the country working in various communities, establishing services in new
models and support for victims of human trafficking Her life took a turn when she
decided on a hiatus from a very stressful career and made a move to St Thomas in the
Caribbean and met her husband After seven (7)years, they decided to leave the Virgin
Islands to support their daughter's desire to pursue a college education on the mainland
and settled in Chicago,but island life kept calling and with the devastation of Hurricane
Irma, returning to the Caribbean was not an option, so they settled on Kaua`i with their
three-year-old son, Owen Kelly currently works at the Young Women's Christian
Association (YWCA) providing alternatives to violence therapy to offenders When she
is not working she enjoys hiking, swimming, reading, yoga, and eating her favorite
Greek food She is a life-long learner and traveler When asked, "If money was no
object, where would you travel to?" She immediately said, "Egypt" Kelly has never
COUNCIL MEETING 5 JULY 8, 2020
served on a board or commission With her wide range of professional and personal
experiences, I am grateful that this active mother is willing to lend her energy and
talents to the Board of Ethics Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro Okay, thank you Kelly, do you have anything
to add to that introduction?
Ms Gentry I do not Thank you, Ellen.
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Are there any questions for Kelly?
Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden- Thank you so much Kelly for being willing to
work on the Board of Ethics What is your understanding of the responsibilities of the
Board of Ethics?
Ms. Gentry. As I looked through and read the requirements
and expectations, I look at this as an opportunity as checks and balance for our elected
officials I think it is really important in establishing a healthy and driving community
that there is this sort of higher level of expectations that we have for them and this is a
way to make sure that they are following along with that.
Councilmember Cowden. When you are looking at that, is there any kind
of training that you get or any kind of expectation...if there is someone before the Board
of Ethics that might be under consideration, how are you able to see both sides of the
issue? Is there training on what you are going to be facing so that you are able to make
a fair decision? Have you had any exposure to what would be expected of you so that
you can treat someone before the Board of Ethics with ethical behavior?
Ms. Gentry. I have not had any formal training.
Councilmember Cowden Okay Have you been told that there would be
any training?
Ms Gentry I have not
Councilmember Cowden Okay, thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Chock
Councilmember Chock Thank you, Kelly for volunteering to serve on
this very important board I am just curious if there is a specific motivation around any
issues that you believe need to be addressed at this commission that has caused you to
take action.
COUNCIL MEETING 6 JULY 8, 2020
Ms Gentry There is not. It has been a practice of mine in
all communities that we live in to do something outside of my day-to-day expectations
of work and family to support the community that I am raising my children in. This is
a new thing for me, I have never been a part of local government, never served on any
board or commission of this sort. Up until now, I have always put myself into nonprofit
arenas, but for me, it is an opportunity to be more proactive to learn more about the
community that I care about and live in I definitely wanted to get myself involved in
something different
Councilmember Chock Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro Are there any further questions for Kelly?
Councilmember Kuali`i
Councilmember Kuah`i. I do not have a question, I just wanted to say,
of course I am famihar with your great work at the YWCA I really appreciate you
stepping up and being wilhng to serve, and I love what you just said about supporting
your commumty where you are raising your children and learning more about the
commumty that you care about We need more people to step up and be commissioners
just like you Thank you so much
Ms Gentry Thank you, KipuKai
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Is there anyone else? Councilmember Kagawa
Councilmember Kagawa Kelly, I just want to thank you for volunteering
to serve Like us, on the Council, a lot of us are laypeople and it is about having the
heart and integrity to make the right decisions for the people I am going to support
your nomination and just appreciate that you are willing to step up and do good work
for the County of Kaua`i, so thank you
Ms Gentry. Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Councilmember Cowden
Councilmember Cowden I just wanted to, again, thank you for being
willing, I am encouraged when I hear your background is in these very difficult issues
like child sex trafficking, that you would recognize that there are multiple dimensions
to different issues that come before you and how important it is to actually be taking a
serious look at what is being put before you and not simply being guided. Thank you
Ms. Gentry Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Evshn.
COUNCIL MEETING 7 JULY 8, 2020
Councilmember Evslin. Just to repeat what my colleagues have said,
"Thank you, Kelly" Anyone willing to serve in a volunteer capacity in one of our
County's Boards & Commissions is a hero in my mind, so I appreciate your willingness
to put yourself forward and spend the time doing that I am sure you are going to do a
great job
Ms Gentry. Thank you so much I look forward to it
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Is there anyone else? If not, I just want to say,
thank you, Kelly for being willing to volunteer for this important commission As far as
training goes, I was on the Cost Control Commission before I was on Council and we
did have training on Robert's Rules, how to conduct a meeting, I am not sure if we are
still doing that now with COVID-19, but I know our Boards & Commissions use to do it
every year for anyone that wanted to be part of it, even councilmembers to relearn it I
do know that even in your commission, there are a lot of resources on telling you how to
run a meeting, how the meeting is going to go, then as far as decision-making, the
decision-making is going to be all you, which I think everyone puts their faith in those
that you are going to make the decision that you feel is right and you are not going to
be influenced by anyone or anything besides what decision you want to make As far as
how the meeting will go, I am sure Ellen will provide the resources and you have other
people that have probably been on the board long enough to kind of help guide you on
how these meetings go There is usually, I think, a County Attorney that sits in on that
meeting also to make sure that the meeting runs smoothly. As far as how you make
decisions on ethics, I think that is the point of having such a wide variety of people on
the board take their values, character, and you make the decision that you feel is right
sitting on the board, so I really appreciate you being there Councilmember Cowden
Councilmember Cowden. I just wanted to comment on training I have
been on three (3) boards and we were robustly trained on Robert's Rules of Order In
no board that I have ever been on, where we have trained anything about the matter of
which we have responsibility about the consequences of decisions or anything of that
direction, so it just is very important to be looking and learning and not simply to be
guided Thank you
(Councalmember Chock was noted as not present.)
Council Chair Kaneshiro Again, with that thank you, Kelly. The vote
will come up at the next meeting Thank you for your time
Ms Gentry. Thank you for your time It was a pleasure
meeting you all.
Council Chair Kaneshiro Next up, is our consent calendar.
COUNCIL MEETING 8 JULY 8, 2020
CONSENT CALENDAR:
C 2020-172 Communication (06/08/2020) from the Director of Finance,
transmitting for Council information, the Period 10 Financial Reports — Statement of
Revenues, Statement of Expenditures and Encumbrances, Revenue Report, and
Detailed Budget Report as of April 30, 2020, pursuant to Section 21 of
Ordinance No. B-2019-856, relating to the Operating Budget of the County of Kaua`i for
Fiscal Year 2019-2020.
C 2020-173 Communication (06/10/2020) from Council Chair Kaneshiro,
providing written disclosure of a possible conflict of interest and recusal relating
to C 2020-169, regarding a Right-of-Entry Agreement to construct and/or repair
portions of Puhi Road for sidewalks and grading, as well as for construction related
to the Puhi Road drainage system, as he is employed by Grove Farm Company, Inc
C 2020-174 Communication (06/23/2020) from the Director of Finance,
transmitting for Council information, the Period 11 Financial Reports — Statement of
Revenues, Statement of Expenditures and Encumbrances, Revenue Report, and
Detailed Budget Report as of May 31, 2020, pursuant to Section 21 of
Ordinance No. B-2019-856, relating to the Operating Budget of the County of Kaua`i for
Fiscal Year 2019-2020
Councilmember Kagawa moved to receive C 2020-172, C 2020-173, and
C 2020-174 for the record, seconded by Councilmember Kuali`i
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Is there any discussion from the members on
the Consent Calendar?
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding these agenda items.)
The motion to receive C 2020-172, C 2020-173, and C 2020-174 for the record
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 Chock 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, please
COMMUNICATIONS
C 2020-175 Communication (06/17/2020)from Bryson Ponce, Assistant Chief of
Police, Investigative Services Bureau, requesting Council approval of the indemnity
provision within the Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grant
contract (request to apply for, receive, and expend grant funds approved during the
February 5, 2020 Council Meeting), which will provide funding from the State of
Hawai`i Department of the Attorney General to prepare for ANSI-ASQ National
Accreditation Board (ANAB) in the forensic disciplines of Crime Scene Investigation
and Friction Ridge Collection and Enhancement
COUNCIL MEETING 9 JULY 8, 2020
Councilmember Kagawa moved to approve C 2020-175, seconded by
Councilmember Kuali`i.
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Are there any questions on this item? If not,
we received no written testimony and no one signed up to testify. Is there any discussion
or questions from the members on this item? Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden I just wanted to comment that in the Citizens
Police Academy that I took, I was quite impressed with what happens in that crime
scene investigation effort and that it is really good what we do I want to acknowledge
that we are continuing with it and it has been very worthwhile. I appreciate the effort
that the Police Department makes to get the grants.
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Kagawa
(Councilmember Chock was noted as present)
Councilmember Kagawa I fully support this type of effort I think we all
see Bryson from time-to-time show up and there are cold cases on the news that they
are trying to solve These types of technologies will help the County of Kaua`i to uncover
some of those mysteries where there are no witnesses or what have you I think going
forward, giving our Kauai Police Department (KPD) the best tools they have to uncover
some of these cold cases, as well as new cases, I think is very valuable for our community
and the safety of our community Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Is there anyone else?
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding this agenda item)
The motion to approve C 2020-175 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6 0.1*
Council Chair Kaneshiro. The motion is carried Next item
C 2020-176 Communication (06/18/2020) from Councilmember Evslin and
Councilmember Chock, transmitting for Council consideration, a Proposed Draft Bill
to amend Chapter 5A, Article 11, Kaua`i County Code 1987, as amended, relating to
Real Property Tax.
Councilmember Chock moved to receive C 2020-176 for the record, 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 We will be hearing the Bill later on in the agenda
Is there any discussion from the members on this item?
COUNCIL MEETING 10 JULY 8, 2020
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding this agenda item.)
The motion to receive C 2020-176 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 2020-178 Communication (06/24/2020) from the County Attorney, requesting
Council approval to indemnify and hold harmless, the eHawaii gov entities from claims
of third parties arising out of the use of the services or materials provided. The
agreement will provide free access to the Bureau of Conveyances LandShark Platform
in order to review deeds of conveyances, grants of easements, rights of entries, mortgage
releases, land leases, infrastructure agreements, and etcetera
Councilmember Kuah`i moved to approve C 2020-178, seconded by
Councilmember Chock
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Jade, we need to go back to C 2020-177, we did
not finish that one We are on C 2020-178 Are there any questions on this item?
Councilmember Cowden. I have a question. Matt is with us, correct?
Council Chair Kaneshiro Correct
Councilmember Cowden Matt, can you just explain to us quickly what
the LandShark Platform is
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
MATTHEW M. BRACKEN, County Attorney The LandShark Platform
is the State's platform, which will give us access to the Bureau of Conveyances
documents. So what we will use it for is to pull deeds, depending on construction
contracts, whatever we need to pull deeds for or land purchases or whatever else, this
just gives us access to what the State has for free
Councilmember Cowden Great, thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro Okay Is there anyone else? 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.)
COUNCIL MEETING 11 JULY 8, 2020
The motion to approve C 2020-178 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6 0.1*
Council Chair Kaneshiro The motion is carried Clerk, can we go to
C 2020-177.
C 2020-177 Communication (06/22/2020) from the Managing Director,
requesting Council approval to accept and expend additional Emergency Use funding
in the amount of$38,542,373.54 from the State of Hawai`i pursuant to Act 12, Session
Laws of Hawai`i 2018 as amended by Act 35, Session Laws of Hawai`i 2019, for disaster
relief and mitigation measures, as a result of the heavy rains and flooding that occurred
in April 2018
Council Chair Kaneshiro With that, I will suspend the rules Mike will
go through some of the projects and give us a brief description on the projects and maybe
just a brief description on the thirty-eight million dollars ($38,000,000) also I believe
this is money from the State that we had from the north shore flooding a few years ago
Mike, you have the floor.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended
MICHAEL A DAHILIG, Managing Director. Chair, can you hear me
alright9
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Yes.
Mr Dahing. Good morning, Chair and members of the
Council Mike Dahihg, Managing Director, for the record I am requesting on behalf of
the Administration, the receipt and acceptance of remaining funds out of moneys
originally appropriated by the State Legislature to fund response and recovery related
to the April 2018 flood. The amount of thirty-eight million five hundred forty-two
thousand three hundred seventy-three dollars and fifty-four cents ($38,542,373 54)that
is before you, is moneys that were not expended by the State due to the State
Department of Transportation being able to recover the cost of this from the Federal
Highways Administration through their emergency funds rather than using State
moneys Over the past few months, the Administration has been working with the
Legislative Delegation, as well as other stakeholders to try to figure out how to work
with the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA), which held responsibility
for these funds to one, see if the moneys from the lapsing by June 30th, so the moneys
that were in hold based off of Act 35, Session Laws of Hawai`i 2019, would have lapsed
at the end of this fiscal year The second was to be able to figure out how to work
HI-EMA since they were responsible with the funds and the State our Kauai
Legislative Delegation, to figure out how to disburse the funds and have the county be
the encumbering agency to be able to again, preserve the moneys as well as disburse it
in align with the recovery efforts across the island One thing to keep in mind is that
COUNCIL MEETING 12 JULY 8, 2020
Act 35, they did on purpose of the moneys, which allowed the moneys to be used for
mitigation efforts, and that is a very significant distinction, whereas Act 12, only
required that it could be used for just response and recovery So the mitigation
opportunity that Act 35 presented to any state agency and the county via our portion of
Act 12, which was twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) that we currently hold right
now, was to be able to use the moneys for broader uses to help the resilience within our
community for future flooding events What you see before you is a list of the number
of projects that have been agreed to by HI-EMA through General Hara, who is the head
of that department, as well as the Kaua`i Legislative Delegation, and Mayor Kawakami
There are a number of projects that relate to either stream clearing as sub-grants of
planning for resilience in watershed areas Part improvements in the north shore area
regarding a response in our base yards and life style items related to mitigating parking
issues on the north shore and the implementation of further parking mitigation efforts
related to overtourism in the north shore One thing of notice and it is the largest ticket
item in the list—again, because Act 35 does allow for mitigation is two (2) projects that
related to our items on the west side, one regarding Waimea levee and flood gate repairs
and the other one regarding Waimea stream crossing Let me go over those just for a
second The Waimea levee and stream flood gate repairs, as we know, Waimea Town
has been the set by a number of flooding issues over the past few years We also know
that the levee that is protecting Waimea Town is not the current standard of flood line
to be able to have the area not be considered a flood area pursuant to the federal flood
program So what this eighteen million dollars ($18,000,000) as proposed would do is
one, provide mitigation for a lot of the flooding issues that are already out there, but to
try to bring the levee into compliance so that we not have residents in that area that
require high cost flood insurance from the federal government The other item is stream
crossing issue that there was a community across Waimea Stream, that has had issues
with access due to their fort being flooded out At the request of Representative
Morikawa, we worked with her and the community to be able to fund this propose
funding for this area to be able to reestablish a vehicular access to this residential and
for a community that has lost access due to that Other than that Chair, the list before
you, we request the Council's acceptance and obligation to expend these funds and if
you have any questions, I am available to answer them Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Okay, thank you Councilmember Chock
Councilmember Chock Thank you, Chair Thank you, Mike, for the
overview I really appreciate the long, arduous journey to get here in receiving these
funds I know it has been difficult and has gone in a circle I just have a question around
the contingency funding that you have in the last line item and if you could explain the
two million dollars ($2,000,000) that you have there
Mr Dahing• Actually, we have two (2) areas that kind of
relate to stub-outs for future needs. So what is actually set for the two million
dollars ($2,000,000) that is the mitigation sub-grants, what that is meant to do is take
COUNCIL MEETING 13 JULY 8, 2020
some of the planning items that are being done and hopefully have funding available
for implementation The contingency would be able to sway in some of those activities,
as well as if any of the hard Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) items do run over
budget So that is what the contingency is meant for It is not meant to expand the
scope of any other project on here other than backup some of the items that are beyond
here.
Councilmember Chock. Thank you As a follow-up, it sounds like it is
backing up the Planmng sub-grant and that work to come to an agreement on how to
manage our watersheds So I am curious, because the elephant in the room is sort of
jurisdictional oversight in where the county and the state lines are delineated, as it
relates to this funding for Planmng, is it the intent for that to come to some conclusion
or separation of whose kuleana it will be or is the Planning funds specific to the project
that is at hand that we have funding to complete?
Mr Dahing• You bring up a good question, Councilmember
Chock It is a decades-long issue that is parallel to a lot of the conversations that you
hear about with roads in limbo and whose responsibility is it to do such work. A lot of
the debate rests on the interpretation of Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS),
Section 46-11 5, which discusses the county's obligation under state law to maintain
channels, stream beds, stream banks, and drainage ways. The language, quite frankly,
in that statute is circular and it is what we believe leads us to only be responsible for
channels, stream beds, stream banks, and drainage ways that the County owns The
very last sentence of that statute requires that the State or the privately owned areas
are responsible for that maintenance So we run into a bit of an issue when we are
going to have to do maintenance on either private land or land owned by the state,
where we would then have to go in and ask for rights-of-entry and in particular, if it is
State land, we have to ask for permission from the State Department of Land and
Natural Resources (DLNR), which tends to be a very arduous and months long process
We do not believe that at this time it is financially or operationally in the county's
interest to create an office, department, or division that focuses strictly on stream
maintenance We believe in doing so we would one, have issues with being inconsistent
in how we interpret HRS Section 46-11 5, but also we would have issues with the
financial liability on being able to do this properly and consequentially any damages
liability should that type of work be put within the province and responsibility of the
County, so that is why in this funding have been earmarking moneys as sub-grants to
either lessors or owners to do the stream channel maintenance within their areas as to
avoid having to get rights-of-entry, liability questions resolved, and also make sure to
at least have moneys to be able to do the work themselves
Councilmember Chock. Thank you I think that is really important to
how we can streamline this, as we know it takes a long time and effort just to get to
access and mitigate some of these needs My last question is around the parking studies
that we have slated and there has been a lot of discussion here about how we can
COUNCIL MEETING 14 JULY 8, 2020
manage parking particularly for visitors and what the capacity is for these parking
areas. Are these funds that you have stated here today going to also look into how to
mitigate those needs?
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as not present)
Mr Dahihg I think it builds an ongoing effort that Joel Guy
and his crew and the Hanalei Initiative have that has already been implemented as
part of the Ke`e Beach Initiative We have already provided county funding for parking
as part of the reopen back in 2019, so far the shuttle program, as well as what has been
going on around the shuttle program before COVID-19 seemed to have a lot of positive
results, but one gap area continues to be park and storage. So right now, a lot of the
parking areas used to facihtate the shuttle program are right now dust—I would not use
the phrase, "Band-Aid" loosely, but they are not long-term strategies for being able to
see less rental cars to shuttle to beach types of situations We hope that with the study
grant that the Hanalei Initiative would be able to find a long-term solution for that and
be able to implement a long-term solution to be able to have the shuttle program be
seamless and not a problem
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Councilmember Cowden, then Councilmember
Kuah`i
Councilmember Cowden- Thank you. I am very happy to see this, I
applaud this effort and I want to acknowledge these great points of emphasis from
Councilmember Chock I have been working a lot with these different individuals in
the river plains that have had problems, so I am thrilled to see this, actually, because it
has been long needed My question is surrounding, are we working to identify some
way to develop partnerships between the County and the State? Because our dynamic
watersheds are really changing right now with all of this Albizia tree overgrowth and
other types of invasive plants and the increasing hardened development inside these
floodplains, so even if the watersheds are state, those developed properties are county,
and the people in it are that way, so when we do this, is this simply, "We get the money
and we get to know what to do with it " Or did I hear you correctly, that it will come
with some partnering with the state in helping us
(Counctilmember Kagawa was noted as present)
Mr. Dahing. I think you bring up a good point,
Councilmember. I do want to confirm and impress upon the Council and their position
on trying to acquire with the state to maintain community and work with the state on
trying to find broader solutions, rather than get into a pointing game. Unfortunately,
we have bad experiences in the past where we get into the pointing game and our
communities get put in the bad type of situation,which we do not want to do A"class A"
example was when the Waimea River Mouth was suddenly dropped off of the State's
COUNCIL MEETING 15 JULY 8, 2020
program and the County had to jump in to be able to make sure that Waimea does not
flood That is not the type of cooperation/commumcation we want to see We want to
see the types of things where we can give resources like these and we are very thankful
for them, where it benefits both the state and the county. Just a thought, the extent of
the partnership,just to answer your question Councilmember, is simply the granting of
the money from HI-EMA to help take care some of the stream clearing items that you
see on the list, as well as mitigation in the future, but in terms of the comprehensive
islandwide plan, it would have to be something that has to be warmly welcomed,
developed, and resourced properly at the state and the county.
Councilmember Cowden. A follow-up on that, is the Waimea stream
crossing where the river has sort of taken it out, where cars cannot get across it any
longer. How will this two million three hundred thousand dollars ($2,300,000)—will
that actually fix the stream crossing9 Can we put a ford on the river there9
Mr Dahilig Absolutely, there was one previously and there
actually has been engineering design work in the amount of five hundred thousand
dollars ($500,000) from a previous state appropriation that has been done already. So
this is meant to actually implement that construction project, so we already have those
design plans in hand
Councilmember Cowden- In Waimha, I noticed up at the (inaudible)
where the river forks, that looks like what has been there for a couple hundred years, it
has been destroyed The rocks are not right there, so we are seeing a lot of change in
the river a little further down, so those houses in the river delta are all stressed along
the changing riverbank Is this just a study or does it actually help to fix that area up
there? And are we hiring local subcontractors to fix that9
Mr Dahilig You bring up a good point concerning the
dynamic nature of Waimha From what has been told to me, the place name of Waimha
should give an indication of the violent nature of water as it goes through that ahupua`a.
Having looked at the situation you are describing, Polly Phillips and myself walked up
there with some landowners to take a look at where the delta splits-off What we were
noticing is that the actual volume of water that came through with the "Rain 18" event
had slightly changed the course of the water that goes from mauka to makai What is
very apparent we also know from science that water always moves downhill and it is
going to find its path of least resistance and what has been happening is there was an
ancient ala wai system that had bisected the mouth up and has now created a point of
weakness where now water is flooding more during rain, minimal flooding events We
would hope that part of the study that the HWH would be conducting will take a look
at how to manage that change in course in an environmentally sound way Some of the
concerns about trying to harden roads on the delta at Alaeke have been the residents
call the bay their ice box and if we put structures or things that are petroleum based, it
could affect their livelihood and their ability to sustain themselves through fishing We
COUNCIL MEETING 16 JULY 8, 2020
have to be very careful as to what we do with the delta to ensure that it is in line with
the environmental values of the community while being able to maintain access to those
residents that are out there.
Councilmember Cowden. Thank you for clarifying the meaning of the
word in English of(inaudible)where it separates the water When we do the studies up
there and we are looking about hardened surfaces, will any of this look at the impacts
like many of the houses that are up there in the tight `tilti? They have had concrete
foundations and driveways, so it creates scouring around them that impacts the down
flow, across the road house, and basically putting a cavern in that area, it seems that
this grant and doing the study is worthwhile, so we look at the impacts of the erosion
and the scouring around hardened surfaces as we are permitting the building of these
houses and the driveways, especially in a tight valley area where it is impossible to
think that we would not have high flooding on almost any serious rain So I appreciate
what is happening here. This will be locally contracted study, so people who live within
these areas are going to have a greater level of input than what maybe happens on
O`ahu with the DLNR
Mr Dahihg Put it this way Councilmember, when you look
at the organizations that are going to be receiving some grants, all of the organizations
are Kaua`i organizations So the actual implementation that you are describing still is
up in the air, because we are not sure what the studies will show and one of the studies
will be able to be implemented and that is where the seven million two hundred
thousand dollars ($7,200,000) of funding comes in I think we share your thoughts on
this and we want to keep as much money of this thirty-eight million
dollars ($38,000,000) on-island, especially in light of the economic situation that we are
generally feeling across the board So that would be one of the items in our thought
process that studies do, point towards mitigation opportunities, in terms of CIP, that
we would impress upon either those that are responsible for spending the
implementation money or vice versa if we go out for bids, that we keep in mind that we
want to keep as much of this money on-island as possible.
Councilmember Cowden Thank you very much I am very excited about
this and I support it wholeheartedly
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Councilmember Kuah`i
Councilmember Kuah`i My question was on that line item, the north
shore watershed mitigation sub-grants of the seven million two hundred thousand
dollars ($7,200,000), I just wanted you to explain that in more detail and would that
involve an apphcation and an award process, because this is a sub-grant? If so, who is
eligible and how do they apply? The last part of my question is, why is it limited just to
the north shore? If it is similar to the contingency funds and about preventing future
floods and what have you; the stream channel management and some of the other
COUNCIL MEETING 17 JULY 8, 2020
things, do we not need that all over the island? If it is only limited to the north shore,
does that include Anahola?
Mr Dahilig In response to the first part of your question,
the thought process on this is meant as a way to take the information that comes out of
some of these studies and be able to implement it I think that is a concern that the
State Legislative Delegation has had with respect to. do we want plans to sit on the
shelf when we have the opportunity to actually have these plans put in motion, so that
is what the money would be used for. Geographically, I would suggest that when we
look at the areas that have been affected by this, the areas are largely centered on north
shore, Anahola is one of those areas as well, and some areas in Koloa One of the
questions that had come up is the language of Act 35 and how Act 35 expands
mitigation, then when we look at the Governor and the President's proclamations on
the rain 2018 disaster, they state that the whole island of Kaua`i was actually affected
by the floods, so the whole island is a disaster This is part of the nature of the fact that
the moneys that are coming in are from the State and we are a recipient of what would
be perceived as a grant from the State to expend the money in a way they see fit So
that was their direction to us in discussing the opportunity for moneys to be available
for mitigation and implementation of some of these potential CIP projects of studies,
that it be geographically focused on the hardest hit areas, which were on the north
shore In my interpretation of this, I would suggest that Anahola would be considered
part of that area, it is on that boarder line of a planning area, so I would not believe that
it would be not in line with it Ultimately, we would be responsible for the grant
management of it and I think it is reasonable to believe that Anahola would be included
in that area
Councilmember Kuah`r- Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro Are there any other questions from the
members
Councilmember Kuali`r- Oh, wait, did you say anything about whether
there would be an application and an award process?
Mr Dahrl g• That has seemed to be our best mechanism
across the board when we do give money to the private sector, particularly the nonprofit
sector to have it be competitive, so that would be the thought process At this point in
time, I do not see why we would not engage in some type of application or competitive
process, but if there are specific items that do come out of some of these studies that do
occur, it may be advantageous for us to "piggy back" on what they are doing, so I would
not want to be limiting in that aspect, but we have not—even with the exact money, we
have not deviated from the RFP competitive type of process to be able to have these
funds given out.
COUNCIL MEETING 18 JULY 8, 2020
Councilmember Kuah`i Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa- Mike, is there any timeline on completing and
spending this money?
Mr Dahihg The moneys are considered encumbered, so at
this point in time, they were considered spent by the State of Hawai`i. What we are
going to be obligated to do going forward is providing monthly reports on the progress
of spending to the HI-EMA, but we know that many of these projects are "time is of the
essence," so our thought process is not to just let it sit and to work as quickly as we can
One of the items that we—with respect to the Waimea levee—it is something that we
are actually in conversations with our Congressional Delegation to see if there is
broader partnerships that we can directly work with the Army Corps of Engineers on
levee fortifications and the flood mitigation Their federal assistance will greatly add to
capacity here, so that may take some time for us to be able to explore that avenue, but
with respect to the other items, we do believe that it is "time is of the essence," so we
are working on trying to get the money out as soon as we can
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Cowden
Councilmember Cowden I just have a follow-up to Councilmember
Kuah`i's question If it is an RFP and a competitive process, would that mean that these
people would have had to already been registered with the procurement's office9 I am
asking because if there is specific community groups that are already doing the work,
would they be sidelined out if we went through that9
Mr Dahihg The sequencing on this has been to see if we
can use what is found in the studies to be able to guide mitigation. I do understand that
there are immediate needs out there that do need to be taken care of, but we think that
it would probably be best to at least let the planning studies for the ahupuaa that are
listed, at least run its course to have potential mitigation opportumties be looked at as
potential recipients of that sub-grant mitigation It probably will be like an "if/then"
type of scenario here.
Councilmember Cowden Okay
Mr Dahihg At that point in time once the studies are
completed, we would look at trying to open that money up and help open up other areas
of liability as a question
Councilmember Cowden- Okay I just wanted to make sure that if we
have local potential providers of either the hydrology or the tree cutting or any of that,
COUNCIL MEETING 19 JULY 8, 2020
they go ahead and register so they are able to be among those, so that we locally base
our spending if it is appropriate, because many people do not even know that process.
There are many people who would be appropriate that cannot be utilized, because they
do not understand the County process, so it would be good that we make an effort to
outreach through these orgamzations so that we are able to have people on-island
getting that work and doing it sensitively and well-received
Mr Dahing• Right I would also add, and I agreed with your
statement, Councilmember Cowden, to ensure that if people or organizations do want
to be eligible for these moneys, that they should maintain their Hawai`i compliance
express tax standing on an annual basis, that is a bright line of rule for us to ensure
that orgamzations are eligible to receive government funding, so they do need to make
sure they are (inaudible) compliant.
Councilmember Cowden Being clear for anyone listening, pay your
taxes, righty Is that what we mean by saying being up-to-date9
Mr. Dahilig Yes
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Are there any further questions from the
members? If not, I do want to mention that we received five (5) pieces of written
testimony in support of this Bill and we had one (1) live testimony in support of the Bill.
Is there any discussion from the members9 Councilmember Kagawa
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded
as follows.
Councilmember Kagawa Thank you, Chair This is why I say that we do
not need districting, because if you sit here in this chair and you are a local resident,
you care about the whole island. For me, I received a call from Representative
Nakamura and she is concerned about what the County is going to do with this and try
to mitigate what happened with the previous flooding in 2018 Not only cleaning debris
now, but what she wanted us to push forward was for this County to coordinate efforts
that once we clean it, how do we keep it sustainable? How do we get people because
we are going to do the big job first, then from there let us rely on our communities or
landowners abutting the streams, rivers, or what have you, that they take
responsibility, then that way it will be sustainable, it will not grow back and cause the
same problems that happened I think that is where she wanted to see us go, not only
do the present, but take care of the future by simply being the leader in coordinating,
because the job is not as difficult already We have seen community groups like in
Waimea Valley for example, with Kaina Makua leading the charge and removing dirt
with five (5) gallon buckets and trains of individual volunteers doing that work and it
did not cost the County anything, they just did it because they saw a need to do it It
affected their lo`i, which was adjacent I think there is a lot of potential, but the County
COUNCIL MEETING 20 JULY 8, 2020
needs to coordinate so we are not only having piecemeal projects done here and there
A lot of our problems are coming from mauka with the Albizia problems like Wailua
River, for example We can spend all we want and clean-up what we have, but with
another big flood, if we do not take care of mauka, the same problem will continue to
occur. The next one might even knock down Wailua Bridge—it almost happened There
is talk it could have happened right there, that could have blocked off access north of
Wailua Bridge into Lihu`e—that would have been disastrous There are a lot of efforts
needed and the State seems to be the one to point the finger to the County to lead Yes,
we do not have the expertise, yes, we do not have the finances, but at the end of the day,
I think there is going to have to be some teamwork done to solve all of these problems,
because I think pointing the finger has not resulted in anything positive, it has resulted
in leaving moneys like this at the County's hands—now what are we going to do? I
think it is not an easy problem. I understand the position that this Administration is
in, but at the end of the day, we need to try and somehow work together and figure this
out, because certainly we do not want what happened in the north shore to happen
again What almost happened at Wailua Bridge, we do not want that to happen again,
and certainly for Waimea Valley residents, we do not want to see them having to pay
an enormous amounts in flood insurance when the levee has been successful all of these
years It seems like a sudden change that you cannot explain to the residents. So let
us get those things done and let us do what is the fair thing to do. I think the fair thing
to do is get the job done and somehow despite our disagreements, we need to come
together. Thank you, Chair
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Chock.
Councilmember Chock Thank you, Chair. I think the vitahty of our
`aina kumu wai our watershed is paramount—so important and will become more
important as the years go on As we have seen in 2018, I think it is just a glimpse of
what we can expect moving forward, so it behooves us to really take a deeper dive into
this I know the negotiations around this particular list has been challenging, so I want
to thank our Administration and also our Kaua`i delegation, particularly
Representative Nakamura, who really fought for these funds to get established, so that
we can address the needs I hope that we can continue to leverage this funding so that
the discussion of collaboration that we know needs to happen, can get to the root issues
that we all have been talking about on this table One, access is a huge issue that we
need to streamline in order for what Vice Chair Kagawa was talking, which is some of
the sustainability needs maintenance moving forward and, but also what we can do to
share in the cost—I totally get it, this is a huge cost, but perhaps there is a middle
ground, at least for an understanding about how it is we are going to collaborate moving
forward and I hope that happens moving forward Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Councilmember Kuah`i
COUNCIL MEETING 21 JULY 8, 2020
Councilmember Kuali`i. I want to add and say our County having access
to this type of much needed funding to do maintenance—these much needed projects is
rare, so I hope that we will spend it as efficiently as possible and get as much done as
we can,because it is a critical public safety issue to prevent future flooding and potential
loss of life, so let us make sure we spend the money as efficiently as possible Thanks
to the Mayor and our delegation, especially Representative Nakamura, for putting this
in place. Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Cowden
Councilmember Cowden. I want to echo what Vice Chair Kagawa said
about this is a value about not having districting, we all care anyway, but especially
when we are at-large, I want to acknowledge Lawa`i, Koloa, Kealia, Anahola, Wailua,
Kahhiwai, Piila`a, and Hanapepe, they all had their issues and they all need some
attention, that is why I am looking at how important it is that we create pathways that
become easy to replicate where we can use knowledge from each ahupua a area that is
unique for that and that we have it be home stewardship of that is handled Like he
said, when the community has a core part in making the decisions of how to manage
their watershed, they are going to be much more responsible towards taking care of the
trees along the streams and working to be aware of how, if they strengthen their
riverbank, it is going to cause impact to the next door neighbor and that we start looking
at not only state and county, but private property owner to private property owner
While we were acknowledging good works, I want to say Alekoko Fishpond, which I
believe is our Councilmember Chock's big project, if people have not looked at what is
known as the Menehune Fishpond, look over the edge, amazing difference that has
happened from community work that is riparian stewardship that is so needed and we
need to return to that as a norm That certainly was the case in our traditional
Hawauan land management system and even within the plantation systems, it still was
a holistic watershed approach to handling the land That is the direction that I firmly
believe we need to be shifting some of our strategies, so again thank you very much.
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Evslin
Councilmember Evslin• My colleagues have said it all already, I just
want to briefly echo a few things One, how important this mitigation and adaptation
efforts are, strong and stronger events are coming and we need to be continually
prepared and I do not think this work will ever finish going forward. Two, just express
appreciation, I know that this has not been an easy road for our State Delegates,
especially Representative Nakamura, and the work Senator Kouchi put into it, and all
the work that our Administration did. I know that Councilmember Chock was involved
at some capacity,but I especially want to appreciate all the different community groups,
including members that have been involved in this—it is a huge collaborative effort. I
am excited to see this money get put to good use
COUNCIL MEETING 22 JULY 8, 2020
Council Chair Kaneshiro: For me, I want to thank the Administration
and our State lawmakers for being able to get us this money, especially at a time like
this when money is so tight I was surprised that we were actually able to continue to
have these moneys; thirty-eight million dollars ($38,000,000) it is a lot of money. That
is almost twenty percent (20%) of our budget that is going to go out through the
community to help mitigate a lot of these flooding issues I just ask that, if possible, we
look at the entire island with this money, because not only the north shore was affected
by the floods in 2018, Koloa has major flooding issues. Again, I am glad money is going
to Waimea, these are communities that are actually getting flooded I think if this
money can be used to maybe set the foundation for communities or organizations to be
able to move forward to keep these waterways clear or keep the water from flooding the
neighborhoods, I think is a good step in the right direction We can toggle back and
forth on whose responsibility it is, but all I know is there is a lot of"red tape" to be able
to maintain a stream People are getting faced with, "Do we have to go through all the
steps and "red tape" in order to maintain a stream to keep a community safe or do we
just do it any ways to keep the community safe?" It is not a comfortable position for
people to be in Ultimately, we want to keep our community safe, so anyway this money
can go to help cutting the "red tape" or help making it easier for communities to be able
to maintain the streams and keep the community safe, I am all for it With that, is
there any final discussion from anyone?
The motion to approve C 2020-177 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6 0 1*
Council Chair Kaneshiro- The motion is carried. Next item
C 2020-179 Communication (06/29/2020) from the Managing Director,
requesting Council approval to apply for and receive Federal funds from the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in an amount not to exceed $2,000,000 00
for the reimbursement of expenditures related to the COVID-19 pandemic disaster
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve C 2020-179, seconded by
Councilmember Cowden.
Council Chair Kaneshiro Are there any questions from the members?
Mike, do you want to give us a brief description of this item?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended
Mr Dahilig. Yes, I can Chair This continues to be a
challenging disaster for us to respond to and part of the change in dynamics has been
how FEMA is setting up reimbursements and expenditures related to COVID-19
pandemic disaster. The State of Hawaii has been declared by the President as an
emergency disaster area pursuant to the laws of the United States, which makes state
and local government costs eligible for up to seventy-five percent (75%) reimbursement
by FEMA. What we are asking the Council's authorization to do is apply for
COUNCIL MEETING 23 JULY 8, 2020
reimbursements as a rolling reimbursement until the end of the year FEMA is asking
us to request reimbursement in tranches rather than all at once and understanding
that the Council has to authorize a financial liability for the county We want to be clear
that we will not ask for reimbursement in the amount to exceed two million
dollars ($2,000,000) and timing wise, they will not be for expenditures past
December 31, 2020 So far, many state and local agencies have already been applying
to FEMA for reimbursement, we have not yet, but this does open the avenue for us to
be able to shift some of the cost burden from our general funds over to those moneys
that we would expect as normal related expenditures to a disaster situation.
Council Chair Kaneshiro Okay, thank you Again, we have received no
written testimony and no one registered to speak on this item. Are there any questions
or discussion from the members? Councilmember Cowden
The meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding this agenda item)
Councilmember Cowden. I am just thanking you for the clarification
and for the public to know that when you folks ask for the two million
dollars ($2,000,000), we were told that this was going to be reimbursed by FEMA, so
just acknowledging the follow through and the accuracy of that request I appreciate
the structure and the explanation
Council Chair Kaneshiro For me, I just want to reiterate again the
importance of having that reserve in our budget so that we are able to react to the
COVID-19 crisis immediately at that time, allocate two million dollars ($2,000,000)
for the Administration to use; look now, how many months later, we are able to
actually get reimbursement for that money, but without having a proper reserve, we
would never be able to have reacted that fast Again, thank you Administration to
holding up on your part as far as keeping track of the expenses, I know this is not the
first time we had to do this. Unfortunately, we had that 2018 floods where we had
FEMA here and again, I think it is a great learning experience that we have been
able to fine tune how we keep our reimbursements and are actually able to get
reimbursed for money that we do spend
The motion to approve C 2020-179 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6.0.1*
Council Chair Kaneshiro The motion is carried. Next item
C 2020-180 Communication (06/30/2020) from the Managing Director,
requesting agenda time for a briefing and discussion concerning the expenditure
of$650,000 00 in emergency moneys (from the $2,000,000 00 previously appropriated
COUNCIL MEETING 24 JULY 8, 2020
by the Council) for the construction of additional permanent supportive housing units
at Kealaula on Pua Loke
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to receive C 2020-180 for the record, seconded by
Councilmember Cowden.
Council Chair Kaneshiro- Mike, I will suspend the rules, if you want to
give us a brief explanation of this item, please
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Mr Dahing I am going to screen share, give me a second, if
I am able to do so Chair, are you able to see that on screen?
Councilmember Kagawa Good
Councilmember Cowden Yes
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Yes, we can see it
Mr Dahilig• As you folks are aware the Governor of the
State of Hawai`i, through an emergency declaration about a year and a half ago, had
declared a housing crisis throughout the State that freed up one, permitting for projects
throughout the different counties, as well as made available moneys through the`Ghana
Zone program to be able to construct housing umts on state or county lands for a way
to mitigate the effects of housing and homelessness across the State The County was
very fortunate to be able to receive a portion of State lands near the Department of
Water in Pua Loke, directly across one of our other affordable housing projects that has
been supported by lines and credits. We have broken ground on this emergency project
that provided a number of units to be used as permanent supportive housing and that
means that it is housing that is supported by wrap-around services through a vendor,
which is Women In Need (WIN) As you see from what we have presented before the
Council back in January, the land that was given to the County had the umts set, but
also had some area in the top right corner of the lot adjacent to the Spark Matsunaga
Memorial Park that was meant as a Phase 2 for the project Since we have gone through
the COVID-19 response, what has become very apparent is that now there is really a
housing response need as a result of the pandemic. Thanks to the work of Keith Perry,
Shioi Construction, Inc , and a number of folks within the Housing Agency, including
Adam and his team, I am happy to say that right now the project is actually on-time
and under budget What this has allowed us to do it place some degree of additional
infrastructure to be able to service Phase 2 of the project Now given the fact that we
have the emergency appropriation that there are housing needs that are apparent
across the island, every unit counts in terms of our ability to provide some additional
resources for our community that does not currently have housing So what we are
COUNCIL MEETING 25 JULY 8, 2020
looking to do is use moneys out of the two million dollars ($2,000,000) emergency
appropriation to construct three (3) more buildings for a total of six (6) additional units,
as well as an additional studio umt that is not on this schematic, but will be put adjacent
to this project Just to give you a clue where it would look, it would be in this red boxed
area that is highlighted on top this photo The units would be similar to what you see
here This is a picture of the current construction We are slated to actually turnkey
the first units later on this summer If we move forward with this our projected timeline
for being able to put this together would be in October 2020. This gives you an insight
as to what the units look like inside. This is a one-bedroom umt with a bathroom, full
kitchen and including a small lanai in front So we believe this partnership with Shioi
Construction, Inc , as well as our Housing Agency has been able to put together a very
decent set of housing units that will be able to reintegrate those families and individuals
that need a housing first solution to their challenges So the thought process, Chair,
right now is that we would use six hundred fifty thousand dollars ($650,000) of that
emergency funding that was appropriated by the County Council to be able to put
seven (7) umts up, so that would be at a cost of under one hundred thousand
dollars ($100,000) a unit and that is a significant benchmark. We are providing
additional umts and under that six six-figure benchmark, so because the moneys have
been appropriated, it is an expenditure that is allowable, we believe, based off of the
current emergency, as well as the moneys that have been appropriated. But before
proceeding, we believe that it is important for us to consult with the Council on making
such a big decision on this before proceeding So with that Chair, I am available for
discussion and let me figure out how to unshare my screen
Council Chair Kaneshiro You are there Mike, you are good
Mr Dahilig• We are good, thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Not good anymore
Mr Dahing• Not good anymore9
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Okay, you are good Thank you for that quick
presentation Are there any questions from the members on this item? Councilmember
Cowden
Councilmember Cowden. This six hundred fifty thousand
dollars ($650,000) is coming out of what we earmarked for the two million
dollars ($2,000,000) for tiny houses, is that right9
Mr Dahing This would be two million dollars ($2,000,000)
coming out of the emergency bill that was passed by the Council and re-appropriated
COUNCIL MEETING 26 JULY 8, 2020
Councilmember Cowden- What I feel very supportive in this is that
having spent time, not just with the encampments that are in the parks, but also at the
boat ramp and different places around the island, I think that this would address the
chronic houseless community and the most resisted community, certainly not all of
them, but it is directing at the families If we are able to move those parts of the
community that are strugghng with life choices into this therapeutic housing here, I
think that would be great We have talked about this earlier Was any effort made to
go down and sign any of those people up, as we discussed? What Vice Chair Kagawa
had said, these are people with long history in Hawaii; many generations Has there
been any effort to sign them up for Kealaula?
Mr Dahing The beauty of this particular project is that we
have the legal ability to be more discerning when it comes to supporting our local
families because of one, we are not using federal funds for this and two, we know that
the need is pronounced to be able to have wrap-around services In our discussions WIN
will be essentially managing the intake for this, we have not been shy about pressing
upon WIN that we want to help our local people with this housing.
Councilmember Cowden- Is that a "no," that no one has been signed up
from the encampments or the houseless area? We have so many out there It is easy
just to find people all over who are ready or think they are ready, how do those people
get in line to be able to do that, because there are many children living out there and
this is a program that is designed to be able to keep families intact Even if parents are
ex-offenders or struggle with mental illness or some chemical addictions, sometimes
they are still decent parents and the kids very much love them and do not want to be
separated
Mr. Dahing. What I can do to provide you with an accurate
answer Councilmembers, is check with WIN to see how they have been progressing with
their outreach program and I can provide you a status on that.
Councilmember Cowden- Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Is there anyone else? Councilmember Kuali`i
Councilmember Kuali`i You might have said it, but can you repeat, how
many units total? In your layout here, the original site layout says eleven (11)
transitional units, eight (8) duplexed and three (3) studio duplexed Are the eight (8)
duplexed two (2) separate units?
Mr Dahing Yes
Councilmember Kualfr With a wall in between with two (2) separate
entrances—I guess that is what a duplex is
COUNCIL MEETING 27 JULY 8, 2020
Mr Dahilig Yes
Councilmember Kuah`i So that eight (8) is actually serving
sixteen (16), right?
Mr Dahilig. The total current construction was
twenty-two (22), this would bring it up to twenty-nine (29)
Councilmember Kuah`i. Okay. The seven(7) additions you were talking
about will bring it to twenty-nine (29).
Mr Dahilig Yes
Councilmember Kuah`i In your diagram, the second page, is the
Phase 2 buildings thirteen (13), fourteen (14), and fifteen (15)?
Mr Dahilig Thirteen (13), fourteen (14), and fifteen (15),
and there still needs to be an additional single studio unit, but they are working out
how to fit that in that area between building thirteen (13) and building twelve (12)
Councilmember Kuah`i Yes, because what is showing in your diagram
is six (6)
Mr Dahilig Yes
Councilmember Kuah`i• These additional seven (7) units will just fold
into with the rest and will be managed and treated the same, as far as getting people to
live there
Mr. Dahilig. We believe that the nexus is there to be able to
expand the program to be able to given the high demand for permanent support of
housing alignment. Therefore, it would be integrated as part of the overall program
Councilmember Kuah`i I have gone by there a few times and it looks
incredible I cannot believe how fast it has come up. I am curious as to, like
Councilmember Cowden was asking about, has the program for signing people up, it
must already be in place Is the Housing Agency working on that? I guess they were
working with WIN Were they going to actually do the recruitment of the famines or
individuals that are going to occupy? When are they projecting that they will occupy?
Mr. Dahilig. The model for co-management was premised
on a study...the Kahauiki Village class out on Oahu and how they were able to pair the
resources of The Institute for Human Services (IHS) with a property management
agency to be able to one, screen those that have the ability to at least afford a modest
COUNCIL MEETING 28 JULY 8, 2020
rent, but also need wrap-around services that IHS could provide. So we are looking at
the same model where WIN would look for both the ability to pay a modest rent, but
also looking at those individuals that will need the wrap-around services and be able to
pair those things I should add that the WIN property management agreement does
include additional funds through the State's `Ghana Zone project to max out their
operational wrap-around efforts for three (3) years As mentioned earlier,
Councilmember Kuali`i, the thought process is that some of these units within Phase 1
will be able to be turnkey by the end of the summer As the units will be completed and
turned over, if we were to start on buildings thirteen (13), fourteen(14), and fifteen (15),
and the single studio unit, we should be able to have those at least online and turnkey
by October 2020
Councilmember Kuah`i• Do you know if WIN already has been doing
outreach and taking applications9
Mr. Dahilig I know that they have been doing outreach, but
I want to provide, as I explained to Councilmember Cowden, I need to make sure I am
providing you folks with accurate information as to what step they are right now in the
outreach process, so I can provide to you via correspondence.
Councilmember Kuah`i. The final question is, this arrangement with
WIN is asking them to step out of what they normally do and do more, right? They will
not just be servicing their own client, but will be open to all eligible houseless families
and individuals.
Mr. Dahilig. One thing that Kim Cummings had made clear
is that as much as they are called WIN, the complex is not just for women They
understand their mission is broadening, at least with this project, that the overall
permanent supportive need cannot be limited to just women, but to everyone that needs
assistance
Councilmember Kualfi• I was meaning not just the obvious about
women,but like a homeless person who is healthy, not with any type of substance abuse
or maybe even employed,but they are houseless and need a place, they could potentially
qualify here or is it only people with...the wrap-around services is all encompassing, it
is not just substance abuse
Mr Dahing I wholeheartedly agree
Councilmember Kual `i• It is financial
Mr Dahilig Some of it may involve other types of services
The myriad of services are not limited to just substance abuse counseling, but things to
be able to have these families take advantage of permanent housing situation, so they
COUNCIL MEETING 29 JULY 8, 2020
are not left with the stress of trying to figure out how to take care of the other things of
resilience within their household So the situation you are describing would be eligible
in this situation
Councilmember Kuali`i The ehgibihty where there would be a cutoff
would be based on financial
Mr Dahilig Yes, we are not looking at charging target
market release, because we know that there is a reason why they do not having housing,
but as part of what Kahauiki's program has emphasized is that there is some resilience
that is built by charging modest rents to be able to have a household start to learn the
skills to manage and build equity to maintain permanent housing, rather than
permanent supportive housing
Councilmember Kuali`i Thank you very much
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Chock
Councilmember Chock- Thank you, Chair Mike, thank you so much
for the presentation, I think you make Duane Kurisu envious, as well with the design
and the pictures here In terms of the wrap-around services you are talking about,
Kahauiki, one of the reasons why I think it is successful was that they also provided
shelter for and day services for children of the families I am curious, maybe this is a
WIN question, but is there a location for that to occur in terms of the wrap-around
services? Can we add that as one of the questions to get a response on?
Mr Dahilig I can get you a response to that Councilmember
Chock I would think that physically the site does not include a space for on-site
childcare Building 1, right now is simply an administrative building that includes
areas for maintenance, as well as laundry facilities for all the units, so there are
three (3) washers and three (3) dryers in Building 1 as part of laundry matting. There
is no on-site building for on-site childcare, but you do raise a good point that I can check
with WIN to figure out how they are integrating childcare into the overall wrap-around
program.
Councilmember Chock. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa Thank you, Mike I would say that generally,
we. .where are we at now, the State of Hawaii, thirty-five percent (35%) or forty
percent (40%) of people are unemployed. Now with COVID-19, chances are they might
not have jobs available to fulfill the wrap-around services in the immediate future, so I
am wondering besides having the opportunity to be selected, I think WIN push some
COUNCIL MEETING 30 JULY 8, 2020
requirements at least, like chores such as...that is what I hear from County taxpayers
is that they are okay with supporting affordable rents/affordable housing, but they are
saying they will just provide them with the house, then the wrap-around services seems
to encompass what they are saying, but at least make them clean the park or do
something, because that will help them have the work ethic in order to become
employable later. Is that part of what WIN is planning9
Mr. Dahilig. It is part of the overall best practices that we
have seen out of Kahauiki Village, where the residents take ownership of their area,
rather than looking at this as entitlement, helps build character as well as build some
good citizenship and resiliency So we wholeheartedly agree that there has to be a
critical component of the program and know that WIN is looking at opportunities for
that in particularly because the park provides a common area space—even though it is
open to the public—for that type of ownership We certainly are aware that WIN is
looking at how the park integrates into the overall housing development and those types
of values are going to be impressed, at least within my conversations with Kim
Councilmember Kagawa• Because it is a limited amount, I would hope we
have some type of requirements saying, "If you do not do this, then you will be out " If
the demand is much more than the supply you have that leverage So I am hoping that
we truly will try and turn a lot of them into the productive citizens that they can be,
rather than just have a free handout which will not really help them to improve their
situation Yes, they will have a better living situation, but how does the County benefit
if we just continue to have people who do not want to work So I am hoping we go more
into that direction as we go forward I just found out that a lot of the people who are
homeless and on welfare have one thousand two hundred dollars ($1,200) a month
housing subsidy and many of them remain homeless, because the one thousand two
hundred dollars ($1,200) a month is not enough to rent a place for their family, so they
use it to supplement food and whatever they need that is short-changed by the amount
of food help they receive Again, I am trying to make sure that although we are passing
it to WIN that we stress upon them that let us develop some fair criteria so that the
taxpayers are assured we are getting the best "bang for the buck," and I know we are
getting the best"bang for the buck," as far as the housing cost I thank you folks for that,
very impressive Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden. Thank you I might not be remembering
correctly I am going to be asking for a briefing in the future from WIN, so that I have
a clear understanding. What was in my memory is that the several story buildings next
to the movie theater that we are calking Pua Loke, I believe there are fifty-eight (58)
units there, that those were going to be directed at the families or individuals who
basically are functioning that they just have an economic challenge. That would be
something more like Kahauiki Village, so that we are taking people who—you give them
COUNCIL MEETING 31 JULY 8, 2020
solid housing and they have traction, they are going to work, they are paying their rent
and they are functioning and what I thought was the case for Kealaula, I remember
being told that they have a maximum of twenty-six (26) months in there and that would
be in my memory is the word, "therapeutic housing" and that is why we chose WIN and
the people who would be coming in there would have what we call, multiple critical
boxes, so whether that is addiction, being an ex-offender, or a handful of other
challenges that with therapy and wrap-around services, then they are able to get their
lives together The goal is to take people who...if we just gave them a house, they are
still probably struggling in, not being able to cope, so we are giving them therapeutic
housing with wrap-around services and they get a little over two (2) years to pull it
together, and then they would be moving into something where they are much more
responsible for having a functional life, so they have a time window that becomes the
motivation Now I am feeling like I am hearing that our Kealaula is more like Kahamki
Village, which are people who are basically functioning There is a number of them in
these encampments So am I remembering wrong or have we had a change in plan?
Mr Dahilig• Let me dissect where the thought process was
when we put together Kealaula What is clear is that there is therapeutic housing, as
you are describing as a function, then there is just general affordable housing, which
would be comparable to the project that is across the street that we are currently
building with the Ahe Group There is something in between where the facilitation of
a housing first approach towards trying to deal with just a myriad of life's challenges is
a best practice that we on-island have not had a facility for to be able to facilitate So
Kealaula is mirrored after Kahauiki Village in the sense where the permanent
supportive nature of it is not meant to be therapeutic, but rather there as a way to allow
people to grow out of the units. So the project across the street is consistent with many
of the other offerings that the County Housing Agency has put in place,which are things
like at Koa`e Makana and projects on the north shore, those types of things Just to
clarify, some of the things you did mention are services that WIN does provide,
currently, as part of their therapeutic housing program in single-family houses across
the island So that is probably where your thought process is or what WIN provides as
a service here This is an additional new type of offering that WIN will be taking on as
a management in offering the permanent supportive housing is not therapeutic in
nature, but it is meant to provide the ability for families to realize, if I employ the
techniques and be able to engage in a degree of discipline, I am able to pay the extra
two hundred dollars ($200) to three hundred dollars ($300) to actually live in an area
that I do not have to follow rules or programs or those types of things—that is what in
our conversations with Mr. Kurisu, the goal of how we provide that avenue for strength
building at the dinner table
Councilmember Cowden When we are looking at the six hundred fifty
thousand dollars ($650,000) as it is coming out of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
Economic Security (CARES) Act funding, it might be said to be some of that, which we
were looking at the tiny houses. The tiny houses were looking to replace some of what
COUNCIL MEETING 32 JULY 8, 2020
were in these encampments When I talked to the people in the encampments...by the
way, they say they have not heard from the Housing Agency or social services, no one
has come out Again, I am asking that we go out there, because we cannot expect them
to come in. When are we planning to return the parks to the public, because I also hear
from that commumty that they are finding that they want to go camping in the parks
or if we remove the quarantine, there might be visitors coming and staying in the parks?
The people in the encampments think that on August 1st they are being evicted, is that
correct? Do we have a date that terminates the encampments in the park?
Council Chair Kaneshiro. I apologize, we are way past our caption break
Mike, I am going to let you sit on that question We do have to take our ten-minute
caption break and as soon as we are back, then you can answer Councilmember Cowden
question. Ten-minute caption break
There being no objections, the meeting recessed at 10.48 a.m.
The meeting reconvened at 11.03 a.m., and proceeded as follows
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as not present)
Council Chair Kaneshiro Welcome back Mike, do you need
Councilmember Cowden to ask the question again or are you able to just answer?
Mr Dahilig I am able to answer her question. Just for the
Council's edification, I want to layout the continuum of what we are looking at when it
comes to housing offerings within the County. We look at it in four (4) parts, we have
therapeutic housing, which can be wet or dry, you have permanent support of housing,
you have affordable housing, then you have market housing. The people that are
currently being sheltered in place at our parks across the County due to the pandemic,
would fit in any of those four (4)categories for one reason or another In discussing with
the Housing Director during the break, we are working on finalizing the actual intake
program for Kealaula and when those items are setup with WIN, we can definitely
share it with the Council, but I think it is important that the tenant selection plan be
at least put in place first before we ask outreach to those particularly at the areas that
Councilmember Cowden is raising as potential sources for outreach, would be
implemented into place So we hear you Councilmember Cowden, regarding areas you
are pointing out as potential sources for need and when we actually put together the
tenant selection plan, that would be a great time to actually explain to the public that
could be eligible for these housing units and what exactly is required, how to get into
them and what they need to do.
Councilmember Cowden Okay, thank you The question that I had that
that supports, there are many people in the commumty that are not living in the parks
that would like to be using the parks again, so I hear a little bit of hope that they can
COUNCIL MEETING 33 JULY 8, 2020
have more access to the whole area of the park or to camp there themselves So they
are asking, when is the parks not going to be an encampment? Then the people in the
parks are definitely worried about when they have to move and it is their perception
that August 1st is the eviction date, some of the people, not everyone, but people I have
asked. Have they been given a timeline of when they need to move out and do we have
a plan for them?
Mr. Dahilig. I will collect, acknowledge, and confirm that
the concerns you are raising that are coming from the community are concerns we are
also hearing regarding the park spaces being used currently as emergency sheltering
for the pandemic and that community members want to go out and start using parks
for their usage again We share that vision as a rolling ease for that, however, at this
point in time, no hard date has been set for that
Councilmember Cowden- Okay
Mr. Dahilig. While we had started working on plans to
figure out how to transition and provide support, the current status of the disease and
the changes that is required by the Governor's proclamation lead us to have to make
adjustments and adapt to changing conditions both throughout the globe, the
Continental United States (U.S.), as well as even with yesterday's forty-one (41) new
cases was identified even within the state. So we know the prevalence of the disease is
increasing and we have to look at transitiomng the parks to normal usage in the context
of health risks So I want to at least confirm for this time, Councilmember, that we do
not have a date
Councilmember Cowden- Okay
Mr. Dahilig. that we are going to be telling people, "You
need to get out of here," but we do know that at some point we have to safely be able to
take care of these residents, while also safely allowing for park usage to occur and that
really is dictated by the pandemic's prevalence of disease that we cannot predict at this
time.
Councilmember Cowden. That is understood So these people who are in
the emergency sheltering, are they likely to get any kind of a time window? If they are
asking me, I would be able to say to them, "Well, you will get thirty (30) days notice or
two (2) weeks notice " How do I answer them correctly when they say, "How long will
we have once we are given notice?"
Mr. Dahilig. To be both legal and fair, ample notice will be
given, so I think what we are tracking as a necessary proponent as a transition plan, so
we will not spring this on any individuals that are currently needing the parks to shelter
in place
COUNCIL MEETING 34 JULY 8, 2020
Councilmember Cowden. There was a drop-out, did you say, "ample
notice9"
Mr. Dahilig- There will be ample notice
Councilmember Cowden Okay
Mr. Dahilig. Both based off of fairness and what we are
legally required to do
Councilmember Cowden Do you know what ample means? Is that
thirty (30) days, two (2) weeks, or do we not have that defined?
Mr Dahilig- Again, I will have to consult with our attorneys
on this, because we have to abide by federal case law to be able to provide clear ample
sufficient notice, if we are looking at trying to enforce items at a public place So rather
than give you a bright line, I rather leave it at that I can consult the attorney
Councilmember Cowden Okay I will send a written inquiry and when
you get it you can give it to me. Thank you, so much
Mr. Dahilig. No problem
Council Chair Kaneshiro Are there any other questions from the
members? Councilmember Kuali`i
Councilmember Kualh`i- Mike, since we were talking about this, I will
follow-up a little bit, I was able to go out to one of the camps at Lydgate and speak with
the leaders and see how they are operating, they are very well organized and they are
really taking care of each other. They are even planning for the future of how they
transition out of there and they are going after grants—there are a lot of good things
happening. Obviously, they need a lot more resources and some of the folks that would
be providing wrap-around services at Kealaula and some of the nonprofits—they need
them to come out to them because a lot of them do not have transportation I think not
knowing what ample is...obviously we are still dealing with COVID-19—I know they
are planning for a time further out, so it would be really beneficial to them to have as
much notice as possible; we are talking about months, not days. So if the
Administration gets to a point where they think they are going to move towards
something, if they have any idea, if it is three (3) months or six (6) months from now
and knowing of course too that gets extended, because when COVID-19 gets extended,
it would be good to let them know because it might impact their planning Thank you
Mr Dahilig Well-taken
COUNCIL MEETING 35 JULY 8, 2020
Council Chair Kaneshiro- Councilmember Evslin
Councilmember Evslin. Thank you, Mike for the presentation What is
the transportation situation hke9 Is the nearest bus stop at the Civic Center and Kukui
Grove Shopping Center or are there plans for a future bus stop that is closer
Mr Dahing There is a bus stop along Nawiliwili Road,
which is about two (2) blocks away That is where we believe there is at least that
component of transportation accessibility, then right across the street from Nawihwili
Road is Kukui Grove Shopping Center So from a walkabihty standpoint, that is why
the Mayor had been adamant in trying to get this land from the State because it
provided the ability to have services within close walking proximity. I should also add
that both the Hawaii Medical Services Association (HMSA) and Kaiser Permanente
headquarters for the island are right across the street from this location, as well, so
from a healthcare perspective, those services can be provided for health insurance and
health needs. Diagnostic Laboratory Services, Inc (DLS) is a block away, so there is a
great deal of multi-modal opportunity with this particular site and not necessitating the
need for multiple vehicles and the cost associated with those to be out there while they
are trying to get housing.
Councilmember Evshn. That is great to hear Are there plans for a
future pedestrian path down by the old mill to better connect to Rice Street?
Mr Dahing I believe there are plans that we have been
working on with the Engineering Division with Public Works that looks at Haleko Road
as a multi-model opportunity I do not have the details on what those are,but I do know
that they have been working on opportunities for that and that would include at least
some potential bike opportunities, but we do not have anything at this point that has
crossed my desk to give you insight on it One key thing is that there is a pedestrian
path that connects to Kaumuah`i Highway that goes adjacent to the Department of
Water and that was a condition of the Department of Water's approval for the building
that they also had to provide pedestrian access to the pedestrian network along
Kaumuah'i Highway, so that will also allow them to easily be able to walk in that
direction
Councilmember Evshn- Awesome Thank you, Mike.
Council Chair Kaneshiro Thank you, Mike Are there any further
questions from the members9 If not, we have no written testimony and no one
registered to speak on this item Do we have any questions or discussion from the
members? Councilmember Kuali`i.
The meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows-
COUNCIL MEETING 36 JULY 8, 2020
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding this agenda item)
Councilmember Kuah`i I am excited about how far it is coming along
and cannot wait until it opens and our people are in there Keep up the great work
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Chock
Councilmember Chock Real quick, I just want to thank Shioi
Construction, Inc for being on-time and cost efficient on this project I love to see this
open and be a model for some regional locations in the future and I think if we can do it
right with the right benchmarks and strict agreement for our participants and families
that are entering the program, I think it can be a huge success Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Evshn.
Councilmember Evshn• I just want to stress my support here. Anytime
we can build housing units for the range of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), I
am fully supportive of reallocating money towards that. I really appreciate the
Administration's nimbleness here, in realizing that there was an opportunity and going
forward with it, also certainly this speed that this project is going forward I think Mike
said that the additional units that this money would go towards could be occupied by
October—that has to be close to a record here for reallocating money that gets occupied
that quickly. I appreciate the Housing Agency, the Administration, and Shim
Construction, Inc
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Councilmember Cowden
Councilmember Cowden. I am going to echo what a bright light this is for
the first two (2) years of the Mayor's Administration, all the different areas, Shioi
Construction, Inc., it is nice even as a councilmember to have been a part of what has
helped to create these much needed facilities—this and the adjacent property—both of
those two (2) buildings are really a great addition to what we are offering to people in a
time of need
Council Chair Kaneshiro For me, I just want to say, I hope all of these
units do get occupied and I hope we do some outreach to families living at the parks,
because I think that would be a good transition to get families out of the parks and into
this housing. This housing has always been a missing gap in housing that we have had
as a county This is the first opportunity we have to actually take famihes from
homeless into permanent housing and including wrap-around services, which has
always been a missing gap. Then to have them transition from this housing to the Pua
Loke affordable housing right across the street behind Kukui Grove Cinema, I think is
an opportunity we have never had before It is always, "We can get you into a house,"
and "We have nowhere else to put you," so I think this is very critical housing for us to
help families on Kaua`i
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as present)
COUNCIL MEETING 37 JULY 8, 2020
The motion to receive C 2020-180 for the record was then put, and carried by
a vote of 6 0 1*
Council Chair Kaneshiro. The motion is carried Next item
LEGAL DOCUMENT
C 2020-181 Communication (06/10/2020) from the Emergency Management
Administrator, recommending Council approval of an Issuance of Immediate
Construction and Management Right-of-Entry Permit and the indemnification
provision contained therein, by and between the County of Kaua'i and the State of
Hawai`i Department of Land and Natural Resources, for a parcel located at Tax Map
Key (TMK) No. (4) 5-8-012.009, Wainiha, Hanalei, Kaua'i, to allow for the County's
contractor to proceed with the construction of the infrastructure for the Set Aside to
the County of Kaua'i for a proposed site for community gatherings, baseyard
operations, storage, and public parking
• Issuance of an Immediate Construction and Management
Right-of-Entry Permit
Councilmember Kuah'i moved to approve C 2020-181, seconded by
Councilmember Chock
Council Chair Kaneshiro We have no written testimony and no one
registered to speak on this item Councilmembers, we do not have the Administration
here, because they were not requested Is there any discussion from the members
Councilmember Cowden
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding this agenda item)
Councilmember Cowden Just to be clear for anyone listening, this is
that area that had been the transfer station after the flooding It has gone through a
number of conversations at the Hanalei/Ha'ena Community Association and while
that is in a little bit of a tidal wave path, we have not had a tidal wave, thank goodness
for a very long time This is a good place to be able to be offering emergency services
and different things that are needed and have been long asked for by the
Ha`ena/Wainiha community and so I am just wanting to acknowledge that we are
moving forward.
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Is there anyone else?
The motion to approve C 2020-181 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6.0.1*.
COUNCIL MEETING 38 JULY 8, 2020
Council Chair Kaneshiro. The motion is carried Next item, please
C 2020-182 Communication (06/15/2020) from the Acting County Engineer,
recommending Council approval, of a Limited Right-of-Entry Permit and associated
terms between the County of Kaua`i and the State of Hawai`i Department of
Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL), to allow for the removal of approximately fifteen (15)
cubic yards of sand from the Anahola river mouth area situated at Tax Map
Key (TMK) Nos. (4) 4-8-12 10 (por ) and (4) 4-8-18 028 and 029 (por ), for the
placement of sand bags to repair erosion along `Ahomanu Road in Anahola
• Limited Right-of-Entry Permit
Councilmember Kagawa moved to approve C 2020-182, seconded by
Councilmember Kuah`i.
Council Chair Kaneshiro We have no written testimony and no one
registered to speak on this item Is there any discussion from the members on this item?
Councilmember Kagawa
(No written testimony was received and no registered speakers requested to
testify regarding this agenda item)
Councilmember Kagawa- I am going to support the motion to approve.
It seems like we need to protect `Ahomanu Road with sand bags, which is the
least—if you think of all the ways to put man-made infrastructure—intrusive to the
environment However, I do want to make sure—I know we have done this
previously, there were concerns brought about the last time we did this, we took sand
and there were complaints about whether we were taking too much or what have
you—let us make sure we have it as a legal document as fifteen (15) cubic yards. Let
us have pictures and evidence making sure we are abiding by the fifteen (15) cubic
yards, because anything over that would be gross negligence on behalf of the County
Just because a person works for the county and does not personally get sued, I think
you should be treating it that seriously Again, if you are going to take more, then
say so If you are only going to take fifteen (15) cubic yards, then take that and have
your evidence, make sure the County covers its `okole Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Evslin
Councilmember Evslin. Is Troy available for a couple of questions?
Council Chair Kaneshiro. No
Councilmember Evslin I did not request him, so if he is not that is
okay
COUNCIL MEETING 39 JULY 8, 2020
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Actually, he is
Councilmember Evslin. I think `Ahomanu Road was on our agenda
possibly last year for moving mauka or something and I know that there had been
some discussed proposals about entirely moving it, I was just wondering what is the
long-term future of this road.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended
TROY K TANIGAWA, Acting County Engineer. For the record Troy
Tanigawa, Acting County Engineer The long-term approach is basically to preserve
what we have there We are going to be looking at a single-lane transportation facility
through that area that is going to be repaired, ultimately. There was a conceptual
design to look at going mauka to maintain a double-lane, but that would have been
complicated and made things more expensive This design to keep the one-lane of
traffic and preserve what we have there is what we have ultimately settled.
Councilmember Evslin. Are there other sand bags currently there or
some type of hardening?
Mr. Tanigawa. Yes, there were previous sand bag protection
that were put in place, but those have deteriorated now and it is time that we put a
new protection in place to minimize any further coastal erosion
Councilmember Evslin. Are there areas on either end of that that
would be more prone to erosion with the sand bags there or is that within the area
that should be impacted?
Mr Tanigawa. It is a changing and dynamic situation there.
The whole coastline could be impacted in the future In the past, we have not seen
too much changes with placement of sand bags at these locations While we do not
anticipate it, it definitely could occur in other areas in the future
Councilmember Evslin My last question, with the sand bags, is there
a future plan to put some sort of permanent structure there or will it just be
periodically adding more sand bags as needed?
Mr. Tanigawa• There is a design to add more permanent
repairs that would not require us to continue to return and involve for placement of
sand bags
Councilmember Evslin. Okay, thank you, Troy
Council Chair Kaneshiro Are there any further questions?
COUNCIL MEETING 40 JULY 8, 2020
The meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Is there any final discussion from the
members on this item? Councilmember Kagawa, then Councilmember Evslin
Councilmember Kagawa. Again, we talked about this previously with
sea-level rise. It is apparent upon us to try and move inland and avoid having to do
this type of work, which if you had planned earlier, you would deem this to be
unnecessary I know it is like an armchair quarterback to say now, but I think we
need to take all precautions now in any infrastructure we do going forward and try
to get everything far away as possible from the shoreline Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro Councilmember Evshn
Councilmember Evslin. I want to reiterate what Councilmember
Kagawa just said, I know we are on a road where it seems like a preview of what we
are facing and just this little stretch of road has already proven to be problematic
with no good options going forward I believe that I heard somewhere along the line
that there was another proposal to move it entirely mauka and it is incredibly cost
prohibitive, crossing multiple properties, and is not going to happen. You are right,
it is this tiny stretch of road and so we are going towards an imperfect direction of
the seawall, which has its own problems, but I think is the route we have to go and
are facing thirteen (13) miles of road on Kaua`i, that is the visionary Anyway, I think
we are facing some big problems down the road and this is the preview I appreciate
Public Works trying to get this little portion solved the best that they can
Council Chair Kaneshiro. Councilmember Cowden
Councilmember Cowden. I appreciate the discussion and echoing what
both of you have just said I think we are going to be seeing more of that, and in fact,
we already are with both our bike path and our Wailua Bridges and the scouring that
is happening along the way, we really need to be focusing on it and using every place
as a learning opportunity.
Council Chair Kaneshiro Is there anyone else?
The motion to approve C 2020-182 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6 0 1*
Council Chair Kaneshiro• The motion is carried Next item, please
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as not present)
COUNCIL MEETING 41 JULY 8, 2020
COMMITTEE REPORTS.
FINANCE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
A report (No. CR-FED 2020-04) submitted by the Finance & Economic
Development Committee, recommending that the following be Received for the
Record-
"FED 2020-03 — Communication (05/28/2020) from Council Chair
Kaneshiro, requesting the presence of the Director of Finance, to provide a
briefing and overview of the County of Kaua`i's various Real Property Tax
programs — tax credits, exemptions, forms, taxpayer education/outreach, and
deadlines,"
Councilmember Chock moved for approval of the report, seconded by
Councilmember Kuali`i.
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* (Pursuant to Rule No 5(b) of the Rules of the Council of the County of
Kaua`ti, 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
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
A report (No CR-COW 2020-14) submitted by the Committee of the Whole,
recommending that the following be Received for the Record
"COW 2020-04 — Communication (05/28/2020) from Councilmember
Cowden, requesting the presence of the Boards & Commissions Administrator,
to provide a briefing on the proposed amendments to the Kaua`i County
Charter under consideration by the Charter Review Commission,"
A report (No CR-COW 2020-15) submitted by the Committee of the Whole,
recommending that the following be Received for the Record-
"COW 2020-05 — Communication (06/09/2020) from Council Chair
Kaneshiro and Councilmember Chock, requesting the presence of the
Managing Director, Prosecuting Attorney, and Housing Director, for a briefing
on the status of the County's Adolescent Treatment and Healing Center,"
COUNCIL MEETING 42 JULY 8, 2020
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for approval of the reports, seconded by
Councilmember Cowden
Council Chair Kaneshiro- Is there any discussion from the members on
these items?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
ALICE PARKER: Hello, I am Alice Parker from Lihu`e and the
topic I would like to address is the subject of Councilmembers representing different
districts I think the suggestion that Councilmembers should be for particular districts
like fourteen (14), fifteen (15), and sixteen (16), are set to a group is terrific. We do not
need three (3) from each district, but two (2) from each district would be good, then
one (1) at-large Now the at-large, I guess would rotate from one (1) of the districts, so
I am not sure how that would be put out for the voters to decide, but you can concise
with them, I know that Thank you, magic counselors and good luck Do your best to
make it fair for everyone, because we all need representation Thank you, Alice Parker,
Lihu`e
Council Chair Kaneshiro Sorry about that That was Alice Parker for
Committee Report COW 2020-14.
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows-
The motion for approval of the reports was then put, and carried by a vote of
6.0.1* (Pursuant to Rule No. 5(b) of the Rules of the Council of the County of
Kaua`ti, 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
BILL FOR FIRST READING-
Proposed Draft Bill (No 2795) —A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING
CHAPTER 5A, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO
REAL PROPERTY TAX (Mixed Use Tax Exemption)
Councilmember Chock moved for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No 2795) on
first reading, that it be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be
scheduled for August 5, 2020, and referred to the Finance & Economic
Development Committee, seconded by Councilmember Kuali`i
Council Chair Kaneshiro. With that, I will suspend the rules.
Councilmember Chock or Councilmember Evslin want to give a brief statement on
this Bill.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended
COUNCIL MEETING 43 JULY 8, 2020
(Councalmember Kagawa was noted as present.)
Councilmember Chock. Thank you, Chair If my colleagues would
indulge me just for a few minutes to introduce this Bill along with Councilmember
Evslin, I will cover the reasons why we have decided to introduce this Bill and
Councilmember Evslin can talk about the details of the exemptions he proposed I
think over this past term, there has been a lot of effort in trying to address the need
for housing and its affordability We see this as a sort of cross between the tax code
and also our Planning Department What became prevalent as we started to look at
these measures was how it is we can increase rentals on the island, particularly
affordable housing inventory In sort of accordance with the General Plan and the
idea of form-based code, and mixed use development, how can we encourage or
incentivize those kinds of buildings, especially along our town cores making it more
affordable and of course being able to share some of the infrastructure costs
associated with building. So the idea of commercial use mixed with residential rental
usage is what we are trying to support here, yet what we found in our tax code was
that these property owners were being taxed at the Commercial rate, so how can we
provide a more fair tax code that would incentivize people to want to build above their
place of commercial buildings to provide rental housing That is what this Bill tries
to accomplish through two (2) exemptions. long-term affordable rental unit, also just
the residential...putting the tax class into Residential use for that portion attributed
to that property I will let Councilmember Evslin talk about those details
Councilmember Evslin. Thank you, Councilmember Chock Briefly,
again the intent here was to try and figure out a way to create a tax burden that was
roughly proportionate to the actual use that they were doing As Councilmember
Chock said, the issue was that residential units in commercial spaces are getting
taxed at Commercial rates, so there was no incentive for anyone to try and do a mixed
use building—it is part of why we have so few of them on-island So we went through
a number of iterations of this working with Finance for probably the last seven (7)
months on it First, we looked at trying to do a mixed use tax rate for a mixed use
building—that was complicated because someone adds one (1) residential unit, then
they have it and how do you distinguish; then Finance will be weary about additional
rates. The next iteration was trying to do a separate rate based on the actually use
of the building. So a residential unit in the building would get a separate assessment
based on the residential rate or the Homestead rate, if it was affordable It came back
that it was also problematic, and maybe the Finance Department can speak to that if
people have questions on why it was problematic, but it would be a lot of work Then
ultimately, the idea of the exemption seemed to be the easiest for the Finance
Department to handle, even though it is more confusing for anyone to understand
The idea with the two (2) exemptions is just to try and reduce the assessed value of
the unit to make it roughly proportionate to what the Residential or Homestead rates
would be So Residential is a normal long-term rental unit The Homestead rate
would be, if someone is long-term affordably renting that based on the rates set in
COUNCIL MEETING 44 JULY 8, 2020
the long-term lease (LTL) program The other part of the Bill that came with the
suggestion of real property tax was to set a cap amount on the ultimate amount that
they can get exempt. That was just to ensure that someone with a ton of residential
units was not getting a rate lower than the Residential or Commercialized home use
rate would be for that building otherwise I think Brad and Reiko are here if you
have further questions.
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa A question for the Administration, are you
folks in support of this?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended
REIKO MATSUYAMA, Director of Finance Hi
Councilmember Kagawa Hi
Ms Matsuyama• Reiko Matsuyama, for the record. Yes, we are
in support of this Bill, as Councilmember Evslin eluded to. We have gone around in
circles with this. What we have agreed on with the exemption is the most practical
way that we can administer it
Councilmember Kagawa. Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro. I have a question and I probably talked to you
about it before, Reiko. Why do we need this Bill if you know there is a property, like
say Hokuala that has commercial property and some residential—I am sure it has
Transient Vacation Rentals (TVRs) in it, and we are able to assess them all
individually as a unit and the commercial property as a commercial property, TVRs
as TVRs, the residential as residential—so why do we need this? Why can we not do
the same thing with a property like Hokuala is similar to a mixed use property that
someone else is going to do; they will have commercial and residential. What is the
difference9
Ms. Matsuyama. Brad, how about you speak to that
BRAD CONE, Real Property Tax Manager For the record, Brad
Cone, Real Property Tax Manager Those units are condo and have individual parcel
identification (ID) where we can segment out the use for each one of those parcels, so
the difference there is we are talking about one (1) parcel with maybe the potential
of ten (10)or twenty (20)units of residential, then maybe three (3) or four (4) different
leased commercial properties on the ground floor, so that is where the difference is.
COUNCIL MEETING 45 JULY 8, 2020
Council Chair Kaneshiro Okay, I do not really see the difference, but I
do not know, because if you are able to break up the commercial versus the residential
I guess I am not understanding it If someone comes in and they have three (3)
commercial units on the bottom, they have five (5) residential on the top, then why
would it not look the same as a Hokuala where you would have three (3) residential
units and five (5)...even though maybe they did not Condominium Property
Regime (CPR) the units, I would think you could break it up that way
Mr Cone- It would be fairly problematic for us to break
that out like that In the worst case scenario, with a large structure, you are looking
at having different commercial uses on the ground floor, maybe some straight
residential, then some long-term affordable up top, then the maintenance and
auditing of that on a continuous basis is just too problematic—on one (1) parcel ID
Council Chair Kaneshiro• Councilmember Cowden
Councilmember Cowden- I want to say I am really enthusiastic about
this Bill. I think it is very much in the right direction, both for creating better housing
and having the walkability to work and I think the whole mixed use concept is a
natural way for the human species to live, as long as we have been in urban or
semi-urban areas. I have a couple of questions Do you have an estimate of how
many empty commercial spaces there are, whether they are shopping centers? It
seems like I am seeing them all over the place Do we have an idea of how much
empty commercial space we have?
Ms Matsuyama We did this analysis some time ago I do not
have that pulled up right now, but we can get that to you. Are you talking about
vacant commercial?
Councilmember Cowden Yes, it seems like over the years, we have half
empty shopping centers, I see so much retail space go in. We had the second Safeway
shopping center in Puhi go in, while the main Kukui Grove Shopping Center was
emptying, so I feel like this is a real right time for this Is twenty-five percent (25%)
of commercial spaces empty or five percent (5%)9 I do not really know, it seems like
there is a lot
Mr. Cone. Councilmember, we are in a really dynamic
time right now and things are influx, changing rapidly, so any kind of estimate on
numbers is not going to be exact because things are changing rapidly I guess the
theory is there is a lot of this type of space in Kapa'a that currently exists It
incentivizes the new creation of those residential units, so we think it is a positive
thing
COUNCIL MEETING 46 JULY 8, 2020
Councilmember Cowden Okay I have another question on that, just
looking at how we are building "win-wins" out of this type of tax change, when we
have places that are empty for years, like Coconut Marketplace, it was almost empty
for quite a long-time, as an example. Right near my house is a brand new, largely
empty shopping center Do those properties make their taxes when they go into
receivership or whatever else? Is property tax paid or is it typically unpaid9
Mr Cone I could not answer that right off the top of my
head
Councilmember Cowden Okay, maybe I will send a question in I am
just looking at how we can be effective at adding vitality to our communities that are
beginning to look a little bit exhausted and to create incentives for turning them into
quaint, cute, little places. I think that we can do some really good work with it and
even if they are not quaint and cute, we can still do some good mixed use things
What my hope would be is in the end, even if we are dropping the amount of possible
taxation on it, we are at least getting paid When we just looked at one hundred
thousand dollars ($100,000) for those units—very good job on the last project that we
discussed—if these become somewhat units, lofts, types of things like that, we have
housing for relatively less investment and it would be good and perhaps a whole new
area for contractors or construction Those are my thoughts and why I am asking
Council Chair Kaneshiro- Are there any further questions from the
members9
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded
as follows.
Council Chair Kaneshiro Is there any final discussion? Councilmember
Chock
Councilmember Chock- Thank you, Chair I just want to thank the
Finance Department and Real Property Tax Division Councilmember Evslin and I
have pushed so many different ideas around in trying to problem solve in the last
year, that I know we have overwhelmed our leaders at the Administration-level It
is really telling how difficult our Administration team is in a position to be able to
administer, because of the lack of capacity around these needs. So I just want to
thank them for stretching themselves even further and their prize and needs for
assistance in building that capacity has been heard, so anything we can do to build
upon that system is where I want to be supportive of as well Thank you
Council Chair Kaneshiro- Is there anyone else? Councilmember Evslin
Councilmember Evslin I second what Councilmember Chock said and
send my apologies over to the Finance Department and Real Property Tax for the
COUNCIL MEETING 47 JULY 8, 2020
volume of E-mails I think we have been kicking this around almost a year now and
we really have gone through at least three (3) full iterations of completely different
draft bills, which these folks have had to game test on their own side to see what is
implementable and what is not The Finance Department, like always, has been
great to work with I think they obviously saw the need from the very beginning as
well in moving forward on something like this. Ultimately, we did land on something
that I feel is relatively simple; hopefully it is relatively feasible for us to implement
and it should help us in moving forward and while we started talking about this in
2019, as Councilmember Cowden has said, I think the need for it is even greater right
now as we get more vacant commercial space with more people working from home
creating vacant office space So hopefully we can create those incentives to turn those
into residential units, which obviously comes at a good time because Council has just
passed a bill allowing residential construction by right in commercial areas, so I think
it is really complementary of that Again, I express my appreciation to the Finance
Department and Real Property Tax—you folks have been great and I am excited
about this Bill moving forward.
Council Chair Kaneshiro Is there anyone else? If not, roll call vote.
The motion for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No 2795) on first reading, that
it be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be scheduled for
August 5, 2020, and it be referred to the Finance & Economic Development
Committee was then put, and carried by the following vote
FOR PASSAGE• Chock, Cowden, Evslin,
Kagawa, Kuah`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL– 6,
AGAINST PASSAGE• None TOTAL– 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING Brun TOTAL– 1*,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING None TOTAL – 0
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa. Six (6) ayes.
Council Chair Kaneshiro With that, Clerk, can you read us into
Executive Session? We will read it in now, but take it at the end of our meeting today
EXECUTIVE SESSION
ES-1027 Pursuant to Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) Sections 92-4 and
92-5(a)(4), and Kaua`i County Charter Section 3 07(E), the Office of the County
Attorney requests an Executive Session with the Council, to provide the Council with
a briefing and request authority for a possible settlement proposal in a claim filed by
Progressive Advanced Insurance Company a/s/o James Vaughn and related matters.
This briefing and consultation involves consideration of the powers, duties, privileges,
immunities, and/or liabilities of the Council and the County as they relate to this
agenda item
Councilmember Kagawa moved to convene in Executive Session for ES-1027,
seconded by Councilmember Chock
COUNCIL MEETING 48 JULY 8, 2020
Council Chair Kaneshiro The motion is carried. 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 11.47 p m
Respectfully submitted,
JAD 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)