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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/01/2017 Council minutes COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 1, 2017 The Council Meeting of the Council of the County of Kaua`i was called to order by Council Chair Mel Rapozo at the Council Chambers, 4396 Rice Street, Suite 201, Lihu`e, Kaua`i, on Wednesday, November 1, 2017 at 9:19 a.m., after which the following Members answered the call of the roll: Honorable Arthur Brun Honorable Mason K. Chock Honorable Ross Kagawa Honorable Arryl Kaneshiro Honorable Derek S.K. Kawakami Honorable JoAnn A. Yukimura Honorable Mel Rapozo APPROVAL OF AGENDA. Councilmember Kagawa moved for approval of the agenda as circulated, seconded by Councilmember Chock, and unanimously carried. MINUTES of the following meetings of the Council: October 4, 2017 Council Meeting October 4, 2017 Public Hearing re: Bill No. 2666 and Bill No. 2667 Councilmember Kagawa moved to approve the Minutes as circulated, seconded by Councilmember Chock. Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion or public testimony? There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony. There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: The motion to approve the Minutes as circulated was then put, and unanimously carried. Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please. JADE K. FOUNTAIN-TANIGAWA, County Clerk: Chair, the next item are items on the Consent Calendar. COUNCIL MEETING 2 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 CONSENT CALENDAR: C 2017-245 Communication (09/27/2017) from the Mayor, transmitting for Council consideration and confirmation, Mayoral appointee Marissa L. Sandblom to the Charter Review Commission — Partial Term ending 12/31/2017. C 2017-246 Communication (10/11/2017) from the Acting County Engineer, transmitting for Council consideration, a Resolution Establishing A School Zone With A 15-Mile Per Hour (MPH) Speed Limit Near Kalaheo Elementary School For Polaris Road And A Portion Of Pu`u Road And Hokua Road, Koloa District, County Of Kaua`i. C 2017-247 Communication (10/20/2017) from Councilmember Kaneshiro, providing written disclosure of a possible conflict of interest and recusal regarding the interview and appointment of Marissa L. Sandblom to the Charter Review Commission, as Ms. Sandblom is a colleague of his place of employment, Grove Farm Company, Inc. C 2017-248 Communication (10/23/2017) from Councilmember Kawakami, providing written disclosure of a possible conflict of interest and recusal regarding the interview and appointment of Marissa L. Sandblom to the Charter Review Commission, as he is a Trustee of Waioli Corporation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to preserve Kaua`i's numerous cultural sites and collections, which includes the Grove Farm Museum in Lihu`e. Councilmember Kagawa moved to receive C 2017-245, C 2017-246, C 2017-247, and C 2017-248 for the record, seconded by Councilmember Brun. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Any discussion or public testimony? There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony. There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: The motion to receive C 2017-245, C 2017-246, C 2017-247, and C 2017-248 for the record was then put, and unanimously carried. Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please. Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: We are on page number 2, Communications. COMMUNICATIONS: C 2017-238 Communication (10/04/2017) from the Acting County Engineer, requesting Council approval of the associated Release and Hold Harmless Agreement for the Department of Defense Civil-Military Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) program grant which was previously approved by the Kaua`i County Council at its September 20, 2017 Council Meeting, to construct a portion of the Lydgate-Kapa'a COUNCIL MEETING 3 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Bicycle/Pedestrian Path Phases C & D to include upgrading the existing County-owned parking lot located behind Kapa'a Missionary Church, and the construction of a new comfort station: Councilmember Yukimura moved to approve C 2017-238, seconded by Councilmember Brun. Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion or public testimony? The rules are suspended with no objections. There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony. MATT BERNABE: Matt Bernabe, for the record. I would like to just say that I like the bike path. We are talking about the bike path, right? Council Chair Rapozo: Correct. Mr. Bernabe: I would like to see better bathrooms, more bathrooms, and a maintenance plan for the future of the bathrooms, because the last time I did the marathon, I was embarrassed to smell those blue portable toilets about forty (40) yards out, downwind, while we were all running the marathon. It is an eyesore and it is not good. Even the bathrooms that are there are not good. I am getting older and the prostate is getting bad. We need better bathrooms. At least have that in the plan. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Anyone else? If not, I will call the meeting back to order. Any discussion? Councilmember Yukimura. There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: Councilmember Yukimura: Well, Matt, you are in luck because this one is about a new bathroom that would be by the missionary church. I think we need a maintenance plan for all of our bathrooms, not only the ones on the path. We need to keep working on that. I think this is a really important project to make Kapa'a and Waipouli more walkable, bikeable, and safe. Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? Matt, if this is only about the bathroom, I would be in full support. I thought about this since the last meeting, and the more and more I thought about it, the clearer it became to me that I just cannot support this. The Administration's decision to ignore the erosion...when they provided a chart that said, "Based on this chart, the life is going to be one hundred (100) years, fifty (50) years, or forty (40) years," which is kind of what they told me when they did Pono Kai. If you look at Pono Kai gates, it is being threatened again. We do not control the erosion; the erosion controls us. I just cannot support this. As we are out there, telling our landowners and homeowners, "Hey, you go out and get certified shorelines and make sure that your forty (40) feet, sixty (60) feet, or one hundred (100) feet from the setback," and here we are saying that for this project that it is not that critical, that we will go ahead and build this because it is more important. Of course, people are going to take me out of context and say, "I do not support the bike path." If they want to, they can move the path outside of the setback COUNCIL MEETING 4 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 area, which is what we expect everybody on this island to do. But in this case, because it is the County and because it is the bike path, we are going to say, "Never mind, it is not that important." For that reason, I cannot support this. I wish we would use the Innovative Readiness Training (IRT), this military group, for other important projects on Kaua`i, other projects that like the restroom, that some of the existing restrooms...I would love to see the IRT come and fix our restrooms at the parks. But that is not going to happen. If you look at that graphical picture that was up at the last meeting, we were well inside of the setback area; in some cases, less than twenty (20) feet from the shoreline. What do you think is going to happen? I can tell you what is going to happen—in some point in time, we are going to have to go out there and either protect the beach and move the bike path, and what I am really afraid of is that we are going to have to protect the bike path and put some kind of wall or sandbags, which is what we are seeing, like in Aliomanu and all of that. I do not want to get there. Why are we even playing with that? Why are we even considering that? If the shoreline is so important to this County and if the shoreline protection is important, which it is, it is a priority for the state if you look at our state laws. But we just feel, "No, that is more important. We are above that. We think this is more important to the community than the shoreline." I cannot support this, so I am not going to be supporting this today. Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: I think we have looked closely at this and I do not think there is any threat to the shoreline, because I think in that area, the erosion rate is zero. Also, the bike path life expectancy is expected to...I mean the life of the bike path or the multi-use path is going to be before there is any real threat. If there is, the bike path is not a hardening, so it does not affect the coastline either way from it. It really does not have any major impact on the shoreline protection aspect. It is very, very important to have this connection. It supports our resorts and the citizenry. It is a really important connection of safety and beauty along the coast between Lydgate Park and the rest of Kapa'a Town. I think the project is a sound one. Council Chair Rapozo: I guess if someone comes in to put up a chain-link fence and they want a variance, just a chain-link, which has absolutely no impact on the coast, beach, and shore, but we are just going to go ahead and hand those things out as well? If the resorts are going to benefit so much from this, then for the resorts impacted, why would they not give us the opportunity to move the path inland? If they are going to benefit so much, then let them allow us to move the path outside of the shoreline setback area into the safe zone, which is where it should be to begin with. Councilmember Kagawa. Councilmember Kagawa: I kind of feel like you, Council Chair. When it comes to doing bike paths and walking paths, let us not confuse the situation—these paths are not for multimodal to get to work; these paths are for exercise. Exercise is great, but what I am saying is that with the County having so much things to fix and to improve, it seems that for this County at least, this Administration, that when we are doing walking paths, bike paths, and planters, we are right on it and we get it done. When it comes to fixing roads that are really bad and bridges that are falling, man, we are slow like molasses. Can we try and do both well or are we only going to excel at these bike paths and walking paths? That is my question. We have a new COUNCIL MEETING 5 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 mayor coming in one (1) year and I hope that the focus will change for the betterment of Kaua`i. We have a two hundred million dollar ($200,000,000) budget and all we hear is that in order to fix the things in dire need, we have to tax you more. But when it comes to making bike paths, walking paths, and planters, then it is no problem and we have enough money, or we have enough help so we are going to get volunteer help to do it. I want to see a little shift of the focus because it is very hard to sit here as a Councilmember and justify to the taxpayers on why major roads are not being fixed with the existing money. It is very difficult. I know you hear some Councilmembers say, "Well, we have to tax more." No, we have two hundred million dollars ($200,000,000) every year. We are supposed to have enough money to fix things that are right in front of us. But we have enough money to do additional bike paths and walking paths. I think I want to see a change of focus. I am going to vote no with Council Chair Rapozo, because I think I am tired of dealing with this kind of priority things that I do not agree with. I think we have to get back to basics. We have to fix what we have and fix these roads because the cars are going to continue to travel them. We have to do things to improve congestion, like alternate routes. I am going to vote no and my sole premise is that we need to shift our focus and shift our action to meet the needs of Kaua`i's people, not the few. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: We had, at budget time, the ability to do what Council Vice Chair is saying to reallocate our existing budget and we tried really hard, and the Vice Chair was among the greatest advocates, to make cuts, but we also found how difficult it is to make cuts. So it is clear to me that we do not have enough money to address the one hundred million dollar ($100,000,000) and it will keep growing unless we do something. We did have enough money to address that one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000), so we have to do that, plus the moneys that we use for these multi-use paths are not available to repave our roads and not the same kind of money, so we cannot do that. This is a way of saving money along the multi-use path. We are not going to have to pay these costs because the federal government is going to do it through their training. Council Chair Rapozo: You will pay the cost when you have to come and replace the bike path and repair the shoreline. That is my point. It has nothing to do with the bike path there. I think the bike path is a good thing, it is just that why are we putting ourselves in a place that may cause some issues down the road? Councilmember Kawakami. Councilmember Kawakami: Thank you, Chair. I want to agree with everything that was said today. There are big concerns, but at the same time, the studies have been done to show little to no erosion in this area. We have the IRT program coming in to put in some work that will save us some costs and these are long-term investments for the future. It may be just for exercise for some people, but it is a way to address our rising health costs. I will say it again—we prescribed in America medicine to treat illnesses versus prescribing health and wellness to be proactive, and I see this as a tremendous asset. As far as moving the path mauka, it is very difficult when you have cultural concerns being risen, and this is where the Burial Council, I believe, wants to have this path located, because the iwi and cultural COUNCIL MEETING 6 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 artifacts are more mauka where I guess the other option is being proposed. When we talk about the appropriate location, I feel that for this location, it will work out just fine. I think the erosion rates in different areas of the island differ as well and one of the pictures that was posted is in an area where we are not talking about. We have to take into account where the host culture sees it as being more appropriate and I believe that this location is where they would rather see it happen. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? I am not so sure all of the Native Hawaiians are satisfied with this location as well. I have heard from a few of them personally. Councilmember Kawakami: I do not think they will ever all be in agreement, but the people that we put in charge to do the due diligence, the Burial Council, has expressed that this is the area where they would rather see it happen. Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Councilmember Kaneshiro. Councilmember Kaneshiro: Last week, I stated my position clearly and I will state it again: it does come down to the pros and cons of the project. Of course, we have heard both sides, the pros and cons. For me, the pros did outweigh the cons. I think it is a benefit to the community and I am going to stand by that vote. I think we saw the erosion type of studies and we know that we could get an actual disaster and all of this could be for nothing. Within one (1) year, this whole path could be out, but I think for my vote, I am confident to say that I think it is for the good of the community and I hope it lasts as long as it possibly can. Of course, a natural disaster can wipe it out, but at least I can say that I voted for it to be there for the public use. I am going to stand by that vote. For me, the pros outweigh the cons on it and I am willing to stand by that vote. I will be voting for it. Council Chair Rapozo: The residents up in Hanapepe on Moi Road have been asking for a walkway for a long time, people like the seniors and kapuna. As long as I have been on this Council, since 2002, they have been asking for that path. They did not need a twelve (12) feet wide bike/pedestrian path, they just wanted something they can walk down, the local people, the people that have been living here for sixty (60), seventy (70), eighty (80) years. They have been asking for that for years, decades, and we kept telling them, "We do not have money." There are other projects like that on Kaua`i that we keep telling the people, "Sorry." I think what Councilmember Kagawa is saying is true. We have a project like this for whatever reason, maybe it is because it provides some availability of federal funds, but where is the priority? Why can we not give our local residents the priority so that they can walk; not ride or view the coastline. Why can we not give them an opportunity to walk down, which they have been really begging for a long time? It is a priority issue. That is what this is. We have made that priority that we are going to do this first, and then whatever the scraps are left, we can throw out to Moi Road or the other projects. How do I tell our Hanapepe constituents, "Sorry, you have to wait because we have to work on this?" We have a military team coming down, willing to do free work and free labor, but we are going to take them to the resort area so that our resorts are going to be happy, because that is what is important. I disagree. That is just where I am at. Thank you. Go ahead. COUNCIL MEETING 7 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Councilmember Kawakami: I think that is a wonderful idea, and I have heard that, too. Being that we control the purse strings, why do we not take this moment to earmark some funding to begin that process? We do not have to wait for the Administration to tell us that this is a priority. We can do it on our own. Why do we not earmark some appropriations money that has not been already to do the feasibility study and get the ball rolling? We know how long these projects take. If we had not started it ten (10) years ago, it is going to take ten (10) years just to do the study, do the cultural surveys, reach out to the host culture for any kind of mana o they have, and then to begin getting the project shovel-ready. I think that is a great idea. One of the other areas I heard is right around Salt Pond area where there may be a road that might be feasible and it may not, but I think that unless we start beginning to look at these projects, the west side definitely needs it. This path is for local people. There are a lot of local families that are out there every single weekend and every time I go out there, I can see more local families than tourists. Even though statements have been made to say that this is for our visitors, this is for our local people. We have fought for our coastline access from the beginning of time. If this path was not here, we would have lost a lot of that access and accessibility. I think it is a tremendous asset for local people. On the west side, I would love to see something on the west side because there are a lot of west side families I see that make the journey all the way from across that bridge to the east side to get on that path as well. I think it would be a great thing for health and wellness and transportation and job creation. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: I am so proud that in our last budget, we did put moneys in for Moi Road and we were told by the Department of Public Works that they are planning a multi-use path that will go from Moi Road and connect down to Salt Pond, which is already in the works, as well as the planning for a multi-use path between Kekaha and Waimea, which was in the bikeways plan for the island...I guess it was before I was the mayor, in 1978, and it has taken a long time, but it is finally going to happen between Waimea and Kekaha and it is going to be a wonderful thing. We are doing work there and we do have a vision. I would love to see it happen on the west side where it is much drier and flat. I have talked to some of the families there and they are just really looking forward to it. We have not forgotten the west side. I think it is very true what Councilmember Kawakami says that the multi-use path in Kapa`a-Wailua is a local people's path. The testimony we got in favor of it was by local people who use it and the plus on top of that is the fact that is really supports our visitor industry and they support the path. It is a real win-win and it is something that is coming islanwide finally. We still need one on the south shore, too. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kagawa. Councilmember Kagawa: For me, it is not whether it is helpful to the local people or not; I am just saying that it is a "nice to have" versus a "need to have" and if you look at the entire project, from wherever it begins, down at Anahola and goes all the way through Wailua; how much money have we poured into that? We keep grumbling about a one hundred million dollar ($100,000,000) backlog of road COUNCIL MEETING 8 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 repair and one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) more of bridge repair. All I am saying is, "What is our priority?" Are we going to do the "nice to have" first and the "need to have" second? Is that going to be our focus throughout with limited resources? I am saying that if we had unlimited resources, you can do the "nice to have" and "need to have." We have limited resources and I hope that at some point we are going to shift our focus from these "nice to have" to the "need to have." That is all I am saying. I am not saying that bike paths and walking paths are bad; I am saying it is a nice to have. We have to do the "need to have" too and we are not. All we are saying is that the backlog keeps going up. I think we need some different focus or we are headed in a bad direction for this island. Council Chair Rapozo: With that, if there is no more discussion, roll call. The motion to approve C 2017-238 was then put, and carried by the following vote: FOR APPROVAL: Brun, Chock, Kaneshiro, Kawakami, Yukimura TOTAL — 5, AGAINST APPROVAL: Kagawa, Rapozo TOTAL — 2, EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0, RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0. Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Motion passes. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Next item, please. C 2017-249 Communication (10/02/2017) from Councilmember Kawakami, requesting the presence of the Mayor, to provide a briefing on the Administration's priorities for the 2018 Legislative Session, beginning the dialogue regarding other potential County priorities and formulating the 2018 Kaua`i County Legislative Package: Councilmember Chock moved to approve C 2017-249, seconded by Councilmember Kaneshiro. Council Chair Rapozo: I do not see the Mayor or a representative. I will suspend the rules. Paula, thank you for being here, I am not sure what capacity. This went out a while ago to ask the Mayor or some representative to discuss our County Package. Are you prepared to have the discussion? There being no objections, the rules were suspended. PAULA M. MORIKAMI, Boards and Commissions Administrator: Yes. On behalf of the Mayor and the Administration, we support your legislative package that was proposed. In addition, I notice that there are two (2) additional items on your agenda regarding a different version of the tort liability, as well as the Kaua`i Humane Society and the Administration also supports those. As far as the Administration's proposals, we are looking at Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) and possible grant-in-aid (GIA) requests to the state legislature. That is being finalized. COUNCIL MEETING 9 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kawakami. Councilmember Kawakami: For the GIA application, is it to the County for specific County programs or is it for nonprofit agencies that provide services? Ms. Morikami: It is specific for the County. Councilmember Kawakami: For the County? Ms. Morikami: Yes. Councilmember Kawakami: Okay. Council Chair Rapozo: Do you know when we would be getting a chance to look and have a discussion with that? Is that the Mayor's intent, to bring it before us or is he going to submit it when he wants our support? Ms. Morikami: I am not clear on whether or not it is an administrative request or if it is going to be joint. I know you have a timeline/deadline and we all realize that. Council Chair Rapozo: Well, for it to be on the County Package, he needs our support. Ms. Morikami: Yes, I understand. Council Chair Rapozo: He can have a "Bernard Carvalho Package," but if it is on the County Package, it needs joint support. I would assume that he would have a discussion at some point. Ms. Morikami: Yes and we know your deadline, so we are working on that. Council Chair Rapozo: When was the deadline, Councilmember Kawakami? Do you know? Does anybody know the deadline that we set? The next committee meeting? Should we refer this to the committee? We can refer it to the Economic Development & Intergovernmental Relations Committee and have that discussion in one (1) week. Councilmember Kawakami: Well, we are going to have to, in order to hit deadlines because they open in January, so we are going to have some kind of discussion previous to the opening, right? Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Any questions for Paula? Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: I do not think we got your full name for the record. COUNCIL MEETING 10 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Ms. Morikami: I am sorry, Paula Morikami, Office of Boards and Commissions. I just happened to be a part of the discussion regarding each of your legislative proposals and we went through each one of them and we support what you have in front of you. Council Chair Rapozo: I guess the communication that was sent across was for us to hear the Administration's priorities. We appreciate your support for what we are suggesting, but we are more interested in hearing what the priorities were for the Administration and have that discussion so that we can incorporate it into our package. Ms. Morikami: For sure, the Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT) cap proposal was one of the Administration's priorities and we have noticed that you have included that. The other one for sure that was on the top of the priority list was Tort Liability. You have included that. You also have included whether it is twenty-five percent (25%) credit for water sprinkler...you have addressed issues that the Mayor feels strongly about, but the TAT cap bill and Tort Liability were his top two (2) priorities, along with others that you proposed. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Any other questions for Paula? Councilmember Chock. Councilmember Chock: Chair, we are talking about next week? Are we referring it to the committee for next week? Council Chair Rapozo: Yes, we will send it to the Economic Development & Intergovernmental Relations Committee. Councilmember Chock: So the request is that we might have Administration's priorities as well? Ms. Morikami: I will go back and I will ensure that we have something for you if there is any grant-in-aid request going to the State. Councilmember Chock: I am interested and need to know what the CIP and GIA focus will be if that is going to be submitted. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you, Paula. Ms. Morikami: Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone wishing to testify? Please come up. Mr. Bernabe: Matt Bernabe, for the record. I would like to go on the record and say that I actually got up and dressed for this agenda item and I take it as an insult that he was not here, and then sent the most quietest, little mouse that I can hear to come and present whatever she presented, and I do not mean it as an insult, but I just mean that this Administrative representative could barely COUNCIL MEETING 11 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 be heard and I know that there are a lot of complaints at home that the people cannot hear. I get a lot of compliments because they can hear me. That is why it comes up as a topic. I do not know why the Mayor was not here, but some of us in the public are interested in knowing what is going on over there. To have this to be continued, I am kind of insulted as a public member. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? Seeing none, I will call the meting back to order. Councilmember Yukimura. There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: Councilmember Yukimura: I am glad for the feedback because I have heard it, too, and I think we all need to be more conscious about speaking clearly and loudly and I have asked public speakers often to speak more clearly. So it is not an issue with Ms. Morikami, but it is really an overall issue for all of us, both around this table, and BC has told me at times that I need to bring this closer, and also people who speak from the other side of the banister so that people watching can hear. Thank you for that. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Councilmember Kagawa. Councilmember Kagawa: Paula is quiet and humble, but she answered the question. We asked whether the Mayor supported the package and he supports the package. Some of the Members wanted the Mayor here and that is understandable. When you send a communication saying "requesting the presence of the Mayor," I think sometimes the Office of the Mayor does not know whether to take that literally or to send a representative. Paula sits in all of the meetings there so she knows what is going on. She communicated that they support the package. If we wanted to hear in detail what the Mayor's feeling is personally about every single item, then I think maybe we should have the Mayor here. If you folks want to move it, then I am fine with moving it. Paula said she supports the package, so I am ready to support the package right now. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kawakami. Councilmember Kawakami: I am ready to support the package, but the only thing I am worried about is if there were important CIP that we approve today that would have not made it, so maybe we just wait and they can come back. The CIP appropriations are all of the job creators and the quality of life improvement stuff that we can actually tangibly see, whether it was bus stops or appropriations to Lima Ola. It just dawned on me that there are members of the public that may be wondering what this package is that we are talking about. Basically, we have spoken at length on some of the package items, but just to really briefly go through it again, the Legislative Package is sort of the counties' collaborative effort to partner with our legislators as they open up session in January and it is a specific ask, whether it is through policy or CIP appropriations that we would like the County to be able to see. So just doing down the list, Paula said that there were two (2) big priorities that they really supported, and one was the removal of...actually, it is not even the removal of COUNCIL MEETING 12 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 the sunset provision, it is the reenactment of the indemnification for county lifeguards on state beaches on Kaua`i, so that would be Ke`e Beach, so that would be the first item. We are also asking for an appropriation to expand our Emergency Medical Services (EMS), which is our ambulances services, where we are really out-of-date. Really, when we made the appropriation ask about two (2) or three (3) years ago, it was actually the only one warranted in the State of Hawai`i for an upgrade, so that is being asked. Number three, which is another top priority, is the removal of the TAT cap that is appropriated to the counties. That was put in place to get through the great recession. The legislative intent was to always remove the cap once it was put on, but that has not happened. Number four, we heard this one again before, is the twenty-five percent (25%) tax incentive for the installment of automatic fire suppression systems. Number five would be a tax credit for employers that hire individuals with disabilities. Number six would be a tax credit to employers that hire individuals that are elderly. Number seven would be related to zoning and that is the Transient Vacation Rental (TVR) amortization bill that we are asking for. So just for the public's edification, this is what is on the proposal. The reason why we are delaying is because we are still waiting for the Mayor to come with their CIP and grant-in-aid requests. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you, Economic Development & Intergovernmental Relations Committee Chair Kawakami. I just want to go back to the issue of having the Mayor here. I think at some point, it is good for him to be here to have the discussion and I think if he cannot be here, a transmittal that says, "I cannot be there, but somebody else will be here instead," would be helpful communication. Am I right in assuming that this will all be in our next committee meeting next week? Council Chair Rapozo: That is the plan. That was my suggestion. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Thank you. Councilmember Kagawa: I have a question. Council Chair Rapozo: Go ahead. Councilmember Kagawa: So if the Mayor was here and he said exactly the same thing was Paula said, would it have made a difference? Council Chair Rapozo: I think we get the point that he supports what we are proposing, but what we do not have is what he is proposing. Who knows what is on his CIP list? For me, as we discuss County Package, it is a collective package that needs to be discussed. That is just the way it works. The request was not to get the support of our proposals, it was to discuss his and his Administration's. That is what today was about. Paula might be little, but she is no mouse. I can tell you that. She is definitely no mouse. Really, what CIP projects and grant-in-aid projects is the Mayor looking at, how much and for what? That is where we are and I just think it COUNCIL MEETING 13 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 is only fair that we should know. Otherwise, it does not make the package and we want it to make the package and work together. Councilmember Kaneshiro. Councilmember Kaneshiro: I was going to say the exact same thing that you said, Chair. First of all, Paula, I heard you loud and clearly. I actually appreciate when you come and answer the questions because you speak clearly and you are very accurate in your answers. I know sometimes we get some answers and we ask the question and we do not even know what the answer is. But with you, it is always very clear. Again, to what Council Chair said, I think the agenda item was very clear, which was to get a briefing on the "Administration's priorities" for the 2018 Legislative Session and begin dialogue regarding other potential county priorities, which did not include just our package. Even for me, I was very interested in hearing what the County was going to bring and I thought the agenda item was very clear and I think that is the reason for us kind of being like, "Hey, we wanted to see what they are offering," because in the end, we are going to be offering a total package from the County Council and the Mayor, but right now, we only know half the story; we only know what the County Council discussed and is adding in the package. We want to know what the Mayor is putting in so at least we have a head's up on what we are submitting to the State as a whole. So exactly what Council Chair said, I think having the Mayor here or having an idea of the items that they have been discussing is kind of what we were looking forward to and that is probably why it is going to get referred to the next committee meeting so that we can actually hear the other half of what we are going to be requesting from the State. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Councilmember Kagawa. Councilmember Kagawa: Can I ask another question? Council Chair Rapozo: Sure. Councilmember Kagawa: Did she answer where the Administration is as far as their priorities? Are they not ready? What was her answer? I did not hear that. Council Chair Rapozo: We can bring her back up, but in essence, what she said is that they have CIP proposals as well as grant-in-aid. Councilmember Kagawa: But she does not have it? Council Chair Rapozo: Let me go ahead and suspend the rules again. There being no objections, the rules were suspended. Ms. Morikami: Paula Morikami. We are looking at the proposals that were discussed with the House Finance Committee when they came. There were a list of items that were discussed as possible requests to the state legislature. We have to fine tune that to know more information and we are working on that. When the House Finance Committee came, they met and we discussed our priorities as far as grant-in-aid. We have to finalize that before we proceed and COUNCIL MEETING 14 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 present it to you. As far as the Kaua`i County Legislative Package is concerned, we are hoping that it can be included. If not, the Administration fully supports your seven (7) proposals that you are discussing today. Thank you. Councilmember Kagawa: When was that House Finance meeting approximately? Ms. Morikami: I did not attend... Councilmember Kagawa: Was it like one (1) month ago? A couple of weeks ago? Ms. Morikami: Maybe six (6) weeks. I am not sure. Councilmember Kagawa: Okay, so based on that meeting, we are kind of fine tuning what our priorities will be. Ms. Morikami: Yes. Councilmember Kagawa: Okay. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Anymore questions? If not, thank you very much, Paula. Ms. Morikami: Thank you, Chair. Council Chair Rapozo: I will call the meeting back to order. Any further discussion? Again, I am hoping that the Administration will be ready in one (1) week to come up with the proposals. Right now, I guess I am entertaining a motion to refer this item to the Economic Development & Intergovernmental Relations Committee. There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: Councilmember Kagawa moved to refer C 2017-249 to the November 8, 2017 Economic Development & Intergovernmental Relations Committee, seconded by Councilmember Yukimura, and unanimously carried. Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried, next item please. C 2017-250 Communication (10/06/2017) from the Chief of Police, transmitting for Council consideration, A Bill For An Ordinance Amending Chapter 16, Kaua`i County Code 1987, As Amended, Relating To The Traffic Code, to specify that parking a vehicle in a manner that obstructs the free movement of vehicles within the lane of travel is prohibited: Councilmember Chock moved to receive C 2017-250 for the record, seconded by Councilmember Kaneshiro. Councilmember Yukimura: Can we have them come up? COUNCIL MEETING 15 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Council Chair Rapozo: We can. I will suspend the rules. The bill will be coming up later. Can the Kaua`i Police Department (KPD) come up? Can you introduce yourselves for the captioner? Councilmember Yukimura is asking to go over the amendment and the change in language. There being no objections, the rules were suspended. ROBERT GAUSEPOHL, Assistant Chief: Good morning, Rob Gausepohl, for the record. MARK OZAKI, Captain: Good morning, Mark Ozaki. ROY ASHER, Assistant Chief: Good morning, Roy Asher. Happy Birthday, Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you. Councilmember Kagawa: Wow, happy birthday. Council Chair Rapozo: Is today your birthday? Councilmember Yukimura: Today. Council Chair Rapozo: I almost feel like we have to sing, but we will do that later. Because the bill is coming up later, let us do the Council questions and discussion with the police here because when we dismiss you today, you are not coming back. Can you just start with that? It is obviously removing that one paragraph and you are replacing with new language. Can you just go over that? Mr. Gausepohl: We have two (2). I am sorry, which one specifically? Councilmember Yukimura: We are talking about Bill No. 2673, regarding parking. Mr. Asher: It gives us a tool to remedy this situation. When these cars park, it forces cars to go around them, and because it is still a parking zone, but it may be on the roadway, there is virtually nothing we can do about that, so we need the language so that now we can cite or tow-away, especially when the vehicles are there as a hazard. Councilmember Yukimura: So the situation is where you have a two-lane street and they are parking on the shoulder, but still... Mr. Asher: On the easement. Councilmember Yukimura: On the easement part, which forces the cars in that lane to go into the other lane. COUNCIL MEETING 16 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Mr. Asher: Correct. Mr. Gausepohl: If I could, originally, it is unclear as to whether the meaning was the lane of travel or the entire roadway. So this just clarifies that it is a lane of travel. Councilmember Yukimura: Is there any place in particular from which this bill originated or the need for this bill? Is it a common problem in many places around the island? Mr. Gausepohl: It has been ongoing for quite some time. I think when Craig De Costa was a prosecutor, his opinion was that it was the lane and it has been going back and forth. It has been an ongoing issue for quite some time. Councilmember Yukimura: I think you might want to speak out loud so that everybody can hear. So you said that it is a matter of interpretation, the existing language is not clear, so the proposed language in this bill is making it clear. Mr. Gausepohl: Yes, it is just a clarification on the existing language. Councilmember Yukimura: That is going to enable you to enforce more easily. Mr. Gausepohl: Right, so if a vehicle is parked on a shoulder, legally, semi-legally, but still in the roadway, is the way the ordinance currently is, it is not clear that that vehicle is impeding traffic because it is in debate whether it is the roadway or the lane of travel. If you have a two-way lane to travel, this vehicle would have to move into the oncoming lane. Clearly, that is not safe. This just clarifies it. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Mr. Asher: The best example would be Ha`ena. Councilmember Yukimura: That is what I was thinking. So in Ha`ena where you have a narrow road. Mr. Asher: Yes. Councilmember Yukimura: Are you talking about the main highway? Mr. Asher: Yes. Councilmember Yukimura: And there is a lot of overflow parking and they park on what they think is the shoulder, but they are actually impeding the traffic in COUNCIL MEETING 17 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 the lane, so cars have to go into the other lane. That is a safety problem and it is hard for you to enforce against that kind of problem. Mr. Gausepohl: If an emergency vehicle ambulance had to go up there, it would probably get stuck, so that is clearly a safety issue, but it also occurs all over the island where people are parking and it is not safe. Council Chair Rapozo: What happens in an area that you do not have ten (10) foot lane? This now...what used to be the roadway...so as long as you have ten (10) feet between where the emergency vehicle who could go through...that is what a ten (10) feet was done. Now, you are saying the lane, so if you have a street that has a centerline and you have a lane, I do not think any of the lanes in the neighborhoods are ten (10) feet. Maybe the highways, but in a residential area, I do not think the lane itself is ten (10) feet. So you are saying that you cannot park anywhere on that road? Mr. Gausepohl: You are saying that the lane is not ten (10) feet wide? Council Chair Rapozo: Yes. Mr. Gausepohl: I believe it should be ten (10) feet wide. Council Chair Rapozo: Not in some of the neighborhoods. Some roads are narrow and if it is an unmarked road, what do you consider the lane? Mr. Gausepohl: It would be from the center of the travel lane. Council Chair Rapozo: Right, so let us say, like especially on the west side where you have a lot of those little roads that if you cut it down the middle, it is not ten (10) feet...that lane is not ten (10) feet. So you are basically prohibiting any parking for those people. Mr. Asher: It gives us the tool to enforce it, should it become a problem. Right now, we cannot do anything. Council Chair Rapozo: Well, it is illegal. You cannot say that you want this only because in the event you can cite, you are going to cite. It becomes against the law. I do not know if you can word it differently, because I know what you are trying to do, but with this language here, like I said, if you do not have a twenty (20) foot wide roadway, you are not going to allow any parking on that road. If you take the middle of the road and it is less than ten (10) feet, you cannot park. Mr. Gausepohl: Unless you are off the shoulder and off the roadway. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kawakami. COUNCIL MEETING 18 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Councilmember Kawakami: But you are not supposed to park on the roadway anyway, right? We were just talking about, like take for example, Ha`ena. Technically, is it not against the law as it is to park on the roadway? This is just when you are kind of like in that twilight zone where you are kind of encroaching onto that roadway, right? Is that where we are talking about? Mr. Gausepohl: This law is unclear as to what it means to impede the roadway. Councilmember Kawakami: Okay. Mr. Gausepohl: We are trying to say "lane of travel" rather than the entire roadway. Councilmember Kawakami: Okay. So in essence, this might prohibit areas like Hekili Road, which is one of those more narrow streets and you have residential areas and because of a lack of parking and the topography is very sloped, people will park to the side. So sometimes it becomes, in essence, a one-lane road so that would give you the discretion to go and enforce, right? Okay. I have one more question, Chair. Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Councilmember Kawakami: Does this take into account also areas where cars are parked in easements, but they start obstructing sidewalks and walkways? That is an issue, too, in certain places where they are parking and kids are walking to school and because they are parked on the sidewalk, they are now walking into the roadway. To me, if we can address that it in here, it might be worthwhile to take a look at an amendment. Mr. Gausepohl: There is an existing ordinance against parking on the sidewalk. Councilmember Kawakami: Okay. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: At Lihu`e Industrial right now, where it is a mess, this would clear that up rather quickly. Mr. Asher: In certain areas. Mr. Gausepohl: It would be very clear that if they are in violation or not, which right now, it is not. Council Chair Rapozo: No, right here by Tire Warehouse, if you split that road down the middle by Kuhio Motors and right there...you folks know...you can barely fit your car right now. You can be in the car and impeding the traffic and you can actually get a ticket, which I think is good, because that is the problem. There is just not enough parking for an industrial area for that type of activity and that type of business. That would be a discretion whether or not you go down there and COUNCIL MEETING 19 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 enforce, but that is one area that just everybody on that road is in violation. Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: The problem is really where there are no defined shoulders so when people park on the grassy area or whatever, they are also then partly in the lane. Mr. Gausepohl: Yes, that is one of the issues. Councilmember Yukimura: In Ha`ena, that is the case. There is no real travel lanes, shoulder, and then...what do they call...paved shoulders. Mr. Gausepohl: For example, in Ha`ena, if there is a narrow part of the road and cars are parked on both sides, which car is in violation? Council Chair Rapozo: Who came first? Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, so both. Council Chair Rapozo: How are you going to say both? The first person left... Mr. Gausepohl: You could with this because they are both impeding the lane of travel. Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. Council Chair Rapozo: Well, the first person that parked there was not impeding if the lane is less than ten (10) feet. In fact, I believe the roadway even includes the shoulders. Mr. Gausepohl: Yes, it does. Councilmember Yukimura: Well, maybe more people will ride the bus so they will not need a car. Council Chair Rapozo: There you go. You are just relentless. It is amazing how she can connect anything we talk about into the bus. Anymore questions for the police? I want to get them back on the street. Councilmember Chock. Councilmember Chock: I am supportive of the direction of the request for this bill, but I guess I do have some concerns, just in terms of discretion, because we have so many different conditions of roads. In some places, we literally have, because of our housing issues, families needing to use the side. So I just wanted to take that into consideration in terms of how it is we are enforcing knowing that safety is priority and that there are people who are trying to live and get by as well. I do not know what verbiage. I know the Chair mentioned maybe some additional COUNCIL MEETING 20 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 verbiage that would help quantify that, but we would need to look at that as we look at this bill. Thank you. Mr. Gausepohl: I think if a firetruck or ambulance cannot go down that road, then people should not park on that road. Councilmember Chock: I fully agree with you. Council Chair Rapozo: We have a lot of problems, as you all know, with the cul-de-sacs on Kaua`i where they just load them up with cars, and firetrucks, medics, and rubbish trucks cannot even get in. This will definitely help all of that. Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: This is discretionary so where it is not causing a problem, then there will not be a real need to enforce, right? Mr. Gausepohl: I think we are responding to complaints more than anything else in this case. Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, so that is where it is a problem. Mr. Gausepohl: If the community is not complaining or if a first responder is not complaining about a particular situation, I do not think we have the time to go and seek that out. That is really not what we are trying to do here. We are trying to create a safer environment for everybody on the roadway and clarify an unclear ordinance. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kagawa. Councilmember Kagawa: I heard"safety" and then"complaints," so that would drive police to respond. Mr. Gausepohl: Yes. Councilmember Kagawa: I feel good with this that a lot of times you folks are asked to help improve a safety situation and the hands are tied, so sometimes you need to come with these type of amendments to do your job. Do you think it will improve some of the end of the road problems? I can see that there are cars parallel and you have someone that is going to say, "I have enough space," and he is just going to stick his car in and part of his car is sticking out. Mr. Gausepohl: We drove down there and took a look at it firsthand and it is a real problem. If something happened down there, a police car would have a hard time getting down there, let alone an ambulance or anybody else. It is not a safe situation and we have to start taking measures to improve it. COUNCIL MEETING 21 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Councilmember Kagawa: With the current language, were we having problems with people challenging tickets or what have you? Mr. Gausepohl: Yes. We have had a debate between prosecutors, and I am sure judges, too; basically, what they are saying, and they are right, is to make this ordinance clearer and that is what we are here to try to do. If prosecutors and judges are saying it, then it is incumbent that we bring it to you folks to try to clean it up. Councilmember Kagawa: But we do not want to be writing tickets and no action can be taken at the courts, right? Mr. Gausepohl: Yes. Council Chair Rapozo: Has a prosecutor reviewed this language? Mr. Gausepohl: I think the County Attorney did. Council Chair Rapozo: Well, he is not going to be the one to prosecute. If the prosecutor is saying, "Hey, take it to the Council and fix it," then maybe the prosecutor should do the language that we know can prosecute. There is no sense in just writing one, that is not the police's job. Anyway, this is just the first reading. Councilmember Kawakami. Councilmember Kawakami: This is different than a no-parking zone, right? If it is a no-parking zone and they are parking, you folks can just ticket them anyway, right? This is going to be another effort that we are going to require some kind of collaboration from the State Department of Transportation (DOT) because I can see that if that Ke`e area does not have appropriate signage, there may be that gray area where some tourists might say, "There is no `No Parking' sign over here and I am getting a ticket," then that is going to tie you up and take you off your duties to go and try to explain this thing in front of the judge. Mr. Gausepohl: I completely agree, but we have been in contact with the DOT and they have committed to putting up more signs. Councilmember Kawakami: Thank you. Mr. Ozaki: So that situation that you just talked about is exactly what we are faced with. I will give you an example—on the north shore where there is a small shoulder, so they are parking on the shoulder, but also on the roadway and on both lanes, and then the centerline becomes a one-way road. So cars end up becoming...they are looking to see if anybody is coming and it essentially becomes a one-way road. Emergency vehicles do not have time to wait for that. If the ambulance needs to get down to Ke`e Beach, they cannot be playing that one-way road game to see if they can get down there. That is some of the complaints that we have been having. When we went down there to actually cite cars for parking semi on the roadway, it became a gray area because the language in the ordinance was not clear that it said, "one-lane," or does it become the complete two-ways narrows down to COUNCIL MEETING 22 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 having at least ten (10) feet? Is that something you can cite? The direction of the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney in this current term was at first, "No, I interpret it as you can cite it." But in further discussing it with a judge, it was deemed to be unclear and it was proposed by the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney that we clarify the ordinance and bring it to you folks, so in a situation like that, it is clear that we can cite, not somebody that is definitely on the shoulder and not on the roadway, but is still a narrow roadway; we are not looking at citing people like that, trying to live in Hanama`ulu. It is people that turn a two-lane road into a one-lane road and now it is definitely clear that we can cite. Councilmember Kawakami: I think that is like the tug-of-war that we are faced with, is we have a lot of law on the books and there is some that is clearly not discretionary, like assault; you cannot go out and beat somebody up. That is not discretionary. Murder is not discretionary, but there are some of these gray areas where the public will come to us and say, "Why are you folks creating these laws if people are not following them," and it becomes us explaining that a lot of times, you need these tools in your tool chest to go out and enforce and it is not just a one-size fits all in our community. There are certain areas where it becomes a public health and safety issue and getting ambulance and firetrucks to a house that is in need is very different than just having this neighborhood where it is not an issue. For the public at-large, it becomes our task to kind of explain, but it is a difficult one. People are saying, "It is allowed," or "it is illegal," but it is discretionary. Mr. Gausepohl: In this case, it is more of a clarification than creating something new that people would question. Councilmember Kawakami: Okay. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Any other questions for KPD? Mr. Gausepohl: We did have the other item about allowing the addition in 16-9.12(a), "Any police officer or other County employee designated by the Chief of Police..." Council Chair Rapozo: Yes, we will take that up... Mr. Gausepohl: Next? Council Chair Rapozo: Yes. Mr. Gausepohl: Okay. Council Chair Rapozo: Any other questions? Any public testimony? SCOTT K. SATO, Deputy County Clerk: We have one (1) registered speaker, Matt Bernabe. Mr. Bernabe: Matt Bernabe, for the record. I would like to first start off by saying thank you to the police, because there was a recent situation, COUNCIL MEETING 23 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 and is probably one of the reasons that they are here, that I know of personally with some unsafe parking and they were very professional on it and I have to give them...I go both ways...if they need criticism, I am going to criticize and when they need to be praised, they need to be praised. While we are on parking though, I am glad the discretionary part was brought up because I live in the houselots and I sometimes park my Ford out on the road and I know that road is not ten (10) feet from the center. So I was sweating a little bit. I know Hanamd'ulu has issues and the end of the road has issues. Obviously, it is not all of those because my friend does not live in neither one of them and every time I visit him, we are worried about taking a turn because of bad parking. The point that I want to bring out, too, is that the discretionary part blew my mind because when the Rice Street Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant was being brought up, I would always come in the morning and see a couple of cars parked in the "No Parking" area and it was 8:00 a.m. with no traffic, which debunks why we need to change that road, and I asked some of them in here...I think I asked one of them in here and the reason they do not enforce some of it, and I did not realize this at the time, but I learned it from them that the State collects the money while we incur the cost of processing. I just think the public should know that occurs before they just start making a huhu, and call in for parking tickets all over the place. The one thing that I can see this is, is that although my friend totally needed the police, I could see disgruntled neighbors using this. I am just keeping it on the real. That is not a spectrum of this ordinance being clarified. I have not been able to read it. I was trying to find it on the internet...I just saw the little paragraph, so I actually do not know what it entails, so maybe I can get a copy of that. Thank you very much. Council Chair Rapozo: Next speaker. FELICIA COWDEN: Felicia Cowden, for the record. I have sympathy for this whole issue because absolutely the roads get crowded and when we look at Ha`ena, very, very much so and that is visitors so it is easier to kind of harsh on the visitors. This neighborhood that is just down this way...I do not know what it is called, but going in there at night...it is so crowed and I have a Honda Fit, that little, bitty car, and I am nervous going down there because there are so much cars parked in the way. Above Laukona Road in Hanamd'ulu, it gets pretty darn crowded, too, at night. Usually, I am up here advocating for the struggling and the marginalized and the reason that these neighborhoods are all crowded with cars is because the houses are all crowded with people. Maybe we have seven (7) or eight (8) working adults in each house and they need a car, so where are we going to put those cars? I do not really have a yes or a no or it seems like they are asking for something that is very, very reasonable and I support their ask, but we have to very conscious of how that impacts. When we are talking about the fire trucks and everything else, those crowded neighborhoods are probably going to need a fire truck and an ambulance, but they are not going to have a house if they do not have those nine (9) working adults in the house. It is a difficult choice, but I just wanted to point out that it would hurt the people who do not have, and then we have more of that cycle of poverty that I am constantly testifying to. You do not even have enough money for whatever it is that you need to comply, let alone the fine for having what it is. Good luck with your choice. COUNCIL MEETING 24 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? Seeing none, I will call the meeting back to order. Further discussion? Councilmember Kagawa. There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: Councilmember Kagawa: I just want to thank the police for this. I think it is pretty clear-cut. They are just trying to clarify that it is not blocking a lane and it is for safety. No matter what the poverty level of family situations, it does not mean that it is okay to block the road. The roads need access to service the entire community, not just a struggling family. I think we are just giving the police a tool to go...I do not see our police as people who just give tickets. They educate first and say, "Hey, we cannot have this because it is hampering the emergency response to the entire community." We have real humans out there, our policemen, they will have the judgment to use their discretion and do the education first, but they have to have a tool. If somebody does not want to listen and ignores the needs of the rest of the community, then the police need a tool to keep the community safe. For us to deny this would be unreasonable. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Chock. Councilmember Chock: Thank you, Chair. Last week before our meeting, I went to Ha Coffee to get a cup of coffee and when I went in, there was a group there and they told me the story of how there was an illegal parked car on Rice Street and that the policeman came up, parked his car behind, he came inside, and he asked whose car it was and said that they cannot park there. I think what that tells me is that we have a police force that really cares about how they do their job and who they are serving. That is the kind of discretion that I think can really help define and make a community strong. When we talk about creating tools, I think it is important and I truly support the need for access for safety concerns. When we also have a group of leaders and a police department who can take into consideration that there are people living in these homes and needing to access, where education is really the first step, I think that is where we can all live in harmony. I appreciated that story and wanted to make sure that they heard it, but that is the kind of work that is happening from the police department and it gives me the confidence to be able to support something like this when it comes my way. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: Taking off of that story, the TIGER grant and Rice Street project is going to change things so that we do not have parking right in the middle of the lane and the parking will be separate from the lane of passage, so you can see how Planning can interact and intersect making it either easier or harder for police to enforce. I really commend the police department for noticing the problem, taking the input on it, and coming up with a solution, which makes the law clearer and easier to enforce. I also want to say that I know people laughed when I talked about people riding the bus instead of having a car to park, but especially when you think about Ke`e Beach and the access to the beaches along that road to the end of the road, the north shore shuttle that is in the works right now, hopefully not a stop COUNCIL MEETING 25 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 and go thing, but something that is going to be a continuous part of our transit system, could really... Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura, we are on the bill for parking. Councilmember Yukimura: I am talking about the bill... Council Chair Rapozo: You are talking about... Councilmember Yukimura: Excuse me... Council Chair Rapozo: No, excuse me. Councilmember Yukimura, this is a bill on ten (10) feet lanes of travel...you are talking about... Councilmember Yukimura: I am talking about how the effort with the transit system will help to solve... Council Chair Rapozo: It is not on the agenda. If you want to talk about the bill then go ahead. If not, I am going to have to stop you. We are not talking about shuttles. Councilmember Yukimura: You know, we are taking as long to solve this stopping and I was just going to finish. So the shuttle will help in terms of reducing the cars that need to be parked. That is part of solving the problem. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kaneshiro. Councilmember Kaneshiro: I was just going to say that all we are really doing is just adding language about impeding the flow of traffic. Again, I have all of the faith that our police department uses their discretion in whether it is actually impeding or the community is okay with it. That is all it does. We really only added one (1) sentence and I would highly encourage you folks to double-check with the Prosecuting Attorney also to make sure that this is the verbiage they need to be able to enforce it or to win the case. Again, it is not saying that the police is going to go out and tomorrow or whenever this thing is passed that they are going to ticket everybody that is parked. Again, it is at their discretion and I am sure that they are only going to use it in situations where they are getting complaints where it is really is impeding the flow of traffic. I am in favor of it. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kagawa. Councilmember Kagawa: Just a final comment, taking off of what Councilmember Kaneshiro just said, I hope what it does not turn into is, "Well, this neighbor does not like this neighbor, so he is going to call him on this case," but if it is not preventing emergency response from responding and it is not creating a dangerous situation, I would hope that we are not going to see tickets in those areas. Again, it is placing the trust and hopefully it does not become a vehicle for neighbors to engage in wars against each other. Thank you, Chair. COUNCIL MEETING 26 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? If not, the motion is to receive. The motion to receive C 2017-250 for the record, was then put, and unanimously carried. Council Chair Rapozo: Let us go to C 2017-252 while KPD is here. There being no objections, C 2017-252 was taken out of order. C 2017-252 Communication (10/12/2017) from the Chief of Police, transmitting for Council consideration, A Bill For An Ordinance Amending Chapter 16, Kaua`i County Code 1987, Relating to The Traffic Code, to authorize civilian employees designated by the Chief of Police to tow or cause the towing of illegally parked vehicles that create traffic hazards or impede emergency operations: Councilmember Kagawa moved to receive C 2017-252 for the record, seconded by Councilmember Kaneshiro. Council Chair Rapozo: Any questions for KPD? I will suspend the rules. There being no objections, the rules were suspended. Councilmember Yukimura: Actually, this is just facilitating to allow a non-Commission officer or a civilian to do the work that is required in administering our ordinance about towing away the vehicles that are derelict and other vehicles. Mr. Gausepohl: The Department of Public Works was in charge of abandoned/derelict vehicles and that responsibility shifted to KPD. I think we have done a really good job with improving the services in that area, primarily due to the diligence of the civilian, non-sworn person who is working that, Nancy Palaracio, who was recognized recently for her efforts. Rather than having to call a sworn officer to come and tow a vehicle that is clearly a hazard away, it would allow her to be able to. Councilmember Yukimura: That is excellent. It is a really great example of altering our laws for more efficient operations and I know the person in this position in your department—what is her name? Mr. Gausepohl: Nancy Palaracio. Councilmember Yukimura: When I read what she has done in this area, I was so impressed so this is just another way of facilitating her work. Mr. Gausepohl: Yes. Councilmember Yukimura: She has helped us really see the obstacles in the system. Thank you. COUNCIL MEETING 27 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kagawa. Councilmember Kagawa: Is this practice followed by the other counties? Mr. Gausepohl: I do not know. Councilmember Kagawa: I am just playing the Devil's Advocate. What if Nancy has a better job opportunity, are we going to have somebody that has that same reputation of Nancy's job performance who can step in? Mr. Gausepohl: She answers directly to the Captain and I have a lot of faith in our Captain. Councilmember Kagawa: Oh, so you are going to blame the coach if you have another player. Okay. That is the main thing that we have accountability. Mr. Gausepohl: In the beginning, just like any other new responsibility, we would monitor. So our thinking is she will be the only who will have this responsibility and she would be checking with Captain Ozaki before she towed anything. She could send pictures. She has an MBT, so it would not be arbitrary, no matter who it was. Councilmember Kagawa: The response from the community about her work has been outstanding. She is just doing it in a tactful manner that is really not causing problems. I was just worried that should she retire or something and we get some Kaua`i "John Rambo" and just towing vehicles all over the place. But we are going to make sure that Coach Mark is watching to make sure that that does not get out of hand. Mr. Gausepohl: We have all the faith in the world in Captain Ozaki. Councilmember Kagawa: Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Councilmember Kawakami. Councilmember Kawakami: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is a great proposal, but just so that we are not unintentionally caught in any crossfire, has the State of Hawai`i Organization of Police Officers (SHOPO), the police officers' union, vetted this proposal and do you anticipate any pushback or opposition from their side? Mr. Gausepohl: I do not think we had to talk to them about this because it is just supplementing something, it is not going to take away from any of the police duties at all. Councilmember Kawakami: That is good to know and it is also good for people to know...I think there are only ten (10) officers at any given time out there on the streets protecting this whole island. So this would be a great way to free-up some time so that you folks can actually focus on the top priorities. COUNCIL MEETING 28 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Mr. Gausepohl: Currently, she would have to call a police officer and if it is somewhere way out, then it is just not practical. We are trying to be more efficient. Councilmember Kawakami: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: So actually, SHOPO should really support this because it frees police officers to do their core work. I am hopeful that she will stay there for a long time, but what these things are doing, it seems like, is it is making system changes that will endure even after the particular person leaves. That is really commendable. That is what we need more of in this County. Thank you. Mr. Gausepohl: Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? If not, thank you very much. Anyone in the audience wishing to testify? Mr. Sato: We have one (1) registered speaker. Mr. Bernabe: Matt Bernabe, for the record. I would like to start with I have total confidence, not only in this agenda of their capability of implementing this—I support it one hundred percent (100%) and their discretion in ticketing in the previous agenda; however, Councilmember Kagawa made me start to think...get back on track as the real...get to the meat kind of idea here—in a functioning County, when a department like KPD comes up with a system that if it is organic on their own or if they are implementing it from another example, where they get together with the Department of Human Resources (HR) and they put down on paper the procedure, so that if tomorrow, nobody showed up for work and we replace it with all new people, the blueprint for continuing the success of that program is on paper. That is why in the past I have advocated for a functioning HR and this right here is completely why, because I have faith in all of the players in this discussion, but when they retire or if heaven forbid they get injured on the job, either way, towing or not, I would like to have a functioning County system that we put to paper policies that we follow, whoever comes in. I am a retired cook; that is why we have recipes, so that if you replace the entire kitchen staff, they can come in and cook the same consistency. That is what we are talking about here. To be functioning financially, we have to have somewhat of a consistent pattern of behaving and this discussion is a great example—taking a system, putting it on paper, getting it go through in a chain-of-command up to HR, sending it back down as policy. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? Seeing none, I will call the meeting back to order. The motion is to receive. There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: COUNCIL MEETING 29 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 The motion to receive C 2017-252 for the record was then put, and unanimously carried. C 2017-251 Communication (10/11/2017) from the Executive on Aging, requesting Council approval to receive and expend $17,500.00 in State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) Funds (Federal funds) and to indemnify the State Executive Office on Aging, to be used by the County of Kaua`i, Agency on Elderly Affairs for the development and implementation of a SHIP Program on the island of Kaua`i, to provide information and assistance to Medicare beneficiaries, their families, caregivers, and those nearing retirement or Medicare eligibility: Councilmember Yukimura moved to approve C 2017-251, seconded by Councilmember Kaneshiro. Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion or public testimony? There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony. There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: The motion to approve C 2017-251 was then put, and unanimously carried. Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please. C 2017-253 Communication (10/20/2017) from the Acting County Engineer, requesting Council approval to apply for, receive, and expend grant funds from the State of Hawai`i, Department of Health, Clean Water Branch to study the feasibility of an island-wide (i.e. County and private) biosolids reuse project; address the current lack of alternatives to landfill disposal for wastewater treatment plant generated sludge (i.e. biosolids) on Kaua`i; evaluate options for appropriate end uses for biosolids, inclusive of land application and composting and identify what level of biosolids treatment is required (i.e. Class A or B); evaluate the potential to optimize biogas production at the Lihu`e Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) to be captured and used for its energy value; and address the 4,000 tons of biosolids which are being landfilled annually. The Department does not know the value of project funding at this time: Councilmember Kaneshiro moved to approve C 2017-253, seconded by Councilmember Kagawa. Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion or public testimony? Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, I would like to have the department and division come up, please? Council Chair Rapozo: How intense are you looking at this? If it is going to be a full-on description, which I would expect, but if the Members are satisfied, it is fine. I would rather do it in the committee because it sounds like it is a pretty major program. COUNCIL MEETING 30 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Councilmember Yukimura: I do not know. I have some questions. Because I would like to understand what the project is, I think on the surface, it looks like a very good project. Council Chair Rapozo: If we are going to be too technical, I am going to ask that it goes to the committee. Councilmember Kagawa. Councilmember Kagawa: My question would be along your lines, how intense is Lyle's description going to be? There being no objections, the rules were suspended. LYLE TABATA, Acting County Engineer: Lyle Tabata, Acting County Engineer. Basically, we are just wanting to capture information of all of our private systems. We have good information of our own for a treatment plant and we need to capture the balance of the island and understand more clearly what we are up against and have a consulting firm look for options for us, instead of taking this to the landfill, losing airspace, and options for us to utilize possible methane gas production. Councilmember Yukimura: That is what I wanted to ask about. To the extent that it is five percent (5%) of the landfill's waste stream and I do not know how this will dovetail with the plans for a regional Po`ipu sewer system, but that might mean that it is even more a greater portion of the landfill's waste stream. It is a great thing that you are trying to divert that waste stream. It seems like there is a preconceived notion that it is going to end up as an energy project and the other possibility that I am aware of is what Maui is doing, which ended up as a compost project with soil conditioner and a use of mixing in green waste, which then begins to take even more of our landfill diversion. I am hoping that it is not a narrowly defined project that assumes energy usage or energy production and that it is going to really look at all of our options and cost them out. JASON KAGIMOTO, Civil Engineer VI: For the record, Jason Kagimoto. I guess the whole point in the way came about is so the County and islandwide, a lot of the major municipal treatment plants, already does a really good job of reusing recycled water. So when you do the treatment process, there are basically two (2) products that come out of it, they separate the water and the solids. So this project is to sort of like evolve the solids and reuse it so we can divert it from the landfill. As far as you are talking about the solids energy-wise, so that comes in two (2) forms: the first step is how we process the solids and the way we process it has the ability for us to create and capture the energy, but there is still going to be the solids that still needs to be done something with. So then that part of that study is to figure out what we do with the solids so that it does not go to the landfill and composting would be one of them. Councilmember Yukimura: I do not understand. So you are going to burn some of the sludge? COUNCIL MEETING 31 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Mr. Kagimoto: Not necessarily. The County has one (1) treatment plant, which is the Lihu`e Treatment Plant that has an anaerobic digester, meaning that the solids gets processed without oxygen. Basically, what happens is that the bacteria that processes the solids give off methane. In doing so, we can capture that gas and use that in various methods. At the end of the day, the solids are still going to be there, so instead of sending to the landfill...they both can kind of be used in conjunction with each other. Councilmember Yukimura: So that you could actually have two (2) byproducts that are very valuable. Mr. Kagimoto: Yes. Councilmember Yukimura: You would have the methane, which is energy production essentially. Mr. Kagimoto: Yes. Councilmember Yukimura: Then the other is compost or soil conditioner, which it is complicated, but if it is done well, it is actually a saleable product. Mr. Kagimoto: Yes. Councilmember Yukimura: So the study is going to look at all of this. How long do you anticipate the study to take? Mr. Kagimoto: The general idea is...from NTP with a consultant, it will probably be a nine-month to a year project. Councilmember Yukimura: Have you already identified a consultant? Mr. Kagimoto: No. Councilmember Yukimura: Nine (9) to twelve (12) months...so you are wanting to ask the State Department of Health Clean Water Branch for a grant that would enable this study and you would be able to hire a consultant to help you analyze the whole situation with sewage sludge? Mr. Kagimoto: Yes. Councilmember Yukimura: And then see what kind of diversion process we will use to take care of that? Mr. Kagimoto: Yes. Councilmember Yukimura: That is really excellent. That is five percent (5%) here, twenty percent (20%) here...it all starts adding up so that we can get to our goal of seventy-five percent (75%)...is it seventy-five percent (75%)? COUNCIL MEETING 32 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Mr. Tabata: Seventy percent (70%). Councilmember Yukimura: Seventy percent (70%)? Mr. Tabata: Yes. Councilmember Yukimura: Excellent. Thank you very much. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kawakami. Councilmember Kawakami: But this just goes beyond composting. These biosolids are rich in nutrients, so we could be like the City of Edmonton where I think they are converting it into fertilizer, right? I would be interested to see how much fertilizer we are actually shipping in and importing. We could really create an industry on Kaua`i as far as manufacturing if this thing goes through, right? Is that the biggest value that we can foresee in biosolids, is the end product being fertilizer? Mr. Kagimoto: Yes. I think for the City & County of Honolulu, they have a project where they actually pelletize the solids, and from what I understand, it is a commercially sellable product. Councilmember Kawakami: Wow. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: My understanding is that you cannot really create fertilizer because you need a source of phosphorous or something, but you can create soil conditioner, which is not fertilizer. Are you aware of that distinction? Mr. Kagimoto: With solids, just generally, have a lot of nitrogen already, so part of this study will sort of dovetail to the other kind of studies that has been done prior to my coming to the County, but they have been looking at ways to supplement the solids production which is adding fat, oil, and grease, potentially food waste and other things to sort of like provide the best conditions to get a workable product with the proper nutrients. Councilmember Yukimura: So you have just pointed out another potential synergy with food waste. What percentage of the waste stream into the landfill is food waste? Do you know? Mr. Tabata: I do not have that with me right now. Solid Waste just completed the Waste Composition Study, and they have that. Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, so food waste is not only a significant portion, but it is especially important because it is the source of methane and it creates a problem unless you are able to capture it. So you might be able to address the green waste waste stream, the food waste waste stream, and the sludge. COUNCIL MEETING 33 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Mr. Kagimoto: Potentially. I think right now this is just the study that looks at everything and figures out what is the best way to go forward. There is the potential that it could have really big gains for the island. Councilmember Yukimura: And those pellets you say that the City & County of Honolulu creates, what do they use those for? Mr. Kagimoto: Fertilizer. Councilmember Yukimura: For fertilizer? Mr. Kagimoto: At least that is my understanding. Councilmember Yukimura: So that is going to be part of the investigation? Mr. Kagimoto: Yes. Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? Seeing none, thank you very much. Any public testimony? Any discussion? There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: The motion to approve C 2017-253 was then put, and unanimously carried. C 2017-254 Communication (10/23/2017) from Councilmember Chock, transmitting for Council consideration, proposed amendments to amend Chapter 8, Section 8-8.6, Kaua`i County Code 1987, as amended, relating to the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, to provide a process for existing farm worker housing to obtain "farm worker housing use permits": Councilmember Yukimura moved to receive C 2017-254 for the record, seconded by Councilmember Kaneshiro. Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Chair, we have one (1) registered speaker, Felicia Cowden. Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. I will suspend the rules. There being no objections, the rules were suspended. Ms. Cowden: Aloha. Felicia Cowden, for the record. I am really glad this has come up. I know it is going to go to committee, so I will try and be brief. It lines up with the General Plan Update issues, too, and I know that farm worker housing is complicated and it is definitely under-addressed in the existing ordinance. I see that it is a complex issue and what I hope is that this can parallel with a ballot amendment to actually put in something like a "Farm Commission," putting three (3) big egg, three (3) organic, and three (3) that is somewhat in the middle of conventional farms, because it depends upon what crop that people grow, it COUNCIL MEETING 34 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 really matters what an appropriate amount of farm worker housing is. I understand there is deep concern for exploitation of farm worker housing where it becomes rental units, or worse than that, Airbnbs or a lot of different things that can be exploited. But these things need to be somewhat mobile for the ranchers that are on leased land. I think there is a big need, so I am glad that it has come up for re-discussion and I hope that there is active promotion that this is an issue that is on the table, because it is a consistent problem and we know that there is a lot of underground housing, not really literally, but not exactly what is legal. So we want to make sure that we do it the right way and not just say no and not just say yes. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? If not, I will call the meeting back to order. The motion is to receive. Any further discussion? The bill will be coming up later. There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: The motion to receive C 2017-254 for the record was then put, and unanimously carried. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Next item. C 2017-255 Communication (10/23/2017) from Council Chair Rapozo, transmitting for Council consideration for inclusion in the 2018 County of Kaua`i Legislative Package, A Bill For An Act Relating To Animals; Licenses And Regulations, to delete the provision in Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) that requires the County of Kaua`i to contract the Kaua`i Humane Society to provide animal services: Councilmember Kaneshiro moved to approve C 2017-255, seconded by Councilmember Brun. Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion or public testimony? There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony. There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: The motion to approve C 2017-255 was then put, and unanimously carried. C 2017-256 Communication (10/23/2017) from Councilmember Kawakami, transmitting for Council consideration the following measures for inclusion in the 2018 County of Kauai Legislative Package: • A Bill for An Act Relating to Tort Liability, to delete the sunset provision for the liability exceptions for county lifeguards. • A Bill for An Act Making An Appropriation for Emergency Medical Services, to appropriate moneys to the Department of Health for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018-2019 for a 24 hours, 7 days a week ambulance unit for the County of Kaua`i. COUNCIL MEETING 35 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 • A Bill for An Act Relating to Transient Accommodations Tax, to remove the cap for distribution of transient accommodations tax revenues to the counties. • A Bill for An Act Relating to Fire Sprinklers, to establish a tax credit of 25% of the total cost, including installation, of an automatic fire sprinkler or automatic fire system in any new detached one or two-family dwelling unit in a structure used only for residential purposes; sunsets on June 30, 2026. • A Bill for An Act Relating to Taxation, to provide a taxpayer who hires an individual with a disability a nonrefundable tax credit for the six-month period after the individual is initially hired by the taxpayer. • A Bill for An Act Relating to Taxation, to provide a taxpayer who hires an elderly individual a nonrefundable tax credit for the six-month period after the individual is initially hired by the taxpayer. Councilmember Kagawa moved to approve C 2017-256 with the exception of A Bill For An Act Relating to Tort Liability, seconded by Councilmember Yukimura. Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion? Any public testimony? These items were brought up for the Hawai`i State Association of Counties (HSAC) Package, so we have had the discussion. Any further discussion? The motion is to approve all except for the first bullet. The motion to approve C 2017-256 with the exception of A Bill For An Act Relating to Tort Liability was then put, and unanimously carried. Council Chair Rapozo: Next item. C 2017-257 Communication (10/25/2017) from Councilmember Kawakami, transmitting for Council consideration for inclusion in the 2018 County of Kauai Legislative Package, A Bill For An Act Relating To Tort Liability, to re-establish the liability exceptions for county lifeguards: Councilmember Kagawa moved to approve C 2017-257, seconded by Councilmember Kaneshiro. Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion or public testimony? I will suspend the rules for Mr. Bernabe. There being no objections, the rules were suspended. Mr. Bernabe: Matt Bernabe, for the record. I have several friends that are lifeguards and they do a very good service, so let us get them protected. While we are on the subject here, the County should think about...this morning we saw a young gentleman go beyond the call to help another citizen...well, I am assuming tourist in this case, but if something does go awry, we should look into...what if somebody grabs one of these floaters and goes and becomes the second victim, what is our liability in that? I just was thinking about it as this discussion COUNCIL MEETING 36 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 came up. I was not even thinking about it because I was so happy that the gentleman was successful in his save, but it is a real issue. I am a surfer and many of you folks surf...we all fish and we all know how dangerous the water can be. Even in the discussion, we talked about, "It is bigger when you get there," and that could always happen. Let us support and protect our lifeguards, but maybe we should encompass the civilians that go out of their way to save other civilians. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? Seeing none, I will call the meeting back to order. Further discussion? There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: The motion to approve C 2017-257 was then put, and unanimously carried. Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Chair, we are on page number 5, Legal Document. LEGAL DOCUMENT: C 2017-217 Communication (08/10/2017) from the County Attorney, recommending Council approval of a Grant of Easement, made between the County of Kaua`i and Sandy Saemann, Trustee of the Sandy Saemann Trust of 1990, conveying Easement "AU-1," Tax Map Key (TMK) No. (4) 5-2-004:069, Kilauea Gardens Subdivision, Kilauea, Kaua`i, Hawai`i, for access and utility purposes. • Grant of Easement Councilmember Kagawa moved to receive C 2017-217 for the record, seconded by Councilmember Kaneshiro. Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion or public testimony? There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony. There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: The motion to receive C 2017-217 for the record was then put, and unanimously carried. Council Chair Rapozo: Next item. Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: The next item are your Committee Reports. COMMITTEE REPORTS: PUBLIC WORKS / PARKS & RECREATION COMMITTEE: COUNCIL MEETING 37 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 A report (No. CR-PWPR 2017-21) submitted by the Public Works / Parks & Recreation Committee, recommending that the following be Approved: "C 2017-238 Communication (10/04/2017) from the Acting County Engineer, requesting Council approval of the associated Release and Hold Harmless Agreement for the Department of Defense Civil-Military Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) program grant which was previously approved by the Kaua`i County Council at its September 20, 2017 Council Meeting, to construct a portion of the Lydgate-Kapa'a Bicycle/Pedestrian Path Phases C & D to include upgrading the existing County-owned parking lot located behind Kapa'a Missionary Church, and the construction of a new comfort station," Councilmember Kaneshiro moved for approval of the report, seconded by Councilmember Chock. Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion or public testimony? There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony. There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: The motion for approval of the report was then put, and unanimously carried. Council Chair Rapozo: Next item. PLANNING COMMITTEE: A report (No. CR-PL 2017-09) submitted by the Planning Committee, recommending that the following be Received for the Record: "C 2017-217 Communication (08/10/2017) from the County Attorney, recommending Council approval of a Grant of Easement, made between the County of Kaua`i and Sandy Saemann, Trustee of the Sandy Saemann Trust of 1990, conveying Easement "AU-1," Tax Map Key (TMK) No. (4) 5-2-004:069, Kilauea Gardens Subdivision, Kilauea, Kaua`i, Hawai`i, for access and utility purposes. • Grant of Easement," Councilmember Chock moved for approval of the report, seconded by Councilmember Kaneshiro. Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion or public testimony? There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony. COUNCIL MEETING 38 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: The motion for approval of the report was then put, and unanimously carried. A report (No. CR-PL 2017-10) submitted by the Planning Committee, recommending that the following be Received for the Record: "PL 2017-03 Communication (09/12/2017) from Committee Chair Chock, requesting the presence of the Planning Director, to provide a comprehensive briefing on the enforcement efforts by the Planning Department to address possible zoning and permit violations at the Hanalei Bay Resort; address the requirements and restrictions regarding timeshare/transient vacation rental and restaurant operations at the Hanalei Bay Resort; the actions pursued by the Planning Department; and a timeline of events," Councilmember Chock moved for approval of the report, seconded by Councilmember Kaneshiro. Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion or public testimony? There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony. There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: The motion for approval of the report was then put, and unanimously carried. Council Chair Rapozo: Next item. BUDGET & FINANCE COMMITTEE: A report (No. CR-BF 2017-23) submitted by the Budget & Finance Committee, recommending that the following be Approved on Second and Final Reading: "Bill No. 2668 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. B-2017-822, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE CAPITAL BUDGET OF THE COUNTY OF KAUAI, STATE OF HAWAII, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2017 THROUGH JUNE 30, 2018, BY REVISING THE AMOUNTS ESTIMATED IN THE BOND FUND (2017 Bond Issuance Projects - $25,750,000.00," Councilmember Chock moved for approval of the report, seconded by Councilmember Kaneshiro. Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion or public testimony? There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony. COUNCIL MEETING 39 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: The motion for approval of the report was then put, and unanimously carried. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Next item. Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Chair, we are on page number 7, Resolutions. RESOLUTIONS: Resolution No. 2017-53 — RESOLUTION CONFIRMING MAYORAL APPOINTMENT TO THE CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION (Marissa L. Sandblom) (Councilmember Kaneshiro was noted as recused and left the meeting at 10:57 a.m.) Council Chair Rapozo: I know we have had two (2) members discuss recusals and I think Councilmember Chock had a question. Councilmember Kagawa. Councilmember Kagawa: How many votes do we need to pass it today? Council Chair Rapozo: Four (4). Councilmember Kagawa: Okay. Council Chair Rapozo: I think it is important that all seven (7) members participate in this. It is a Charter Review Commission member and I know a couple of the members have expressed their intent to recuse and I believe both have sent over a request over to the Board of Ethics, as did I. I want to get a clarification from the Board of Ethics once and for all on what really is a conflict of interest. As I understand it, the Charter mandates that we vote on every item; that is clear that Councilmembers shall vote on every item. But if there is a conflict, obviously, you have to disclose and recuse. But a conflict, as I understand it, is that you have to receive a direct benefit for the action that is on the table. I want the Board of Ethics to define to us, "What is that?" I believe everybody should vote as often as they can and if there is a benefit, if it is going to affect my pay from another job or my income or some sort, then I would recuse. But if it is not, then I think you have to vote. I have asked as well that the Board of Ethics to rule on this because I really want the participation. I would ask that we defer this until we get that response. November 17th is when the Board of Ethics will meet and provide a ruling. That would be my suggestion. If the body feels that you want to take the action today, we can do that, too. Councilmember Kawakami. Councilmember Kawakami: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I made a request to get a Board of Ethics ruling in an abundance of caution because it has come up time and time again that my participation with Waioli Corporation has some kind of COUNCIL MEETING 40 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 conflict of interest with Grove Farm, which are two (2) completely separate entities. I figure to finally ease anybody's concern about any potential conflict that we just go through the appropriate body that can give a ruling. This is in no way...I would not want to cloud any potential appointment of the candidate because I believe she is a fine candidate for the job as a Charter Review Commission member and I would not want this to pop-up without it being resolved by the Board of Ethics and cloud that potential appointment. Councilmember Kagawa. Councilmember Kagawa: For me, in my six (6) years here, I have filed one (1) Board of Ethics complaint and that was voted against what I thought was a slam-dunk, and in Councilmember Kawakami's case, I see no valid reason why it would even be a conflict. If the Board of Ethics comes back with another ruling that says it is, that would be two (2) for two (2) for me...it just trips me out. Let us see how this one comes back. I am not putting pressure on them, but all I will say is that Kaua`i is a small island. Marissa's mom was my teacher; is that a conflict? Let us stop getting silly over here with these conflicts. This is a small island. To raise conflict of interest...I can think to file a conflict of interest with somebody on a decision. We get elected here by the people to serve here and vote, not to be recused because somebody against that person says, "You have a conflict because I can figure out a reason why you have a conflict." I can find a reason for a conflict about every single person if I really dig deep. I hope the Board of Ethics is going to get this one right because the last one they made for me was ridiculous and it was bad. I hope this time that they are going to rule the way I think they would, because if not, we have to look at just abolishing the Board of Ethics. They have no clue what they are doing. Thank you, Chair. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: I concur with Vice Chair and Councilmember Kawakami that I do not think there is a conflict of interest in the situation of Councilmember Kawakami because the Waioli Corporation and Grove Farm Company, while they are historically linked, they are not linked at all by governance or financially, so I do not see any conflict of interest. I think it is a reasonable way to solve that question by going to the Board of Ethics and I am confident they will make the right decision. I am in favor of deferring until we get those decisions back from the Board of Ethics, which is the board that does make determinations on conflicts of interest. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Chock. Councilmember Chock: I am fine with deferring as well if that is the wish of the body. I just wanted to make sure that if need-be, we get a broader clarification because I think, one, everyone has to make a determination personally if there may be a conflict. I think this body needs higher guidance as to the direction that we should be looking in and considering even prior to it being considered, because like Vice Chair said, there are so many ways that we could have conflicts. I think that it is very difficult for us to sit in the seat and really start to make judgments on is it too much or too little. I just wish that we would have a little bit more guidance on this. So this is a separate request...I know you made a request, Chair...I just did COUNCIL MEETING 41 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 not see it, but it can help to clarify once and for all. We go through this on a regular and need that kind of guidance. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: I agree with everything that has been said. I want to state that conflict of interest is a real thing and it is a very important issue in the idea of governance and good decision-making. It does not mean that every time a charge of potential conflict of interest is made, there is not really a conflict of interest, that somebody is just making a big thing about a small thing. It is actually a very significant thing, but only when there really is a conflict or a potential conflict of the interest. So getting some guidance would be a very good thing from the Board of Ethics. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Councilmember Kawakami. Councilmember Kawakami: In closing, I am fairly confident that there is not going to be any conflict, but to restore some of the public's trust, this issue has come up and it seems that as much as I may say that there is no conflict, then they are two (2) separate entities, it keeps on coming up. So we as elected officials and even members of County employees should view the Board of Ethics as sort of a resource to get a definitive answer to kind of pacify any big concerns that our good judgement at times could be clouded. I just view this as part of the process. It could easily be that I could use my own judgment, but why not since we have a Board of Ethics meeting coming up, to put this on their agenda and have them take a look at it, and then at least come out with a definitive statement. Thank you, Chair. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. My closing comments is the perception of a conflict is not a conflict. To me, it is pretty direct. You are either going to make a benefit or you are not. If the legislation or whatever is on the floor brings no benefit to your immediate family, then you do not have a conflict. You disclose your association, like Councilmember Kaneshiro said, that he works at Grove Farm and she works at Grove Farm, but the Charter Review Commission deals with the structure of government. It is not the Planning Commission that is going to be doing zoning and land decisions. It is a charter amendment. They talk about the terms of office and that sort of thing. In any commission, when a member sees that there is a conflict, they will recuse. Just the fact that the perception is...it is not a conflict...as elected officials, we just have to deal with that and tell the public, "I know you think it is, but it is not and I have to vote, because the Charter says that I have to vote on every issue unless there is a conflict." We will see what they say. It is the member's prerogative to determine whether or not they are going to recuse or not. I want to make sure that we are not just using that conflict too loosely because the members of the community feel that there is a perception of a conflict. Councilmember Kagawa. Councilmember Kagawa: If I could just sum it up, I admire Councilmember Kawakami's step to just set the record straight, but for me, with the ruling that I saw in the past, it just flabbergasted me, and if it comes out negative again, I will say, "Let us not even go to the Board of Ethics." We are elected here to COUNCIL MEETING 42 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 serve and vote on issues that face this County. Like I said, I would hope that the Board of Ethics comes up with some better decisions going forward because in my past experience, I have no respect for the decision that came out of there. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kawakami. Councilmember Kawakami: I think we could probably have a possible solution to this similar to what the legislature does; we have empowered the Speaker of the House and committee chairmen to make rulings on potential conflicts of interest. So if that is the direction we want to take and handle as I guess the first layer of the protection or any kind of hesitancy, I guess we could consider looking at our rules and amending our rules to give the chairmen or committee chairmen the power to rule on any kind of potential conflict, but I do not know if that would require a charter amendment or if we could do it in rules. I just would not know. Council Chair Rapozo: You can probably do it in rules. I have seen Joe Souki rule on a conflict of interest where a member said they were going to declare a conflict and he did not allow it. He said, "No, that is not a conflict," but Joe is Joe. I guess that has to discussed at a later time, but right now, this is all we have and I appreciate the members actually going down and getting that ruling, so we will wait and see what they say. Is there any public testimony? I will suspend the rules. There being no objections, the rules were suspended. Ms. Cowden: Felicia Cowden, for the record. I am sure I am part of what has created this issue. My issue was less with the Councilmembers...I was not really thinking about you, Councilmember Kawakami, and I actually really like the person who is being recommended for the Charter Review Commission, but she does work for Grove Farm. I would think when you are talking about sending something to the Board of Ethics...should I wait? I will wait until Mauna Kea is finished. I am talking to him. It is my turn. I sit here all day for this. Do not give me stink eye, please. Council Chair Rapozo: Hang on. Why do you not continue, Felicia? Ms. Cowden: Okay. I really like this person. I think she is a complete quality person, but what happens when we are doing something like the Charter—the Charter, if we look at their history, I think 70:1 has come from the Charter Review Commission as opposed to the citizens and I challenge every one of you to look there. It will help me if you can show me where the Charter Review Commission comes up with a Charter Amendment that empowers the people or empowers our elected officials. It almost always protects the powerful from the people and not the other way around and it is not watched. When you have a powerful company that basically handles...well, water, sewage treatment, and big areas of land usage...it is not that somebody is making money...when you have a career with a company and you do an excellent job for that company, it shapes your worldview. When your worldview is shaped by a company that has a lot to gain from the charters...like last week, we had this excellent conversation with the Department of Water and even you said, Chair Rapozo, that there should be a charter amendment COUNCIL MEETING 43 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 that puts the Department of Water back into the control of the County instead of being a quasi-independent program. That would be an example of a charter amendment that would be out of alignment with what would be in that company's interest. Everybody gasped and laughed, when the head of our water board pointed out, Tom Shigemoto, "We will ask him," Alexander & Baldwin...we know who really runs the decisions is the large landowners and we need to move away from that. It is very painful for me to be the person coming and holding attention on this, especially with such a qualify person, but we really need to be careful and I challenge you folks to look at what has come out of that committee, because it is always limiting you and me. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura has a clarifying question. Councilmember Yukimura: So you are saying that to keep the Department of Water a semiautonomous department is against poor people and therefore... Ms. Cowden: No, I did not say that at all. Councilmember Yukimura: You are suggesting that she would be against that kind of charter amendment? Ms. Cowden: I am suggesting that...I do not even want to be naming names, but the company that is overseeing the flow of the water, we have big issues in here...alright, I will say it—Grove Farm...we have all of this water movement and it is a huge issue and is the central of the General Plan. Councilmember Yukimura: I agree. Ms. Cowden: This is not about poor people, this is about the County being able to determine where our water goes and what happens, so when I watch these charter amendments that come up...I am at those meetings and you come sometimes...so does he...very few of the rest of you...I do not know if I have ever seen you in those meetings...I was the only member of the public, by the way in the last one... Council Chair Rapozo: Felicia, I am going to have to stop you because we have another person that wants to testify. Ms. Cowden: I do not know if I have answered her question. Council Chair Rapozo: You did. You said that you did not say what she said you said. Ms. Cowden: Okay. Council Chair Rapozo: Next speaker. COUNCIL MEETING 44 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Mr. Bernabe: Matt Bernabe, for the record. I am actually going to support what Felicia just testified at and I am going to be the second citizen to say that we need to look into this, because I ended my last statement when we were at the Kaua`i War Memorial Convention Hall with, "Whoever controls the process, controls the outcome" and it does seem to be that this Charter Review Commission has...I do not know as much as she does and I am sure that I definitely do not know as much as some of you on the Council do, but they keep controlling the process. I know for a fact that when I was on the campaign trail that I would talk about housing and whatnot, especially on the west side, and it caught me off guard when I would hear members of the public go, "Only if A&B wants to," or that they will not do that because A&B does not want it, and that would get me upset because they control the water. Under the ruling that the County sued Kaua`i Springs, anybody that is commercially using the water is supposed to be under a greater scrutiny and not supposed to get a free pass. For decades now, the Department of Water only focuses on potable water, which I have argued that they have to control all of the water, the ditches and reservoirs. That does not necessarily mean that they pick up the bill, they just have to know what is going on. The whole reason the whole Ka Loko Dam tragedy occurred is because we did not even know what was going on. We kept saying, "the State, the State, and the State," but we know better now. We as a subdivision of the State is exactly responsible for everything the State is responsible for. So I am going to sit here and I am going to back up this testimony and say...I was not even going to speak because I thought this was about Councilmember Kawakami. It turns out that I should have been more focused on the nominee. I do not know what she does for Grove Farm, but she should be put up to a greater scrutiny and not just patted on the back to the seat. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? If not, I will call the meeting back to order. I did not entertain a motion to defer yet. Go ahead. There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: Councilmember Kagawa: For me, I find it difficult to just sit here and listen to the implication that Marissa would be so inclined to take care of her company over the island and forget her values as she serves on this commission. I have known Marissa's family all of my life, she was born and raised here, graduated from Waimea High School, and educated herself. She is a stellar individual and has made something great out of herself. For me, it is just like this article that I read yesterday in The Garden Island and I think his name is "jake53" or something and said, "If you want Kaua`i to change, you folks have to elect people that are not from here, not local people," because he is almost saying that the mainland people know how to make this place better. For me, I am thinking that if the mainland was so good when they came, why are they here? If the mainland is better, then go back. If that place that they came from was so great, what part did they have to make that place great? What role did they play? Did they sit on a council that made it great? Were they just a resident that did not do anything to make it great and trying to take credit for that? I just find this as kind of a bash on a local resident that is a proud Waimea High School graduate and I am proud to support Marissa. I do not see her as an individual that would put Grove Farm's interest before her own values. I think Marissa can find COUNCIL MEETING 45 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 another great job paying more than she does now at any moment. She has that kind of background. To impose that kind of accusation during her time volunteering to sit on this important board to better Kaua`i, not knowing her and her character, to me is just below the belt and it is typical Bill No. 2491 behavior and I think it needs to stop. But you can say what you want to, you can testify what you want to, it is all fine. But I am going to set my record straight because I have the right to say what I feel as well. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kawakami. Councilmember Kawakami: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I usually will not respond to testimony, but I almost feel compelled that the reason why I am asking for this ruling from the Board of Ethics is because I want to vote on the issue. I have known Marissa for a greater part of my life and her volunteerism, and I know her as a parent. Most importantly, I know her as a person that is able to distinguish her job from her own personal values and views on this community that she is very invested in, as she has a family here, has a house, and plans to live here probably for the rest of her life, and cares about this community and the environment, just as much as anybody else. That is what I know of her personally and I know it is easy for the people watching to see testimony and draw their own conclusions based on testimony, so I really wanted to set the record straight that I am asking on a ruling because I want to vote on the issue and I want to vote in clear conscience and I do not want this to come and cloud any of the votes and cloud her own reputation as well because of me. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Brun. Councilmember Brun: I want to express what the Vice Chair said. We have seen this with the Board of Water Supply with Beth and the same scrutiny where we are not looking at the person, we are looking at where they work. I went through the same thing when I was running for Council. We need to look at the person and what they stand for and not where they work. That is why I am struggling with this one and just hearing a lot of stuff that was said. I was not going to say anything, but I know Marissa and I know she is a great person and I think she is going to do what is right and I do not think she is going to have anything to do with Grove Farm running the island or how much water they can give to one person and I just think this thing is taken way out of context. We have to look at the person. The parents live by me; is that a conflict of interest? No. Her mom was my teacher; is that a conflict of interest? No. I used to work for the dad. We used to lease land from Grove Farm; is that a conflict of interest with me and Marissa? No. I am kind of struggling with this one. Again, we are attacking a person and their integrity and that is what is really sore about this one. We have to go after the person and see what the person stands for and that is what we vote for, not who they are going to run...I do not think she is going to put Grove Farm over her life and her children's life and what we are going to do for the island. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura. COUNCIL MEETING 46 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Councilmember Yukimura: I am glad that we are asking for guidance from the Board of Ethics and I hope they give good guidance, because from the discussion right now, it is clear that we do not understand conflict of interest. Conflict of interest is not about character; it is about wearing two (2) hats that make it really difficult for someone to be objective. I had a conflict of interest when my husband's employer's lot in Po`ipu was up for a zoning many, many years ago. I felt that I was in a conflict of interest because I could vote against the rezoning just so that it looked like I was not biased, but it might have been a perfectly legitimate rezoning and it would have been unfair to my husband's employer that I voted against it just because I did not want to look like I was biased. Then if I voted for the rezoning, it would look like I was trying to do my husband's employer a favor. Either way, it would not have been a legitimate reason of being able to really vote on the merits of the rezoning. That is what a conflict of interest is. It is not whether a person is good or bad, it is just that the circumstances are such that they have these connections that where they should not be allowed to vote because they cannot vote clearly. That is the question. That is why I was asking Felicia because there seemed to be an assumption, so I did not take Felicia's testimony as being an attack on Marissa's character, but I was trying to also understand how she saw the conflict, because I could not see it either. It can be definitive to a certain case, but there cannot be a definitive rule that you know instantly somebody is in conflict or not. You have to look at the circumstances. Anyway, it is a very difficult issue, but it is a very important issue. We should not have people who are in genuine conflicts of interest voting, especially where one (1) vote could make a difference. Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? If not, I will entertain a motion to defer until...the next council meeting after the 17th... Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: The next meeting will be in December. Council Chair Rapozo: When is the next committee meeting after the 17th? Do we have one? Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Yes we do, on the 29th. Council Chair Rapozo: Let us do a special council meeting on the 29th right before the committee meetings. The motion is to defer to the November 29th Special Council Meeting. Councilmember Yukimura moved to defer Resolution No. 2017-53 to the November 29th Special Council Meeting, seconded by Councilmember Brun, and carried by a vote of 6:0:0:1 (Councilmember Kaneshiro was noted as recused). Council Chair Rapozo: I think we have to take a caption break. Let us take a ten-minute caption break. There being no objections, the meeting recessed at 11:27 a.m. The meeting reconvened at 11:39 a.m., and proceeded as follows: COUNCIL MEETING 47 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 (Councilmember Kagawa was noted as not present.) (Councilmember Kaneshiro was noted as present.) Council Chair Rapozo: The meeting is called back to order. Next item, please. Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Chair, we are back to page number 7, Resolution No. 2017-54. Resolution No. 2017-54—RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A SCHOOL ZONE WITH A 15-MILE PER HOUR (MPH) SPEED LIMIT NEAR KALAHEO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FOR POLARIS ROAD AND A PORTION OF PUTT ROAD AND HOKUA ROAD, KOLOA DISTRICT, COUNTY OF KAUAI: Councilmember Kaneshiro moved for adoption of Resolution No. 2017-54, seconded by Councilmember Chock. Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion or public testimony? There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony. There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: The motion for adoption of Resolution No. 2017-54 was then put, and carried by the following vote: FOR ADOPTION: Brun, Chock, Kagawa, Kaneshiro, Kawakami, Yukimura, Rapozo TOTAL — 7*, AGAINST ADOPTION: None TOTAL — 0, EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0, RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0. (*Pursuant to Rule No. 5(b) of the Rules of the Council of the County of Kauai, Councilmember Kagawa was noted as silent (not present), but shall be recorded as an affirmative vote for the motion.) Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes. Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please. BILLS FOR FIRST READING: Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2673) — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 16, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, RELATING TO THE TRAFFIC CODE (Prohibited Parking): Councilmember Yukimura moved for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2673) on first reading, that it be ordered to print, that a public hearing COUNCIL MEETING 48 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 thereon be scheduled for December 6, 2017, and referred to the Public Safety & Transportation Committee, seconded by Councilmember Brun. Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion or public testimony? There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony. There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: The motion for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2673) on first reading, that it be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be scheduled for December 6, 2017, and referred to the Public Safety & Transportation Committee was then put, and carried by the following vote: FOR PASSAGE: Brun, Chock, Kagawa, Kaneshiro, Kawakami, Yukimura, Rapozo TOTAL — 7*, AGAINST PASSAGE: None TOTAL — 0, EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0, RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0. (*Pursuant to Rule No. 5(b) of the Rules of the Council of the County of Kaua`i, Councilmember Kagawa was noted as silent (not present), but shall be recorded as an affirmative vote for the motion.) Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes. Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please. Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2674) — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 16, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE TRAFFIC CODE (Vehicle Towing Authorization): Councilmember Yukimura moved for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2674) on first reading, that it be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be scheduled for December 6, 2017, and referred to the Public Safety & Transportation Committee, seconded by Councilmember Brun. Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion or public testimony? There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony. There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: The motion for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2674) on first reading, that it be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be scheduled for December 6, 2017, and referred to the Public Safety & Transportation Committee was then put, and carried by the following vote: COUNCIL MEETING 49 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 FOR PASSAGE: Brun, Chock, Kagawa, Kaneshiro, Kawakami, Yukimura, Rapozo TOTAL — 7*, AGAINST PASSAGE: None TOTAL — 0, EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0, RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0. (*Pursuant to Rule No. 5(b) of the Rules of the Council of the County of Kaua`i, Councilmember Kagawa was noted as silent (not present), but shall be recorded as an affirmative vote for the motion.) Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes. Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please. Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2675) — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 8, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, RELATING TO THE COMPREHENSIVE ZONING ORDINANCE (Farm Worker Housing Use Permits): Councilmember Chock moved to refer Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2675) to the Planning Commission, seconded by Councilmember Kaneshiro. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Any discussion or public testimony? Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: I would like to thank Councilmember Chock for introducing this bill, because I think since we passed the farm working housing ordinance several years ago, we have had some experience now with it and we see where some of the obstacles are and this bill seems to remove those obstacles. I think it is a good thing and I appreciate the work. Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? Councilmember Chock. Councilmember Chock: I will just mention that this came by just because in looking at our history since this ordinance was introduced, we have had to-date two (2) successful applications. I know of possibly two (2) or three (3) potential farmers who could apply for this and just the dates are what is holding them back. I think we have a good system in place that makes sure that there is no abuse. Really, what we are just wanting to do is to ensure that if there are some viable applications then we should be looking at them to increase farm worker housing. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? If not, roll call. The motion to refer Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2675) to the Planning Commission was then put, and carried by the following vote: FOR REFERRAL: Brun, Chock, Kagawa, Kaneshiro, Kawakami, Yukimura, Rapozo TOTAL — 7*, AGAINST REFERRAL: None TOTAL — 0, EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0, RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0. COUNCIL MEETING 50 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 (*Pursuant to Rule No. 5(b) of the Rules of the Council of the County of Kauai, Councilmember Kagawa was noted as silent (not present), but shall be recorded as an affirmative vote for the motion.) Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes. Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please. BILL FOR SECOND READING: Bill No. 2668 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. B-2017-822, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE CAPITAL BUDGET OF THE COUNTY OF KAUAI, STATE OF HAWAII, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2017 THROUGH JUNE 30, 2018, BY REVISING THE AMOUNTS ESTIMATED IN THE BOND FUND (2017 Bond Issuance Projects - $25,750,000.00): Councilmember Yukimura moved to approve Bill No. 2668 on second and final reading, and that it be transmitted to the Mayor for his approval, seconded by Councilmember Kaneshiro. Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion or public testimony? Councilmember Yukimura. (Councilmember Kagawa was noted as present.) Councilmember Yukimura: I will be voting for this bill because it will secure much needed capital for important projects as we move into the future and there are many good projects on this list, such as the Kohea Loa Cost-Share Agreement,which will provide critical wastewater infrastructure related to affordable housing. There are improvements to much used, much beloved Convention Hall that has served us for over fifty (50) years. There are funds for a long overdue land information management system that will expand our capacity to serve the public and help us to do better land use planning. There are also funds for affordable housing at Lima Ola, which the first phase of which I support. There are repairs of numerous bridges, which we know we have to take care of and the repair of Kalaheo Neighborhood Center, the roof and others. I do have some questions as I looked over the list last night and I hope that we will get answers when it comes to appropriating the moneys, which is another step separate from this. It occurred to me, why are we not requesting State Revolving Fund moneys for the wastewater-related projects, such as the Wailua National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System NPDES effluent modification and the Waimea Sewage Treatment Plant R-1 distribution? Council Chair Rapozo: Hang on, Councilmember Yukimura. It is the first day of the month and they are testing the sirens right now...is it a problem, BC? Councilmember Yukimura: Should we wait? Council Chair Rapozo: BC said it is kind of loud, so let us wait until it ends. Let us take a very short recess...oh, it seems like it just ended. Let us try this again. Go ahead, Councilmember Yukimura. COUNCIL MEETING 51 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Councilmember Yukimura: I do have some questions that I hope will be answered before the appropriation bill comes up. One, why are we not using SRF moneys or loan moneys for our wastewater projects? I want to know how we are going to do the West Kaua`i Development Plan. I think we have learned a lot from how the General Plan Update is, and the West Kaua`i Development Plan is a smaller example, but along the same lines as the General Plan Update. It will update our plans for these communities. Also, as always, I raise the issue of how we are justifying moneys for the Adolescent Treatment and Healing Center when it does not meet the criteria set forth in the County's own feasibility study. It is not a best practice and there are best practices that are more effective and far less costly than the residential treatment of the proposed facility. I think there should also be projects that should be on the list, such as the Materials Recovery Facility, which is the key to the sustainable future for Solid Waste. By the time the appropriation bill comes up, I will have answers to our Budget Chair's questions about cost and savings that can come from that. The proposed General Plan Update says that we must develop our infrastructure strategically. If so, we must have high standards for the projects we fund and we must be careful to provide funding for all key areas of our strategic plan, which we do not have. It is a little worrisome. Anyway, what are the proper criteria for vetting bond funding projects, for me, is the question. I want to thank the Department of Finance and the Administration for their work and due diligence in setting up this bond. Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? Thank you. I do want to thank the Mayor and his team. I went to San Francisco with them to see our bond rating agencies and I thought the Administration did a fabulous job. The Mayor, Ken Shimonishi, Dave Spanski, and George Costa did a fabulous job presenting to these two (2) companies. Unfortunately, we did not get our bond rating increase, which just baffles me. It was very clear and evident that the financial situation on Kauai is admittedly by those rating companies, one of them anyway, that we were in a better financial position than Hawai`i Island, yet they have a higher rating. I do not know if they are going to lower Hawai`i Island's rating, but at the end of the day, we are in a better position. The presentation was awesome, so I just wanted to publically congratulate them. Most of the time, they get criticism from me, but I was able to see a bigger picture of the span of time and where we have come from. We are not perfect, but the presentation was well-done. I thought we were going to get the upgrade, but we did not. Nonetheless, I will be supporting the bill and looking forward to making this happen. Councilmember Chock. Councilmember Chock: Thank you for bringing that up, Chair. I just wanted to ask, are we getting a report of the reason why we did not get the upgrade? Council Chair Rapozo: They just said no. Councilmember Chock: They just said no? So we have nothing to work on or improve upon? Council Chair Rapozo: Can we get what they sent us? Thank you. We will get whatever the Administration got. COUNCIL MEETING 52 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Councilmember Chock: Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: We got an increase in our rating not too long ago and I think it was because we removed the cap on real property taxes and we adopted a reserve policy and we made some really tough decisions, amongst them, protecting our pension and health fund obligations. I think those of us on the Council who voted for those provisions are part of the reason why we have a fairly strong rating and I think why our rating has not been downgraded. I think we ought to be glad and grateful for that. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Anyone else? If not, roll call. The motion to approve Bill No. 2668 on second and final reading, and that it be transmitted to the Mayor for his approval was then put, and carried by the following vote: FOR APPROVAL: Brun, Chock, Kagawa, Kaneshiro, Kawakami, Yukimura, Rapozo TOTAL — 7, AGAINST APPROVAL: None TOTAL — 0, EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0, RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0. Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes. Council Chair Rapozo: With that, that concludes the public part of our meeting. Can you read us into Executive Session? EXECUTIVE SESSION: ES-926 Pursuant to Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) Sections 92-4, 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 on Bid No. 3524, and related matters. This briefing and consultation involves the consideration of the powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and/or liabilities of the Council and the County as they relate to this agenda item. ES-927 Pursuant to Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) Sections 92-4 and 92-5(a)(4), and Kauai County Charter Section 3.07(E), the Office of the County Attorney, requests an Executive Session with the Council, to provide the Council with a briefing and conveyance of a settlement offer in the case of Bruce R. Chapin vs. County of Kauai, et al., Civil No. 13-1-0160 (in the Circuit Court of the Fifth Circuit, State of Hawai`i), 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. COUNCIL MEETING 53 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Councilmember Chock moved to convene into Executive Session for ES-926 and ES-927, seconded by Councilmember Kaneshiro. Council Chair Rapozo: For ES-926, I have been advised by Mr. Trask that it contains some public information that should be discussed outside and the other information can be discussed in the back. There being no objections, the rules were suspended. MAUNA KEA TRASK, County Attorney: Mauna Kea Trask, County Attorney. The Council has done quasi-public/private discussions before an Executive Session. Under 92F-12(A)(3), "Disclosures for government purchasing information, including all bid results, except to the extent prohibited by Section 92F-13." In regards to this concession contract, a majority of it is public; however, there may be some issues which would warrant an Executive Session, especially legal advice relating to whatever it is. I am not sure how to best proceed in this. Council Chair Rapozo: Let us go in the back and discuss what is going on and if the Members feel that we should have an open item, we can repost and have it on the agenda. Mr. Trask: Okay. Council Chair Rapozo: This is regarding the HI-5 contract done at the resource center at Ahukini. It has been awarded, correct? Mr. Trask: There has been a notice of award. The contract has not been entered into vet is my understanding. I was going to suggest that if you want, you can send over whatever questions you have and I can respond to them in writing and then we can defer this or continue this today, just to kind of get an understanding of what we can and cannot talk about or what you are looking for. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: You said that the contract has not yet been awarded or it has? Mr. Trask: Has not. They have not entered into it, but there has been a notice of award. It is in the process. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Council Chair Rapozo: And a protest was filed? Mr. Trask: Yes, in quotes. Council Chair Rapozo: I am sorry? COUNCIL MEETING 54 NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Mr. Trask: Like a "protest has been filed," but yes... Council Chair Rapozo: That part I understand that we cannot discuss out here. Any other questions for the attorney? If not, we will convene into Executive Session. Roll call. The motion to convene into Executive Session for ES-926 and ES-927 was then put, and carried by the following vote: FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION: Brun, Chock, Kagawa, Kaneshiro, Kawakami, Yukimura, Rapozo TOTAL — 7, AGAINST EXECUTIVE SESSION: None TOTAL — 0, EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0, RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0. Council Chair Rapozo: With that, we will convene in Executive Session and come back at 1:30 p.m. for the public hearing. ADJOURNMENT. There being no further business, the Council Meeting adjourned at 11:55 a.m. Respectfully submitted, JA D ^ K. FOUNTAIN-TANIGAWA County Clerk :ct