HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/12/2018 Council minutes COUNCIL MEETING
SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
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, September 12, 2018 at 8:33 a.m., after which the
following Members answered the call of the roll:
Honorable Arthur Brun (present 9:05 a.m.)
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 Chock moved for approval of the agenda as circulated,
seconded by Councilmember Kaneshiro.
Council Chair Rapozo: Just for the public's information, we will be
taking a National Suicide Prevention Month Resolution at 1:30 p.m., right after the
public hearings, and we have a 3:00 p.m. certificate for the Kaua`i All-Star Mustang
2018 Region Mustang Tournament Champions.
The motion to approve the agenda as circulated was then put, and carried by
a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Brun was excused).
MINUTES of the following meetings of the Council:
July 25, 2018 Council Meeting
August 8, 2018 Council Meeting
August 22, 2018 Special Emergency Council Meeting
Councilmember Chock moved to approve the Minutes as circulated,
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:
COUNCIL MEETING 2 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
The motion for approval of the Minutes as circulated was then put, and carried
by a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Brun was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please.
JADE K. FOUNTAIN-TANIGAWA, County Clerk: We are on the Consent
Calendar.
CONSENT CALENDAR:
C 2018-191 Communication (08/15/2018) from the Director of Finance and
Accounting Systems Administrator, transmitting for Council information, the
Inventory Report for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2018.
C 2018-192 Communication (08/24/2018) from the Acting County Engineer,
transmitting for Council consideration, a Resolution Establishing Crosswalks On
`Elepaio Road And `Alae Road, Waimea District, County Of Kauai.
C 2018-193 Communication (08/24/2018) from the Acting County Engineer,
transmitting for Council consideration, a Resolution Establishing A Crosswalk On
Papalina Road At Pu`u Road, Koloa District, County Of Kaua`i.
C 2018-194 Communication (08/27/2018) from the Acting County Engineer,
transmitting for Council consideration, a Resolution Establishing Maximum Speed
Limits Of Twenty-Five (25 MPH), Thirty-Five (35 MPH), Forty (40 MPH), And
Forty-Five Miles Per Hour (45 MPH) Along Ala Kinoiki, KOloa District, County Of
Kaua`i, State Of Hawai`i.
C 2018-195 Communication (09/04/2018) from Council Chair Rapozo,
transmitting for Council consideration, a Resolution Designating September 2018 As
National Suicide Prevention Month For The County Of Kaua`i.
Councilmember Kagawa moved to receive C 2018-191, C 2018-192, C 2018-193,
C 2018-194, and C 2018-195 for the record, 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 receive C 2018-191, C 2018-192, C 2018-193, C 2018-194, and
C 2018-195 for the record was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1
(Councilmember Brun was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please.
COUNCIL MEETING 3 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
COMMUNICATIONS:
C 2018-184 Communication (08/13/2018) from Councilmember Kawakami,
transmitting for Council consideration the following measures for inclusion in the
2019 Hawai`i State Association of Counties (HSAC) Legislative Package and the 2019
County of Kaua`i Legislative Package:
• A Bill for An Act Relating to Tort Liability, to make an
exemption from tort liability for the State and Counties
arising from lifeguard services, except for gross negligence or
wanton acts or omissions.
• 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.
• A Bill for An Act Relating to Zoning, to allow Counties with
populations less than one hundred thousand to enact a zoning
ordinance to amortize or phase out nonconforming single-
family transient vacation rental units over a reasonable period
of time.
• A Bill for An Act Relating to Transient Accommodations, to
proscribe licensing requirements and enforcement provisions
for transient vacation rentals under the department of
commerce and consumer affairs, which takes effect on
January 1, 2020.
Council Chair Rapozo: As we discussed at the last meeting, I would
entertain the motion to approve the first four (4) items.
Councilmember Kaneshiro moved to approve C 2018-184 with the exception of
A Bill for An Act Relating to Transient Accommodations, seconded by
Councilmember Kagawa.
Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion or public testimony? The fifth
item was withdrawn.
Councilmember Yukimura: So that was like an amendment to the main
motion?
Council Chair Rapozo: No, the motion was just to approve the first
four (4). If you prefer, we can do it ad seriatim if you want to.
Councilmember Yukimura: No, that is fine.
COUNCIL MEETING 4 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Council Chair Rapozo: So the motion is to approve the first four (4)
items. Any further 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 2018-184 with the exception of A Bill for An Act
Relating to Transient Accommodations was then put, and carried by a vote of
6:0:1 (Councilmember Brun was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. Next item, please.
C 2018-185 Communication (08/13/2018) from Council Chair Rapozo,
transmitting for Council consideration the following measure for inclusion in the 2019
Hawai`i State Association of Counties (HSAC) Legislative Package and the 2019
County of Kaua`i Legislative Package:
• A Bill for An Act Relating to Unadjudicated Traffic Fines, to
transfer certain fines and forfeitures collected for uncontested
traffic infractions to the counties.
Councilmember Yukimura moved to approve C 2018-185, 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 C 2018-185 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1
(Councilmember Brun was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please.
C 2018-196 Communication (08/16/2018) from the Prosecuting Attorney,
requesting Council approval to apply for, receive, and expend Federal funds, in the
amount of$27,591.00, from the Edward J. Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant
(JAG) Fiscal Year 2018 Local Solicitation Grant, to continue employment of the 1.00
Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Process Server to continue process serving for the Office
of the Prosecuting Attorney, purchase office supplies, and allow officers of the Kaua`i
Police Department to attend training sessions. The grant will commence
October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2021: Councilmember Yukimura moved to
approve C 2018-196, seconded by Councilmember Kaneshiro.
Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion or public testimony?
COUNCIL MEETING 5 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
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 2018-196 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1
(Councilmember Brun was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please.
C 2018-197 Communication (08/21/2018) from Council Chair Rapozo,
transmitting for Council consideration, a Proposed Draft Bill to authorize the
procurement of the services of a contract auditor, a certified public accountant, or
firm of certified public accountants to conduct the independent audits of all County
funds and accounts as required pursuant to Sections 3.12 and 32.02(A)(1) of the
Charter of the County of Kaua`i, as amended, and the Single Audit Act of 1984 and
to approve a contract from appropriations of a later fiscal year for more than one fiscal
year: Councilmember Chock moved to receive C 2018-197 for the record, seconded by
Councilmember Yukimura.
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 2018-197 for the record was then put, and carried by
a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Brun was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please.
C 2018-198 Communication (08/29/2018) from the Housing Director,
requesting the Council's approval to perform the following:
a. Acquire under the County's Community Development Block
Grant (CDBG) Program a residential unit at 1633 Kuahale
Street, Kapa`a, Kaua`i, Hawaii, 96746, Tax Map Key (TMK):
(4) 4-6-38-45, for a purchase price of not more than
$485,000.00, based on the fee simple market appraisal, which
will be obtained through this transaction;
b. Resale of 1633 Kuahale Street, Kapa`a, Kaua`i, Hawai`i,
96746, by leasehold for not more than the leasehold market
appraisal, which will be obtained through this transaction;
and
c. Authorize the County Clerk to sign legal documents related to
the acquisition and resale transactions.
COUNCIL MEETING 6 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Councilmember Chock moved to approve C 2018-198, seconded by
Councilmember Kaneshiro.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Chair, I had some questions and I believe they
are on their way. Are they here?
Council Chair Rapozo: I will suspend the rules.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
STEVE FRANCO, Housing Development Coordinator: Steve Franco,
Housing Agency.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you, Steve. Thank you for being here.
I am just curious as to how the County came upon this opportunity to repurchase. Is
it some kind of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program?
Mr. Franco: The CDBG home purchase program receives
CDBG funds to acquire and resell properties to eighty percent (80%) and below. It
was specifically designed...in the past, it was an alternate project for CDBG, but in
the recent years, we have been using CDBG money for this program.
Councilmember Yukimura: That is excellent.
Mr. Franco: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: How did this house come to our attention? Is
it on a buyback?
Mr. Franco: This is not a County-owned property, so it was
just something that was listed on the market. We do work with various realtors.
Councilmember Yukimura: I like that initiative.
Mr. Franco: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: So approximately, how much will we sell it for
as a leasehold?
Mr. Franco: Just to kind of give you an example on our
previous acquisition through this program, the last property was in`Ele`ele at `Ele`ele
Nani and we acquired it for four hundred fifty thousand dollars ($450,000) fee simple
and we sold it leasehold at two hundred eighty-five thousand dollars ($285,000).
Councilmember Yukimura: Something really affordable.
Mr. Franco: Yes, especially for that income group.
COUNCIL MEETING 7 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Councilmember Yukimura: What income group is it?
Mr. Franco: This is eighty percent (80%) of the median
income and below. So the CDBG program, that is the maximum income bracket that
we can sell to.
Councilmember Yukimura: That is wonderful. How long is the leasehold?
Mr. Franco: Ninety (90) years.
Councilmember Yukimura: So essentially, their lifetime.
Mr. Franco: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: But if they choose to leave or have to leave for
some reason and they sell the leasehold back to the County...
Mr. Franco: Yes, so the County does have the first option
through the leasehold and they would try to see if they could pass it down to a
qualified heir first, and if they are unable to, at that point, the County would exercise
its right to buyback.
Councilmember Yukimura: Buying the leasehold...let us see...do the
leaseholders get some equity back?
Mr. Franco: Yes, so they will get a share of appreciation.
They do not get the full appreciation on the buyback, but they do get a fair share and
that is one of the requirements for the CDBG program, is that if we do exercise our
right to buy it back during that period of affordability, that the homeowners get a fair
share back.
Councilmember Yukimura: Right.
Mr. Franco: They do not realize the full equity, but they do
get a share.
Councilmember Yukimura: Right, but this is a way to protect that unit
from market prices that just make it totally unaffordable by the income groups that
we are trying to service...
Mr. Franco: Correct.
Councilmember Yukimura: ...who are the ones that need the housing and
the one with the wherewithal on their own to find affordable housing on the island.
Mr. Franco: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Thank you very much.
COUNCIL MEETING 8 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Any other questions? I apologize
for having you run over. I just want to say if there are more opportunities like this—
this now assures affordability forever.
Mr. Franco: Yes, with the leasehold program, that is the
only mechanism we found out there to try and keep it as affordable as long as possible.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: We have been advocating and supporting the
purchase of even distressed properties, short sales, and even properties or vacant
lands that are out there, we should be trying to seek out. The leasehold price was
two hundred eighty-five thousand dollars ($285,000)?
Mr. Franco: On our last sale.
Council Chair Rapozo: So this one...
Mr. Franco: This will probably be around that range, I
would say between two hundred eighty-five thousand dollars ($285,000) and three
hundred thousand dollars ($300,000).
Council Chair Rapozo: Even three hundred thousand dollars
($300,000) and we buy the house for four hundred eighty-five thousand dollars
($485,000), we are putting up a home in perpetuity for one hundred eighty-five
thousand dollars ($185,000), which is unheard of.
Mr. Franco: Yes. Through the CDBG program, when we
worked with the CDBG through the United States Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD), their main goal is to serve the lower income households and
giving them the opportunity of homeownership that whatever subsidy that you are
looking at, they are not concerned and they just want to get people into homes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Eighty percent (80%) is...
Mr. Franco: At eighty percent (80%) especially.
Council Chair Rapozo: That two hundred eighty-five thousand
dollars ($285,000), even at three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) will open up
that opportunity for a lot of families on Kaua`i.
Mr. Franco: Definitely.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you very much. Any other questions?
Councilmember Kawakami.
Councilmember Kawakami: What is the process for the public's knowledge
as far as getting on this list and qualifying?
COUNCIL MEETING 9 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Mr. Franco: So for our affordable housing waitlist, you
have to be a Kaua`i resident, a first-time homebuyer, and have completed homebuyer
education classes through a HUD-certified counseling agency. There are two (2)
different agencies that we refer our applicants to that do the classes here on Kaua`i.
So once they have completed the class, they get a certificate of completion that they
went through the homebuyer education class. We have them fill out a short
registration form, and then we basically give them a homebuyer number, which is a
number that sticks with them in perpetuity...until they buy or move off-island or for
whatever reason, they are assigned that homebuyer number through the process and
then when we do have properties like this that become available, we notify everybody
on our homebuyer list and then based on who responds or who is interested in the
property, we work by their homebuyer number that they are assigned. We work with
the lowest number. Sometimes, it is not always the first person that gets...for
whatever reason, they may not be able to qualify for financing or something like that.
So we tell people that if they are interested to stay on our homebuyer list and their
number may come up.
Councilmember Kawakami: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Not everyone on the list is eighty
percent (80%) and below.
Mr. Franco: That is correct.
Council Chair Rapozo: So the ones above obviously do not qualify.
Mr. Franco: Yes, so we would have to make sure that they
would meet the income criteria first before we would officially offer them the
opportunity to purchase it.
Council Chair Rapozo: Right. Councilmember Kaneshiro.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: Our CBDG bucket for this type of
money...does it just come with the package that we get from the Feds or is it...
Mr. Franco: It is actually CDBG income that we had in the
past. So when we do an acquisition, then whatever proceeds we get from the sale
goes back into the CDBG home purchase program. So anything that
accumulates...our goal is to at least acquire one (1) to two (2) properties per year. So
depending on the funding that is in there or how much we garner from the sales of
properties, it is kind of...we do not...it is kind of there for that purpose...it is kind of
an active revolving fund that we use.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Steve, how much money is in that fund?
COUNCIL MEETING 10 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Mr. Franco: Off the top of my head, right now, I believe it
is somewhere around seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($750,000) right now, so
we try to keep it within limits of...
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, so you are limited by the amount that is
in that fund.
Mr. Franco: Yes, that is correct.
Councilmember Yukimura: If we could increase that fund, you could
actually purchase more properties, right?
Mr. Franco: Possibly, yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Your homebuyer education, you said there are
two (2) entities...
Mr. Franco: Yes, there are two (2) nonprofit agencies that
conduct the classes and they are HUD-approved. It is Hawaiian Community Assets,
which is based out of Anahola. They provide classes monthly here in Lihu`e.
Sometimes, depending on the demand, they will do a couple of classes per month, but
on the regular schedule, they have one (1) a month. The Hawai`i Homeownership
Center, which is based out of Honolulu, they usually come here quarterly to do classes
here on Kaua`i; they do not have an office here on Kaua`i that is why.
Councilmember Yukimura: That program, the requirement that the
County has for any potential homebuyer to take that course is so good, because I know
at least one (1) family that qualified and got a house through the Housing program,
but they lost it—this was early on—they had not taken the homebuyer course and so
they did not know how to manage their finances.
Mr. Franco: Yes, and what is good about both of these
organizations is that they both provide services even after the homebuyer education
class or even after they have purchased a home, they can provide foreclosure
prevention, budgeting, financial counseling, and that kind of stuff. Even after they
have gotten into the home, both of those organizations provide that follow-up type of
service as well.
Councilmember Yukimura: That is excellent. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Any other questions? If not, thank you very
much. Any public testimony?
MATT BERNABE: Matt Bernade, for the record. I walked in
halfway through that discussion, but from what I heard, it sounds like a great
program. The one thing I just want to point out as part of the discussion is that I
have a lot of friends and many of them do similar programs like this and there is
always this condition of first-time buyer, which has made me always think about it
COUNCIL MEETING 11 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
because some of my friends are ineligible for this. They lost money or made bad
investments due to the fallout of the real estate market prior, or in some cases that I
know of, they inherited a piece of a property that they do not actually own, but on
title, their name is there. Therefore, when they go to do these kind of programs, they
are not eligible because they have technically owned something prior to this. I was
hoping that Mr. Franco was going to stay, but they went out...they are back? I hope
you can hear what I am saying because I know a lot of people and I talk about this
and I have also testified in the past that because I am a homeowner, I was unaware
of how scared people are to be bumped out of their rental to the point where they are
almost held hostage to some landlords. This housing crisis, which I will talk later
about has led to despair in some portions of the community that lead to drugs, lead
to other things, and eventually even perhaps suicide. This is a big issue at the core
of our local...and any society...this is our little kuleana, Kaua`i, but it is the same if
you are in Los Angeles or anywhere. If we do not have housing and we do not have
that and there is despair in the public that they are never going to get elevated, that
"American dream" or that light at the end of the tunnel or whatever way you want to
word it. So I admired these programs, but there are some very eligible people that
pay their rent, have jobs, but they just have hard luck. Like I pointed out, that
kuleana ownership, I know more than one (1) that has not been eligible for first-time
programs like this because of that. So maybe when we do these things, if that can be
taken into consideration would be my only point of contention here. Thank you very
much.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you very much. I think he heard that
loud and clear. Any other testimony? Seeing none, I will call the meeting back to
order. Further discussion? Councilmember Yukimura.
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows:
Councilmember Yukimura: I am grateful to the Housing Agency for this
really excellent program and I want to acknowledge that it was started during Ken
Rainforth's leadership and he also was the one who saw how important homebuyer
education was to this whole program. It is a really essential element and actually, as
I look across at Yvette, Gary Mackler and Ken were part of this team that help put
in place some of these really important programs. I believe that Ken was one of the
founders of the Hawai`i homebuyer center and has done more than just starting the
program here, but also has made it go islandwide. It is a really good program and it
is a way to keep houses from going into the market so that our people can really afford
it.
Council Chair Rapozo: Any other discussion? I get a lot of calls from
people and they get discouraged when they call because the waiting list is so long,
but I think the reality is a lot of people fall off of the list or they end up purchasing a
property, so they no longer qualify. So my suggestion is that they take the course.
The course is not only for homeownership; it is just good for financial education and
how to boost your credit score. There is so much value in those courses, and in the
meantime, you are on a list that at any time could change. A lot of the people on that
list today, as I said earlier, are above eighty percent (80%) median income, so they do
COUNCIL MEETING 12 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
not qualify for an opportunity like this. A lot of those names in that list are going to
fall off and everybody is going to be elevated, so my only suggestion is that everybody
that is interested in purchasing a house, as far as a first home, I know it can be a
problem for some, but that is the target. We are trying to get these families that have
not purchased a property and the benefits for this program is just a lot more than
getting the home itself. I encourage everyone to participate in that. Any other
discussion? If not, the motion is to approve.
The motion to approve C 2018-198 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1
(Councilmember Brun was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. Next item, please.
C 2018-199 Communication (08/29/2018) from the Fire Chief, requesting
Council approval to establish one (1) Temporary As Needed (TAN) operator position
to accommodate emergency staffing needs, pursuant to the Hawai`i Fire Fighters
Association Contract Agreement as outlined in Section 27, for an additional brush
truck assigned to the Hanalei Fire Station to use in emergency situations, including
but not limited to, incident management, natural disasters, flooding, emergency
proclamations, evacuation, isolation, and to shelter-in-place: Councilmember
Yukimura moved to approve C 2018-199, 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 C 2018-199 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1
(Councilmember Brun was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Chair, C 2018-200 will be taken after
Executive Session.
Council Chair Rapozo: Mauna Kea, this appeal, is that the one for
the surcharge on the property tax? No. Okay. That is fine. We will just wait for the
Executive Session. I was just wondering if there was anything in here that can be
discussed openly that would not require us to go into Executive Session. It is an
amicus brief for an appeal.
MAUNA KEA TRASK, County Attorney: For the record, Mauna Kea
Trask, County Attorney. It has been...what is it...C 2018-200?
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes, C 2018-200.
Mr. Trask: No, I think that is the gun one.
COUNCIL MEETING 13 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes, so we can go into Executive Session
unless there is enough information that you believe to get the support?
Mr. Trask: Basically, the issue is that there was a Ninth
Circuit Supreme Court case that said in the Third Circuit, which is Hawai`i Island,
that a gentleman was unconstitutionally denied his right to open carry a firearm,
which is a big concern to our police department and throughout the State. Hawai`i
has, for the record, very reasonable regulations on the carrying of handguns, so this
has the potential to change that.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. We will take that up after the
Executive Session. Next item, please.
There being no objections, C 2018-201 was taken out of order.
C 2018-201 Communication (08/31/2018) from the First Deputy County
Attorney, requesting Council approval of the indemnification provisions contained in
the User Agreement for the Grammar Refresher (Self-Paced Tutorial) course, to be
taken by each staff member of the Office of the County Attorney to better support the
needs of the attorneys: Councilmember Chock moved to approve C 2018-201,
seconded by Councilmember Yukimura.
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as not present.)
Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion or public testimony?
Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: I do not have any real concerns, but I was just
curious, the "Grammar Refresher Course," is that really about grammar?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Mr. Trask: Yes, it is a self-paced tutorial, a computer
program. So what we have done in the Office of the County Attorney, in addition to
bringing litigation in-house, appropriately organizing the office, we have also
upgraded a lot of the longstanding legal clerks. They develop real high-capacity to
handle legal work, so in order to...it is hard to get an attorney, but we want to utilize
and maximize not only their talents, but also to increase the efficiency of the office
and increase their ability to do more. So we have upgraded a few to paralegals, so
they need the concurrent training, so we want them not only to draft collection letters.
One clerk alone was able to get about two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000)
in fees owed to the County, so we want to assist them in drafting and all that kind of
stuff. This is like a contract of adhesion, very little ability nowadays to negotiate
software contracts with the providers. So it is just like a pro forma thing.
Councilmember Yukimura: I think it is excellent because my experience
is that grammar is not really being taught in the schools anymore and so there are
COUNCIL MEETING 14 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
many levels of ignorance about grammar and it is really to your credit that you are
doing this kind of capacity-building.
Mr. Trask: I would love to take credit, but it is really the
office's effort. Thank you.
Councilmember Yukimura: That is credit to those in your office who are
doing this.
Mr. Trask: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Any other questions? Seeing none, thank you
very much. I will call the meeting back to order. Further discussion? I think we
already voted. The motion was made.
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded
as follows:
The motion to approve C 2018-201 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1
(Councilmember Brun was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: The next item is a Legal Document.
LEGAL DOCUMENT:
C 2018-202 Communication (08/29/2018) from the Acting County Engineer,
recommending Council approval of a Department of Water Elevation Agreement and
indemnification language contained therein, between the County of Kaua`i
Department of Public Works and the County of Kaua`i Department of Water, for Tax
Map Key (TMK) (4) 3-8-018:012 (4940-C Maalo Road), Lihu`e, Kaua`i, Hawaii, to
document that the Department of Public Works is aware that the subject property is
at such an elevation that it cannot be assured of dependable water supply.
• Elevation Agreement for TMK (4) 3-8-018:012
Councilmember Kaneshiro moved to approve C 2018-202, seconded by
Councilmember Yukimura.
Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion? Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Can we have Mahealani come up?
Council Chair Rapozo: We asked the Department of Water to be
here...are you...
COUNCIL MEETING 15 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Councilmember Yukimura: Doug is here, too.
Council Chair Rapozo: You both can come up. We sent over a
question that was responded to and I think everybody got the response from the
Department of Water, which kind of explains what this is about. I had never seen
one of these before in all my years on the Council. We have never approved an
Elevation Agreement, so I guess I got kind of concerned, but your response was clear.
I appreciate the response. Thank you. Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Can you tell us what this agreement actually
does?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
MAHEALANI M. KRAFT, Deputy County Attorney: For the record,
Mahealani Kraft, Deputy County Attorney. It is a standard document that the
Department of Water has. Depending on the elevation of a property and the facilities
that the department has, it cannot guarantee certain pressures. So we require
applicants to sign the form and they are on notice that we may or may not be able to
guarantee a certain amount of pressure, but we do have standards within which that
this property in particular complies with.
Councilmember Yukimura: So it basically says that they might
experience low water pressure, and why is that from an engineering standpoint?
Doug, can you answer that?
DOUGLAS HAIGH, Chief of Buildings: Doug Haigh, Department of
Public Works, Building Division. As mentioned, the elevation difference between the
source tank and the facility is such that the estimated pressure is about
forty-three (43) pounds per square inch (PSI) from the pure...
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as present.)
Councilmember Yukimura: Can you speak louder, please?
Mr. Haigh: Based on the difference of elevation of the
supply tank of water—it is actually a control valve—and the facility is such that the
anticipated pressure is forty-three (43) PSI at the meter. That is an engineered
calculation. My understanding is that the Department of Water considers forty (40)
to fifty (50) in adequate range, but when they are in the low-forties, they ask for this
agreement to provide further protection for their sleep, I guess. So what we do is we
design our plumbing system based on that PSI, the anticipated PSI, to make sure
that the plumbing system will meet the requirements of the Uniform Plumbing Code.
The Uniform Plumbing Code requires fifteen (15) PSI minimum pressure at the
plumbing fixture. So we are fairly comfortable that we have the system designed
adequate for that. Now, the next issue is your fire sprinkler system. Typically, fire
sprinkler systems are designed and actual final design is by the contractor. They do
the final design with a fire sprinkler engineer and submit that to the Fire
Department. Those calculations have not been done yet. We do not anticipate a
COUNCIL MEETING 16 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
problem. The worst problem is that there might be a booster pump required for the
fire sprinkler system, but we are not anticipating that.
Councilmember Yukimura: So the forty (40) to fifty (50) PSI works for
domestic water needs of a home or an institution, but for fire, you need a higher
pressure than that?
Mr. Haigh: Not necessarily, no. I am not an expert fire
sprinkler system designer, so I am not sure. We actually do a different test because
you need to know fire water flow. So we will be doing a test at the fire hydrant that
we recently installed at this site and that will give us better numbers to make the
final design decisions for the fire sprinkler system. Part of the reason why the
Department of Water does this, too, is because they do not know what the final
elevation of the house is going to be or the piping and stuff. If you are in the lower
range and you do not design your system appropriately, you can get a lot of resistance
in your lines or you can have an elevation change, where then you will actually have
a lower pressure at the facility.
Councilmember Yukimura: But is the design of the building not complete?
Mr. Haigh: It is complete.
Councilmember Yukimura: Was it done before they knew about the solar
water pressure?
Mr. Haigh: I cannot answer that question because I was
not involved in the project at that time, but we have gone back to the mechanical
engineer and he is comfortable that his system will be fine with the existing
forty-three (43) PSI.
Councilmember Yukimura: So if after the building and occupancy they
find that it does not work, will the mechanical engineer guarantee a working project?
If the treatment center was designed without knowledge of low water pressure and
you are saying that the low water pressure could result in problems if it was not
designed with that in mind...
Mr. Haigh: The mechanical engineer should have this
information in-hand and probably had this information in-hand when he designed
the system. The information was available to him. I do not know and I did not verify
that he did, but he did get back to us saying that he is comfortable that we are okay
for the plumbing system.
Councilmember Yukimura: Well, that is why I asked if he would
guarantee that there would be no problem.
Mr. Haigh: Well, that is why we have "Errors and
Omissions" insurance with consultants, so that if they do make a mistake in the
design, we have potential...that they have the liability.
COUNCIL MEETING 17 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Councilmember Yukimura: There is a feedback loop so that the users of
the Adolescent Drug Treatment Center will know that so that they can get recourse.
Mr. Haigh: I am sure we will hear from the users if they
have problems with their water pressure. But prior to final issuance of Certificate of
Occupancy (CO), our plumbing inspectors do run pressure tests to assure that there
is adequate water pressure at the fixtures.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. If a booster pump is needed, what kind
of costs or complications does that incur?
Mr. Haigh: I am not an expert in that, but I do not think
it is anything too significant.
Councilmember Yukimura: Who pays the cost?
Mr. Haigh: We do.
Councilmember Yukimura: "We" meaning the developer of the...
Mr. Haigh: The County of Kaua`i. It is our facility. Like I
say, it is not the risk...that becomes a discussion, but it would be a changed condition
if a pump is needed...is my opinion.
Councilmember Yukimura: I am sorry, the condition of the pump would
be a changed what?
Mr. Haigh: Changed condition of what was planned for
this system.
Councilmember Yukimura: And if it is a changed condition, what does
that mean?
(Councilmember Brun was noted as present.)
Mr. Haigh: That means that it is subject to a change order
to pay for it. I am probably saying this a little bit prematurely in that we have not
gotten to that point and then review all of the documents in detail to confirm, but
that is really...if we do get to that point, then we need to go back and review all of the
documents and review the fine print within the specifications and see where that
liability lays. At this point, we are not anticipating a problem.
Councilmember Yukimura: I am not worried about the liability because I
do not know what the cost is. That is what I was asking for—is it a big thing or is it
a small thing, this booster pump? I do not know, that is why I am asking the question.
Mr. Haigh: I understand and I do not have the answer for
that. To me, it is not a big thing, because to me, a big thing is something like a one
COUNCIL MEETING 18 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
hundred thousand dollar ($100,000) to two hundred thousand dollar ($200,000) cost;
that is a big thing.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay.
Mr. Haigh: To me, I would be shocked if it was in that
range. I do not have experience...I have never added a booster pump in any project I
have been involved in. I am not sure what the costs are, but generally pumps are not
that expensive.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay, but the operating costs, whose cost
would that be?
Mr. Haigh: That would be minimal because you are
running a small motor and motors are pretty advanced nowadays and very
energy-efficient, especially if it is just for the fire sprinkler system, then you probably
never use it, hopefully.
Councilmember Yukimura: That is all I needed to know. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you very much. Any other questions?
Thank you.
Mr. Haigh: You are welcome.
Council Chair Rapozo: I want to express our thanks to the
Department of Water for their response, as it was thorough. Any public testimony?
Mr. Bernabe: Matt Bernabe, for the record. I was intrigued
to learn all of that. I just have one question, without having to go hunt the tax map
key down: where in Lihu`e is the elevation for a house so drastic that they have to do
this? Logically, where in Lihu`e is this house that is so far off the water grid? Are we
putting houses in the interior forest that far up? I am just curious. I am kind of
laughing at myself because I have been sitting here and thinking, "Where in Lihu`e
is there a hill a house on top that we cannot supply water pressure?" I work in
Moloa`a where they do not give any water for half of Ko`olau Road and they all have
wells. I am just trying to sit here...I saw the tax map key, but I am not about to go
and look for it unless I go into the office or somehow get a link to figure out where
this house is. Is the public listening to this? I am curious.
Council Chair Rapozo: It is the Adolescent Drug Treatment Center
up Maalo Road; it is not a house.
Mr. Bernabe: Oh, it is the Adolescent Drug Treatment
Center, so we are going to be flipping this bill all the way then, right? This is a one
hundred percent (100%) County initiative. I thought this was a private person, so I
did not hear. I guess I did not read that, see it, or hear it. I have one more question
since that is the place. Was this taken into the discussion, which I was part of back
in the day when this property and all of this allocation and the millions, which by the
COUNCIL MEETING 19 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
way, I still support the drug treatment center, but I do not remember this part of the
discussion ever being presented by the County when they put forth this initiative in
front of the Council. I just want to say that how many more hindsight things are we
going to have to tack onto this project like this? I was part of this discussion and I do
not remember them ever talking about a relay pump, inadequate pressure, and so on,
and have they had a good plan, the kind that you take to the bank and the bank
stamps it and says "approved," that would have been in there, but it was not. So I
thought it was a private partnership with the County. I guess I was wrong, which
makes me have even more "wows" on this issue, but thank you. Maybe you folks
should huddle up and ask those questions, too.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Any other public testimony?
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: Just to clarify a little bit. Yes, we did not get
a lot of the answers about the pressures that I recall, but Grove Farm gave the County
this land to put it in and it is agricultural land so it is kind of out there in the boonies
a little bit. When you get something for free, sometimes it comes with a little bit of
things that you need to put in and some unknowns. So I think when it is "free 99,"
sometimes even if you have some of those things, it is still a good deal. Whether, like
you said, more hiccups will be coming up—that again, would be disappointing...like
you said, you always want to get things upfront with the Council and you move
forward with things, but in this case, I guess this was just one...I believe it is an
honest error and perhaps we thought that the elevation was okay, but unfortunately
it is not. Thank you, Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: Any other discussion? I just had never seen
one of these, so I raised a concern. You would expect that when we do the consultants
and the engineering studies and all of that that this would be identified. What I did
hear though was the requirement, as Doug stated, for a structure that is fifteen (15)
PSI at the meter to adequately...if I am wrong, Doug,just stand up and come running
up here. "At the fixture"—I am sorry. Doug said, "At the fixture." What we
anticipate, what the engineering studies did show is that we should have between
forty (40) and forty-five (45) PSI, which is more...the Department of Water's
standards are set at forty (40), so I can see why we have to do the Elevation
Agreement. It is a little concerning about the fire systems, but if we have to put in a
pump, we have to put in a pump. The concern I have, and this is something that will
cross the bridge when we get there is that the consultants or the people that give us
the assurances—I think Councilmember Yukimura kind of alluded to this—people
that gave us the assurances that everything was okay...do we have recourse to go
after those people at that point, should it arise? I do not see a problem. I agree with
Doug. I do not think that there is going to be a problem and I am not an engineer,
but I rely on them and I do not think this is a deal-breaker and that we should still
proceed. For me, the biggest issue is the sprinkler system that we have to make sure
is in place and that we have adequate water for that. Councilmember Yukimura.
COUNCIL MEETING 20 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Councilmember Yukimura: I do not think it is a deal-breaker either, but
can I have Doug come back for a small clarification?
Council Chair Rapozo: Sure. I will suspend the rules.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Councilmember Yukimura: Doug, excuse my ignorance, but the
fifteen (15) PSI at the fixture, that is when you turn on the faucet in your house and
the forty (40) to fifty (50) PSI...is that the meter?
Mr. Haigh: Correct.
Councilmember Yukimura: So that is why you say how the design is after
the meter could affect what comes out at the faucet?
Mr. Haigh: Correct. With your final elevation of the
facility and also your pipe sizes, those are all things that you take into consideration
when you do the actual plumbing system design.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Thank you for that education.
Council Chair Rapozo: I will call the meeting back to order. Any
further discussion?
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded
as follows:
The motion to approve C 2018-202 was then put, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: The next item is a Claim.
CLAIM:
C 2018-203 Communication (08/29/2018) from the County Clerk,
transmitting a claim filed against the County of Kaua`i by Kresta Painter, for damage
to her vehicle, pursuant to Section 23.06, Charter of the County of Kaua`i:
Councilmember Yukimura moved to refer C 2018-203 to the Office of the County
Attorney for disposition and/or report back to the Council, seconded by
Councilmember Kagawa, and unanimously carried.
COUNCIL MEETING 21 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
PUBLIC WORKS / PARKS & RECREATION COMMITTEE:
A report (No. CR-PWPR 2018-09) submitted by the Public Works / Parks &
Recreation Committee, recommending that the following be Received for the Record:
"PWPR 2018-07 Communication (08/22/2018) from Council Chair
Rapozo, requesting the presence of the Administration, to provide a briefing on
the Administration's plans for Salt Pond Beach Park and surrounding areas,"
Councilmember Kaneshiro moved for approval of the report, seconded by
Councilmember Brun.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
The motion to approve the report was then put, and unanimously carried.
A report (No. CR-PWPR 2018-10) submitted by the Public Works / Parks &
Recreation Committee, recommending that the following be Received for the Record:
"PWPR 2018-08 Communication (08/30/2018) from Council Chair
Rapozo, requesting the presence of the Acting County Engineer, to provide a
briefing on the status of the Kaua`i Resource Center HI5 redemption center and
other recycling programs/locations,"
Councilmember Kaneshiro moved for approval of the report, seconded by
Councilmember Brun.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
The motion to approve the report was then put, and unanimously carried.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS
COMMITTEE:
A report (No. CR-EDIR 2018-02) submitted by the Economic Development &
Intergovernmental Relations Committee, recommending that the following be
COUNCIL MEETING 22 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Approved with the exception of A Bill for An Act Relating to Transient
Accommodations:
"C 2018-184 Communication (08/13/2018) from Councilmember
Kawakami, transmitting for Council consideration the following measures for
inclusion in the 2019 Hawai`i State Association of Counties (HSAC) Legislative
Package and the 2019 County of Kaua`i Legislative Package:
• A Bill for An Act Relating to Tort Liability, to make an
exemption from tort liability for the State and Counties
arising from lifeguard services, except for gross
negligence or wanton acts or omissions.
• 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.
• A Bill for An Act Relating to Zoning, to allow Counties
with populations less than one hundred thousand to
enact a zoning ordinance to amortize or phase out
nonconforming single-family transient vacation rental
units over a reasonable period of time.
• A Bill for An Act Relating to Transient Accommodations,
to proscribe licensing requirements and enforcement
provisions for transient vacation rentals under the
department of commerce and consumer affairs, which
takes effect on January 1, 2020,"
Councilmember Kaneshiro moved for approval of the report, seconded by
Councilmember Brun.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
The motion to approve the report was then put, and unanimously carried.
A report (No. CR-EDIR 2018-03) submitted by the Economic Development &
Intergovernmental Relations Committee, recommending that the following be
Approved:
COUNCIL MEETING 23 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
"C 2018-185 Communication (08/13/2018) from Council Chair Rapozo,
transmitting for Council consideration the following measure for inclusion in
the 2019 Hawai`i State Association of Counties (HSAC) Legislative Package
and the 2019 County of Kaua`i Legislative Package:
• A Bill for An Act Relating to Unadjudicated Traffic
Fines, to transfer certain fines and forfeitures collected
for uncontested traffic infractions to the counties,"
Councilmember Kaneshiro moved for approval of the report, seconded by
Councilmember Brun.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
The motion to approve the report was then put, and unanimously carried.
PUBLIC SAFETY & TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE:
A report (No. CR-PST 2018-03) submitted by the Public Safety &
Transportation Committee, recommending that the following be Received for the
Record:
"PST 2018-02 Communication (08/09/2018) from Council Chair
Rapozo, requesting the presence of the Executive on Transportation, to provide
a briefing on the County Transportation Agency's request for Council approval
relating to the Fiscal Year 2018 Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Section
5339(c) Grant to be used to purchase electric-powered buses,"
Councilmember Yukimura moved for approval of the report, seconded by
Councilmember Brun.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
The motion to approve the report was then put, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please.
COUNCIL MEETING 24 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
RESOLUTIONS:
Resolution No. 2018-29 – RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING CROSSWALKS
ON `ELEPAIO ROAD AND `ALAE ROAD, WAIMEA DISTRICT, COUNTY OF
KAUAI: Councilmember Kagawa moved for adoption of Resolution No. 2018-29,
seconded by Councilmember Yukimura.
Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion or public testimony?
Councilmember Kagawa: I just want the Department of Public Works
to come up for all of these and show exactly where these crosswalks are going to be
placed and exactly why so that when the public sees it, they will know, if they have
somebody in the family that watches "Channel 53," they will know exactly where it
is going, why it is being placed, and that this is the process that establishes these
things in motion.
Council Chair Rapozo: With that, I will suspend the rules.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
MICHAEL MOULE, Chief of Engineering: Good morning, Chair and
Members of the Council. I am the Chief of Engineering for the Department of Public
Works, Michael Moule. I will quickly explain what is going on here. We have a project
as part of the Safe Routes to School, one hundred percent (100%) funding by federal
funds, Safe Routes to School, it is working on three (3) different schools, putting
flashing beacons at the crosswalks near Kapa'a Middle School. We are putting
flashing beacons at Pu`u Road—Papalina we will be talking about next—and this
project, which is to add a sidewalk along `Alae Road from Kaumuali`i Highway right
here, up just a little past where the picture is here, but the school is just passed here.
The sidewalk goes to here at Iwipolena Road on the east side of`Alae Road. There is
currently already a crosswalk at Iwipolena...there is already a marked crosswalk
here midblock to the park from where the sidewalk is going to be going. There is one
crosswalk also at `Elepaio Road...I cannot quite see it in the aerial, but somewhere
here crossing`Alae Road. When we do these projects where we are putting in flashing
beacons or adding sidewalks, in this case, we are adding one (1) crosswalk here across
`Elepaio Road, but we also check to make sure that there are Council resolutions for
all of the devices in the area, just to be sure and clean things up. What we found in
this case was that there was indeed existing Council resolutions for the crosswalk
here, which is where the flashing beacon is going. That one already exists...it is
marked and it has got a Council resolution. There is also a Council resolution for the
crosswalk that is across `Alae Road and `Elepaio Road, but this crosswalk is midblock
here and it was already marked...there was no Council resolution for it. Since we are
putting a sidewalk on this side of the road and this park here with an opening to the
park, I believe where the crosswalk goes across, little gate and the fence, we felt that
it is important to keep that crosswalk there, so we are putting in ramps to get across
the street to that crosswalk along with our sidewalk here, from our sidewalk across
to the park. We wanted to establish that crosswalk officially with the Council because
it was not, even though it had been marked before. In addition to that, since we are
adding a sidewalk here along the east side of`Alae Road, we want to put a crosswalk
COUNCIL MEETING 25 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
across `Elepaio Road in line with that sidewalk. That crosswalk would be new and
we are here today to get approval from the Council for the establishment of that
crosswalk since the County Code requires that the Council establish crosswalks.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: So what is the status of all of those roads that
we are putting it on `Alae Road, `Elepaio Road, and Iwipolena Road as far as the
paving? Are they on the paving contract or are they in relatively good condition?
Mr. Moule: I could not answer that...
Council Chair Rapozo: I would think that if we are putting in
sidewalks, that it would be nice to pave it and then put the sidewalks as well. To
have the sidewalks nicer than the real road, to me, would kind of be backwards.
LYLE TABATA, Acting County Engineer: Lyle Tabata, Acting County
Engineer. I apologize for being late. I was at the Emergency Operations Center
(EOC) working on the next plan. So those roads mentioned are not on the near future
paving list. We are working regionally right now. We found that the contractor we
have hired also won all of the State work. So we are working with them to regionally
complete work in order to keep costs down and it coincides with what the State is
doing. The west side is planned for this next go-around of roads that we are presently
preparing.
Councilmember Kagawa: So when we put in the bid, we do not have the
bids say, "You need to complete by this certain time."
Mr. Tabata: Yes, we have a timetable.
Councilmember Kagawa: So being that they have the State and the
County bids, do they have trouble meeting the time that we are asking? I think we
are going off-topic now.
Mr. Tabata: Yes, there is room for improvement.
Councilmember Kagawa: Okay, the second question—so with the
sidewalks, we are going to install sidewalks on that east end of`Alae Road; is that the
plan?
Mr. Moule: Yes, the east side of `Alae Road from the
highway to Iwipolena Road.
Councilmember Kagawa: How wide are those sidewalks?
Mr. Moule: Five (5) feet wide.
Councilmember Kagawa: Are bikes going to be allowed on those?
COUNCIL MEETING 26 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Mr. Moule: Bicycles are allowed on sidewalks by law in
general, except in business districts and this is not a business district. So the answer
is "yes," they would be allowed to use the sidewalks.
Councilmember Kagawa: Of all the existing and new crosswalks
proposed, which ones will have flashing beacons?
Mr. Moule: Only one (1) will have flashing beacons, the
one pretty much right at the school, just at the top of the map here.
Councilmember Kagawa: Okay.
Mr. Moule: It is an existing crosswalk. It crosses from the
new sidewalk directly to the school.
Councilmember Kagawa: So the one right adjacent to the school, so the
other sidewalks do not have flashing beacons.
Mr. Moule: The other crosses will not have flashing
beacons.
Mr. Tabata: You need to clarify that it is part of the Safe
Routes to School program.
Councilmember Kagawa: Safe Routes to Schools allows for a flashing
beacon adjacent to the school?
Mr. Tabata: The project was put together a few years back
and it was in conjunction with Kekaka Elementary School and the located flashing
beacons were at what we determine working with the school was best, the best
location.
Councilmember Kagawa: Are we getting matching moneys from the
federal government?
Mr. Moule: This is one hundred percent (100%) federally
funded.
Councilmember Kagawa: Terrific. Thank you, Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: I have a real quick follow-up—how much does
it cost to install flashing beacons?
Mr. Moule: For rectangular rapid flashing beacons, when
it is just a two-lane road like this, are on the order of ten thousand dollars ($10,000)
to twenty thousand dollars ($20,000), depending on a few things.
Council Chair Rapozo: Right, and relatively insignificant.
COUNCIL MEETING 27 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Mr. Moule: Relatively inexpensive to that portion.
Council Chair Rapozo: Compared to the improvement of safety, I
think.
Mr. Moule: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Why would we not...even if we have to pay for
that, why would we not install flashing beacons every time we install a crosswalk?
Mr. Moule: There are a number of reasons for that. One
is if a crosswalk is located at a traffic signal, obviously, you would not want it there.
If it is located at a stop sign, you would not want it there. Uncontrolled crosswalks,
I think, is what you are asking.
Council Chair Rapozo: Like what you are asking for here.
Mr. Moule: So an uncontrolled crosswalk where it is not
controlled by anything besides the crosswalk markings and signs is a bigger question
than this project, but I think that the answer really is that when you use traffic
control devices, if they are overused, they lose their effectiveness to some degree and
there are dozens, if not hundreds of crosswalks in the County. So we are...
Council Chair Rapozo: My question was when we put in a new
crosswalk. I give you an example—yesterday, I was coming up on Rice Street and by
the post office, there is a flashing beacon. I see that flashing beacon from afar.
Yesterday, I am assuming that the gentleman did not press the button, so it was not
flashing, and I will be honest, because there are two (2) lanes, if I was not driving
slow, I would have hit that man. Had the flashing beacon...again, I do not know if it
was inoperable...I am assuming that he just did not press the button, but that
flashing signal for me alerts me from quite a distance that someone is in that
crosswalk. My question was going forward, not the retrofitting...I think it is a great
project going forward, but when we are looking at a project like this, and as I look at
the picture, it is at an uncontrolled crosswalk, involving kids at the school; why would
we just not invest the fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) and have the contractor put
in flashing beacons?
Mr. Moule: So the answer is that we typically are. I
cannot think of a place where we have added a new crosswalk in last few years where
we have not installed flashing beacons. Our general policy going forward on this is if
we have a crosswalk, for example, on a relatively minor street, we may not put
flashing beacons in, because there is just not the need in those areas. But on what
we call "collector streets" or above, streets that carry more traffic than local streets
through houses, we would be looking to put in flashing beacons on probably all new
crosswalks. We have developed a draft policy for that and it talks about doing it on
the higher volume, busier roads. So yes, our policy essentially is to do that.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Councilmember Chock.
COUNCIL MEETING 28 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Councilmember Chock: That was my question as well. Can you share
that criteria or the policy upon how you make a decision on the existing crosswalks?
Mr. Moule: Yes, I could read it for you if you want to hear
it right now. It will take me a minute to pull it up, but I have my laptop with it on
there.
Councilmember Chock: My question is really about...you say it is high
traffic volume, but even on our highways, we do not have it everywhere.
Mr. Moule: Of course, the highways are State, but they
are doing some.
Councilmember Chock: Is their criteria the same?
Mr. Moule: I do not know if they have a criteria like this.
But I will look that up and if there are other questions, I will answer those once I
have got them looked up and address other questions.
Councilmember Chock: Okay. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: This is turning into discussion, which is very
important, on the policy of flashing lights, but I know we have them at Anahola...or
we are talking about the main highway, so that is the State, but it is so dangerous
because tourists do not always know what those flashing lights mean and when there
is a speeding car, it almost creates a trust on the part of kids crossing that the cars
will stop and it does not always guarantee for people who do not know what the
flashing lights mean. Even when they have been flashing on Rice Street because of
the four (4) lanes, I have seen some near misses, too. I think you do need a policy. I
think if the speed is too great, I do not think they really work. I do not know if traffic
lights always work. I have some other questions, Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: Go ahead.
Councilmember Yukimura: I am back to Kekaha and the Safe Routes to
School—the improvements were done in consultation with the school; can we get a
bigger view of this, which includes the school, if it is not too far.
Mr. Moule: There is the school.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. So you are going to have a sidewalk
from where to where?
Mr. Moule: From Kaumuali`i Highway to Kekaha
Elementary School, so essentially on the east side. So the idea being that as people
come out of the neighborhoods here and none of the streets here have sidewalks now,
COUNCIL MEETING 29 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
but they do walk to school now. When they get down to the busiest road, `Alae Road,
they will be able to walk along the sidewalk and get to school and cross here.
Councilmember Yukimura: They cross there and then they walk...that
brings them close to the school.
Mr. Moule: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Are you doing before and after surveys
to see if you get more pedestrian traffic after you put in the sidewalks?
Mr. Moule: We do not take manual counts for every
project that we have where we have sidewalks, because that is not (inaudible)
intensive thing. I will say though that the schools do track through the overall Safe
Routes to School non-engineering part of that program, they track how many kids are
walking to school in general, and especially on the "Walk to School" days, they
especially do that. I do not think Kekaha is participating in the Walk to School days
at this time, if I recall correctly. That data may be available, but I would not have it.
Councilmember Yukimura: So they do track or are you not sure?
Mr. Moule: I am not sure about Kekaha Elementary
School. I know some of the schools do track. I think all of the schools...I do not
know...perhaps the schools all generally track how kids get to school, but not
necessarily from where. I do not know that it is all schools, but I know that the
schools that participate in the program do that and we could get that data from those
schools, but I do not know if that includes Kekaha Elementary School.
Councilmember Yukimura: We should have Bev here. Can you get that
information for us as to whether Kekaha Elementary School is tracking that?
Mr. Moule: We can do that.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Any other questions? Councilmember
Kawakami.
Councilmember Kawakami: Thank you, Mr. Chair. So this one is one
hundred percent (100%) federally funded under the Safe Routes to School program;
are all of the flashing beacons funded from that federal pocket of money or did some
come from the State Safe Routes to School special fund?
Mr. Moule: All of the flashing beacons in this particular
project are federally funded. Some of the others that we have installed are various
funds, like we did a crosswalk that was approved by the Council three (3) to four (4)
years ago across Po`ipu Road at Kipuka Street and that was totally County funded to
build the little bit of sidewalk to connect there and the crosswalk and the beacons
there. We have got some planned at Koloa Elementary School and King Kaumuali`i
COUNCIL MEETING 30 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Elementary School, also federally funded so fully federally funded. There are some
planned on the Lihu`e Town Core project, which is funded by the Transportation
Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant, which is also of course
partially County funded. The ones on Hardy Street were 80/20, eighty percent (80%)
federal and twenty percent (20%) County. So it varies a little bit depending on the
situation, and like Chair Rapozo said...in my answer to Chair Rapozo's question, we
are trying to add them where we do new work and it kind of varies depending what
those projects are funded by, if that makes sense.
Councilmember Kawakami: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Brun.
Councilmember Brun: On that `Alae Road, with the crosswalks that
you are putting in, are there still going to be stop signs also put on `Alae Road?
Mr. Moule: No.
Councilmember Brun: That is a road that a lot of tourists use to get
to Koke`e.
Mr. Moule: We are not proposing to add stop signs at any
of the additional intersections on Iwipolena Road.
Councilmember Brun: Okay. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: On your 80/20 projects where it is twenty
percent (20%) County and eighty percent (80%) federal, Councilmember Kawakami
asked about the State fund Safe Routes to School, which he initiated at the legislature
using the traffic fines in school districts, right? Can the County use those moneys as
their twenty percent (20%) match?
Mr. Moule: Yes, and we have.
Councilmember Yukimura: And you have, so that might have been the
answer to your question.
Mr. Moule: Sorry if I did not correctly answer your
question, but those funds...I do not know if it is being specifically used for
constructing these beacons yet, but I believe we used that for a match for one of our
federal aid projects that we are in design right now.
Councilmember Yukimura: Because those State moneys are earmarked
by the County, right?
Mr. Moule: Yes.
COUNCIL MEETING 31 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Councilmember Yukimura: So they are sort of like County moneys.
Mr. Moule: I think we actually received those funds and
have to expend them by a certain time period and we have been doing that.
Councilmember Yukimura: Excellent.
Mr. Moule: And using it to match if necessary, we are
constructing something if it is useful.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Any other questions?
Mr. Moule: I have an answer to Councilmember Chock's
question...I can just read very briefly our policy pertaining to rapid flashing beacons.
It will just take me a minute or two. "Rectangular rapid flashing beacons (RRFBs)
are used to provide active around warning to motorists that pedestrians are crossing
in marked crosswalks. If overused, RRFBs could potentially lose their effectiveness,"
as I mentioned earlier. "RRFBs shall be reserved for use on higher volume and/or
higher speed streets. The following guidelines should be used for selection of
locations for installation of RRFBs: only be used at marked crosswalks; it should not
be installed on local residential streets; should not be installed on other streets with
less than two thousand (2,000) vehicles per day; except in school zones based on
engineering judgment; at crosswalks, where the crossing is greater than
thirty-six (36) feet, every effort should be made to install a raised median to provide
a location for the flashing beacons to be installed to help improve safety and visibility
of the beacons," kind of like you were saying, Chair Rapozo—on the wider road and
multiple lanes, it would better if we can have median where you can put the beacon
right there and make it even more visible. Then the last two: "shall not be installed
at stop or signal control approaches," as I mentioned earlier, "and not necessary for
single-lane roundabout entrances and exits due to slow speeds to ensure crossing
distance and the presence of a median for pedestrian refuge." We do have flashing
beacons at the roundabout near Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School, but we are
suggesting here that they likely would not be necessary on other single-lane
roundabouts since you are only crossing one lane at a time. We feel that they are not
necessary at those general locations.
Council Chair Rapozo: What source? Is it federal?
Mr. Moule: These are guidelines that we are using
internally.
Council Chair Rapozo: Right, but what is the source?
Mr. Moule: We wrote them.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is that something that you dreamt up?
COUNCIL MEETING 32 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Mr. Moule: Yes...
Council Chair Rapozo: I am just trying to figure out if it is something
that is the federal safety highways or whatever...
Mr. Moule: Before I joined the County, I used to teach
courses for the Federal Highway Administration on pedestrian safety and this type
of language is the kind of thing you would talk about in that design course for criteria
for traffic-control devices at marked crosswalks. We did not specifically take this
from any specific document. We just used it based on our context of how our streets
are because we are fairly different than most of the United States as far as street
layouts and things.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: So this is an internal policy paper for the
Department of Public Works and you have many policy papers like that with
guidelines, right?
Mr. Moule: We have some, yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: I think it is commendable...I think as
Councilmember Chock pointed out, you need some guidelines for making your design
decisions essentially, right?
Mr. Moule: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Any other questions? Seeing none, any public
testimony? 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:
Councilmember Kagawa: Thank you, Chair. I think we do a
commendable job when it comes to crosswalks, sidewalks, bike paths, and planters.
In the State, I think our efforts in the Department of Public Works are up there. They
should be commended on that. For me, we also have the obligation to pave roads.
During the six (6) years that I have been on the Council, a lot of the Kekaka kapuna
that frequently talk to me...they take me on rides and show me in the Kekaha
Hawaiian Homes area, these roads where these crosswalks are going, and frankly,
they tell me that they lost confidence. They tell me, "These roads are going to be
paved when we are already dead," and I hope at some point, we can say we are
commendable with paving roads as well. Thank you, Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? Seeing none, the motion is to
approve. Roll call.
COUNCIL MEETING 33 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
The motion for adoption of Resolution No. 2018-29 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.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Next item, please.
Resolution No. 2018-30 – RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A CROSSWALK
ON PAPALINA ROAD AT PU`U ROAD, KOLOA DISTRICT, COUNTY OF KAUAI:
Councilmember Chock moved for adoption of Resolution No. 2018-30, seconded by
Councilmember Kaneshiro.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Any discussion? Councilmember
Kagawa, do you have questions for them? Do you want them to go over it?
Councilmember Kagawa: Yes, if they can show really fast where the
crosswalk is going. Then I am done with my roads discussion.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Mr. Moule: Michael Moule, Chief Engineer for the
County, Public Works. Thank you, Chair and Members of the Council. We are in
Kalaheo. Kaumuali`i Highway is right here. Papalina Road is here. This is the
neighborhood center and the post office and you come up Papalina Road and turn left
on Pu`u Road, and go down about a quarter-mile to Kalaheo Elementary School,
which is off the map because it is pretty far, so you would not see the intersection
very well if we showed it. But it is twice this distance down the road. This
intersection here, Papalina Road at Pu`u Road currently has crosswalks marked
across Pu`u Road and Papalina Road. Our project, the same project actually, the one
that we just heard about also includes adding flashing beacons to the existing
crosswalk here across Papalina Road, as well as some minor sidewalk work to make
the curb ramps accessible. One of the challenges goes back to Chair Rapozo's earlier
question—when we do a flashing beacon, we have to make sure that the push buttons
are accessible per the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), so we cannot just put
down the beacons. In this case, the cost of the beacons is not the only thing that it
costs in this case to add the beacons at this crosswalk. So while the beacons
themselves are relatively inexpensive, sometimes you have to do more concrete work
that actually costs more than the flashing beacons and that is certainly the case in
this case because even though it is a small amount of work at the ramps, concrete
work is not cheap on Kaua`i. The existing crosswalk here already exists, but as I
mentioned earlier, we kind of checked to make sure that there are resolutions, and
we did not find one for Papalina Road. We checked with Council Services, in addition
to our records, to make sure that resolutions do not exist. So really, this is simply a
COUNCIL MEETING 34 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
housekeeping measure to add a Council resolution for the crosswalk across Papalina
Road at Pu`u Road. For example, there is another crosswalk just up here near
Kalaheo Steak and Ribs and there is a resolution for that one, but there is not a
resolution for the one at Pu`u Road. So given the ordinance that states that the
Council shall...it is quoted in the resolution, but it says that the Council shall
establish marked crosswalks. We are here to clean this up and do so before we install
the beacons at this crosswalk.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Brun.
Councilmember Brun: Thank you, Chair. Whenever there is a
school, do you know how far the speed limit extends, speed limit fifteen (15), from the
school? Is there a limit?
Mr. Moule: I am not sure if it is ordinance or resolution,
but it is one of the two; it is five hundred (500) feet.
Councilmember Brun: Pu`u Road is the road that we are getting a lot
of complaints about. People are driving...I do not know if we can do a study there. I
will send over a memorandum on that.
Mr. Moule: So it is five hundred (500) feet. I believe we
have sent over communications in the past suggesting that it would be nice to have
it more flexible so that we can make it longer in some cases and shorter in some cases.
Sometimes, five hundred (500) feet is too much.
Councilmember Brun: I will work with you folks on that.
Mr. Moule: I agree that this one maybe could be longer.
Councilmember Brun: Okay. Thank you.
Councilmember Yukimura: I have follow-up.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: So the five hundred (500) feet is a
requirement, but does it disallow you from doing more than five hundred (500) feet
from the school?
Mr. Moule: Well, to be considered a school zone, the
school zone is literally defined by ordinance as within five hundred (500) feet of any
school.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay, but you could do...
Mr. Moule: You could change the speed limit to lower...
Councilmember Yukimura: Right...
COUNCIL MEETING 35 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Mr. Moule: We would not recommend changing the speed
limit to fifteen (15) for twenty-four (24) hours a day/seven (7) days a week, and
generally, the way to do it for the school times is to have it be a school zone. So I
think a change to the definition would be the best way, but I would recommend to
clarify that. I think that we would also want to consult with the Office of the County
Attorney on how to establish a lower speed limit outside of what is defined currently
as a school zone in the County Code.
Councilmember Yukimura: So you are saying if you define school zone
more than five hundred (500) feet, then you can do fifteen (15) miles an hour, but it
would allow you to do it in timeframes. Is that what you are saying, that you cannot
do timeframes outside of schools...the five hundred (500) feet school zone?
Mr. Moule: Again, the way I understand and interpret the
law is you have a definition that states that school zones are within five hundred (500)
feet of any school. Then there is the other resolution...I think it is a resolution and
not an ordinance in this case that states that the speed limit shall be fifteen (15) miles
per hour from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in all school zones. That is how those two things
are defined. In order to do something outside five hundred (500) feet or even to have
it be less than five hundred (500) feet, which might be appropriate in some schools
where the school property is really large, but the school is actually only a small piece
of that property, like in Kilauea with the private school there, you would have to
change one of those two (2) things is the way I understand it, either the definition of
the school zone or how the speed limits are applied in the school zones, and that is
something that we would gladly work with you on.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Brun.
Councilmember Brun: Thank you. I will work with the staff and you
folks on this one, but as far as that Pu`u Road, the problem is not during school time;
the problem is at night. People are driving like maniacs. Those are the complaints
that we are getting. We will work on that and see if we can make a change to the
speed limit and stuff like that.
Mr. Moule: I would say that you certainly could
change...it is the Council's prerogative to change the speed limit to fifteen (15) miles
per hour all of the time, but I will say that if the speed limit is twenty-five (25) and
people are doing fifty (50) at night, changing it to fifteen (15) is probably not going to
change that behavior. This is the thing about speed limits is that they do not
necessarily define how people will drive. We will probably talk more about that in
the next resolution, but I think that is something to consider. Again, we would like
to work with you on this, but we would want to talk about those issues as we do.
Councilmember Brun: I think if we put it at the school speed limit,
the fine is going to be a little higher so they are going to get a little more worried.
COUNCIL MEETING 36 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Council Chair Rapozo: I am not sure who...I think the Kaua`i Police
Department has the equipment to test the volume and the average speed, high speed,
low speed, and get that data first to see actually what is going on, on that street and
we can have the discussion once we get those results. I think it is critical to get that
data. We get complaints all of the time from speeding in neighborhoods and they go
out and set up their equipment and there is some speeding and I am not saying that
it is not happening, but I am just saying that with that data and with that new
technology that they have, the data is very specific and we can adjust and set up
enforcement in those areas. Councilmember Kawakami.
Councilmember Kawakami: Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have to agree with
Councilmember Brun. We actually went out there at the request of a constituent and
we actually walked house-to-house on that road and everybody that was home at the
time, with a mix of homeowners, renters, and some fairly new residents, they were
all, at the time, in favor of lowering that speed limit. I will give you a good example—
right by Wailua Golf Course, that stretch, it used to be nicknamed "Blood Alley" and
at the time, Representative Tokioka and myself on the Council were kind of fighting
"tooth and nail" with the Department of Transportation to lower that speed limit from
fifty miles per hour (50 MPH) to forty miles per hour (40 MPH) and their basis was
based on the engineering studies, that road design was able to handle fifty (50) miles
per hour. But when you talk about driving behavior, we had it at fifty (50), but people
were driving sixty (60) to sixty-five (65), and then now that we lowered it to forty (40),
we are starting to see people maybe driving at fifty (50) at some of the top-level
speeds. I will let you folks explain the rationale of driver behavior, but it comes down
to personal responsibility and living pono as far as people driving through that area,
but Pu`u Road is extremely narrow. We drive there every Monday to drop Hailee off
at hula and I think that is the biggest concern when we are out there. In the evening
time, we see high levels of traffic and families walking and kids running around and
cars are speeding. We can go and collect that traffic data, but sometimes the residents
that live around that street, they live it, they see it, and their kids live there, so that
should merit some type of weight when we are making that decision and I would be
in favor of looking at that speed limit being lowered and also extending that school
zone, because the penalties do come heftier with a school zone and that does change
behavior. It has changed behavior with traffic driving and so forth. I look forward to
seeing some of those changes. Thank you.
Mr. Tabata: Thank you. Public Works does have the
counters to accomplish the same needs.
Mr. Moule: We actually have taken some counts on Pu`u
Road...I was just trying to look them up.
Council Chair Rapozo: Scott just dropped off the memorandum that
I sent over on July 12th of this year. It was sent over to Lyle and to the Police
Department and it was quite specific. It said, "I would like to ask the Department of
Public Works to please look into the feasibility of reducing the speed limit on the
entirety of Pu`u Road in Kalaheo to fifteen miles per hour (15 MPH) and marking this
area as part of the school zone. I would also like to ask the Kaua`i Police Department
to increase speed limit enforcement on this road and notify me of any results or
COUNCIL MEETING 37 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
actions to deter speeding." The request of response time was August 31st and we did
not get anything back, so on August 31St, I sent over a second reminder and that
deadline is set for September 30th. So we will expect a response by the 30th from the
Department of Public Works, as well as the Police Department. The request was
submitted. Thank you, Scott, for reminding me. That was off of the constituent that
Councilmember Brun met with on Pu`u Road and he was very frustrated. Again, it
has been a few months, so if we could work on that. I think the data is the most
important and we need to see what is really happening out there. From the
constituents that live in that area, they are very concerned. Councilmember
Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: So the improvements at the intersection are
to make that intersection handicap accessible?
Mr. Moule: To make it so that the sidewalks and to access
the push buttons you have to push to make the flashing beacons flash are accessible
for all pedestrians for ADA.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Is there a sidewalk that comes up
Papalina Road on both sides?
Mr. Moule: Yes, I believe so.
Councilmember Yukimura: Is there a sidewalk that goes all the way to the
school on Pu`u Road in the mauka side?
Mr. Moule: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. That is really good to have a sidewalk
to the school. You did this in consultation with...can we also increase the map so we
can see Kalaheo Elementary School, if it does not make it too distant. There is the
school...perfect. In consultation with the school, you are making these
improvements?
Mr. Moule: Yes, so the federal grant for these
improvements was applied for back in 2014 in consultation with the school. It takes
a while to use federal funds unfortunately, but construction is going to be starting on
this in the next month or two.
Councilmember Yukimura: Excellent. I would like to just make the
request as to whether the school is tracking...not that particular route, but just the
number of kids who walk to school.
Mr. Tabata: So every school participating in the Safe
Routes to School program has had surveys on how many bus, how many drive, and
how many walk and bike, done by Bev Brody and her Get Fit Kaua`i, Safe Routes to
School Task Force. I have the data and I will gather the data for these schools.
Councilmember Yukimura: Is it done on a regular, annual basis?
COUNCIL MEETING 38 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Mr. Tabata: I know it was done on the initial startup of the
program and I believe every year they update the data. I just need to get the updates
from Bev.
Councilmember Yukimura: That is great. It is the same thing about
speeding data, but if it will give us some feedback as to whether our efforts are having
an impact or not.
Mr. Tabata: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you.
Mr. Tabata: I apologize for not bringing that up earlier.
Councilmember Yukimura: No problem.
Mr. Tabata: Also, I wanted to add my lapse in memory-
Councilmember Kagawa, we did reconstruct entirely `Alae Road five (5) years ago, so
it is recently resurfaced. We did another road that we reconstructed in the Hawaiian
Homes section, not to go backwards. I apologize for that.
Councilmember Kagawa: There are still a lot out there.
Mr. Tabata: Yes, I understand.
Councilmember Kagawa: You pave two (2) and you have one
hundred (100) more that you are not paving.
Mr. Tabata: We have those roads on the schedule, and in
fact, Kekaha Road is on the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP)
because it is a federal aid road.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Brun.
Councilmember Brun: Thank you, Chair. So on Pu`u Road, there is
a sidewalk on...it would be the upper side...so as far as where the sidewalk is, what
do we have...five (5) foot sidewalks?
Mr. Moule: The existing one might only be four (4).
Councilmember Brun: Four (4) feet?
Mr. Moule: Yes.
Councilmember Brun: The residents can come right up to the
sidewalk with whatever they do...plants or whatever they put?
COUNCIL MEETING 39 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Mr. Moule: So I actually know this one reasonably well
because we actually have another Safe Routes to School project that is scheduled to
be constructed in two (2) years or so, recently funded that is to...in part of the project
is to replace and improve the sidewalk along Pu`u Road. The way that sidewalk is
set right now is that it is directly adjacent to the curb and I think it is only four (4)
feet, if I remember correctly. There is an additional four (4) to five (5) feet of County
right-of-way beyond the back of the sidewalk to the property line. In theory, people
should not be putting private things like plants and things in that area. As part of
our future project, our goal is to actually, as much as we are physically able, there
are some topographical constraints that may limit this, but our plan is, where we can,
to move the sidewalk to be back closer to the property line so that it is further from
the moving traffic, further from the curb, which is our goal in general, to have
sidewalks set back when there is room. So that is part of our future plan for Pu`u
Road to improve on that situation where you are talking about.
Councilmember Brun: I think it is right there where that middle
word is Pu`u Road...there is a sidewalk and there are hedges that are blocking half
the sidewalk. So you can only fit one (1) person on that sidewalk when the cars are
coming in. Can we do something as a County to make sure that thing is cut back?
Can and will we do something? We walked there and it is dangerous...it is like one (1)
person can walk on that road and I walked from school every day when I was
younger...I was not this big, but I could fit on that sidewalk.
Mr. Tabata: I will follow-up with them.
Councilmember Brun: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Any other questions? If not, thank you very
much. Any public testimony on this item? Mr. Bernabe.
Mr. Bernabe: Matt Bernabe, for the record. I was not going
to testify, but it was an interesting listen. I do agree with Councilmember Brun that
not only that area, but many of our throughways are overgrown and should be cut
back at either the owner's expense or somehow, we need to cut this stuff back. The
reason I came up here is because I have been listening from the last item, which
correlates with this item, and that is "marked crosswalks." Although I do agree that
there are mistakes that occur with the flashing lights, I myself, recognize them and
see them. As I have been sitting here and just thinking about it, it dawned on me
and I am going to mesh it with another activity we do in Hawai`i, is that that yellow
is not that visible. When you go hunting, you are not allowed to wear the fluorescent
yellow shirts and there is a reason why and that is why you wear "hunter orange."
That is why a red light is red and I think that those lights should at least be half red
tapered off to a yellow. If the light would be red, I think it would demand a lot more
attention. Even myself have missed the yellow light and have come screeching up,
"Oh, I did not see it." But luckily, they were just entering the crosswalk and they
were not in the middle of it. I never thought about it until the discussion from earlier
and as I was sitting here and listening to this one, and it is so important to have safe
ways for our children to get back and forth to school, that maybe somebody listening
might invent that red light or change it or something. I do not know. The yellow
COUNCIL MEETING 40 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
sometimes, especially in the daylight afterschool, not so much in the morning, but the
one by Kealia, right below Mahelona, you have a hard time seeing it sometimes with
the light glare. I am just saying that maybe it is the color of the light and that could
be addressed to make it a lot safer. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing none, I will
call the meeting back to order. The motion is to approve. Any further discussion?
Councilmember Kagawa.
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows:
Councilmember Kagawa: I concur with Councilmember Brun and
Councilmember Kawakami about trying to do something about the speed at Pu`u
Road. I think KPD has a big part in trying to...they always say that speeding tickets
is the only way to really break habits, but I think it is needed. Part of the reason why
Pu`u Road has probably been getting more traffic is because of the traffic experience
at the Kalaheo traffic light on the main highway with people from the west side going
home and what you have is you have all of the Kalaheo residents taking that road by
the missionary church and going on Pu`u Road to get to their house. I think it is
combination of things that is creating more traffic and the west side traffic is
definitely causing some of that, so it would be nice to fix this Pu`u Road problem, but
also keep in mind that the west side traffic caused at the Kalaheo traffic light is an
even bigger problem that we need to try and solve. Thank you, Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kawakami.
Councilmember Kawakami: Thank you, Mr. Chair. This opened up a
broader discussion of just pedestrian safety in general around our school areas, so I
will be asking Chair Kagawa in the future if we could get an update on the Safe
Routes to School improvements that this County has planned and actually previous
improvements that have been made. We breach topics like when private property
owners and their landscaping encroach over to public right-of-ways and what kind of
recourse does the County have as far as being able to collect fees. If we have to go
and trim back the private property owners' landscaping because it is a public health
and safety measure, if we have the ability to collect, or what kind of requirements
that we can put on private property owners. But I would like to see maybe some
correspondence from the Administration as far as if we have anything currently on
the books, because there is a number of private property owners out there and we are
talking about Albizia trees on State highways that are encroaching into public
right-of-ways. So I think moving forward, if we could have that discussion about
safety in general. One, if we can get a report back on the Safe Routes to School
program, and two, if we have anything on the books as far as recourse for maintaining
private property owners' landscaping and then collecting back from them as well.
Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? Councilmember Yukimura.
COUNCIL MEETING 41 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Councilmember Yukimura: I just want to say on that issue of speeding on
Pu`u Road, I think in the evenings or late at night, it would probably be difficult to
have a lowering of the speed limit actually impact the speeding at nights and maybe
traffic calming devices such as speed humps or those kinds of physical calmers have
to be looked at.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Brun.
Councilmember Brun: Councilmember Kawakami brought up a
great point about Wailua, about lowering that speed limit...if the speed limit is
fifty (50), you will go sixty (60) to sixty-five (65) because most people think you will
not get a ticket until you go over ten (10) miles an hour, so it is twenty-five (25) right
now, so people are driving thirty-five (35) through there and it is still speeding. So if
we bring it down to fifteen (15), I think it will help bring down the speed a little, so it
will help some...it will take time...it is not going to stop tomorrow if we put in the
speed limit today, but I think that is a change that we can do. I will be working with
staff and Lyle folks and try to do a community meeting and meet with the people on
Pu`u Road and see what they want. If they want to move this down...the people that
we talked to, they were all in favor and I do not think anyone said "no." No one said
"no" that we talked to, so I think it is a good idea and I will be working on this and
see if we can bring down that speed limit. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: I do not mean to say that lowering the speed
limit will not help at all, but I just think that for those late night ones, you may need
more than the speed limit. But I do think that during the day, it will help. I am very
convinced that lowering the speed limit on the main highway between Lihu`e and
Kapa'a has made a big difference.
Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? Again, as I stated, we are
waiting for the responses. I just want the public to understand the process. We get
that complaint from the constituent, we send it over to the Administration, and we
are limited to what we can do. I think it would not be so responsible for us to go ahead
and introduce a resolution lowering the speed limit without having the study and the
data. I really do not think that is the way to go. We rely on the Administration for
that, and as stated, hopefully they respond before the end of the month. I will
follow-up with KPD as well to see how their enforcement efforts are going, but there
is no doubt that that one road is dangerous and there are a lot of speeders and we
have to address it. We also sent over, and I am not sure where in the process it is, as
Councilmember Kawakami talked about, being able to go collect after we clean up
this overhanging bushes. We have a claim right now because the Albizia hit a vehicle
and caused some damage and it was on a State highway and the State denied the
claim and said, "Go to the County" and we denied the claim, but yet, whose
responsibility is it? I have asked Jade to follow-up...I believe it went across to check
for legality...but I am not sure...there are definitely things that the County can do
because it is a problem, it is a growing problem. With the recent winds on Kaumauli`i,
I think we had two (2) occasions where those large trees fell and thank God they did
not hit a vehicle and cause injury or death. That is something that we have to look
COUNCIL MEETING 42 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
at. We will follow-up on Pu`u Road, Councilmember Brun. If we do not get a response,
then I would suggest that we post an agenda item in October in the Public Works /
Parks & Recreation Committee and have that open discussion and we can get the
public to come up. Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: Regarding the Albizia problem that was
caused by the previous hurricane, I do have a communication. We have sent it out to
many interested parties, like the State, the County, and the Kaua`i Island Utility
Cooperative (KICU). We are trying to get some information that I will share with
rest of the Council, because we definitely want to take proactive measures so that
these Albizia trees do not block highways, knock down power lines, and even cause
death. We need to identify those that need to be removed as soon as possible and we
need to see the plan going into action. So I was going to have them all here and I
know it is hard to have the Governor and our legislators and everybody here, so what
I did was we tried to get something in writing first and when we get that response, I
will share it with all Councilmembers and we can see where we want to go, whether
it be a workshop or just an item. I think it warrants serious discussion by this Council
to see what we are going do about this Albizia problem that is all around us, because
definitely waiting for something to happen has already passed. It already did happen
and it is going to continue to happen. Thank you, Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: I sent over as well and we did get responses
from all of the entities that I sent to and I am not sure if that was passed out, but
staff, if we can get that out to all of the Councilmembers, but we did get a response
from all of the utility companies, like Verizon, Spectrum, and KIUC. It was not very
promising, so I agree that it is something that we are going to have to probably take
on and legislatively make that happen. Any further discussion? Seeing none, the
motion is to approve. Roll call.
The motion for adoption of Resolution No. 2018-30 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.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Motion passes. I think this next one is going
to be a while because it involves several speed limit changes, so why do we not take
our caption break now and then we will come back in ten (10) minutes and do that
resolution.
There being no objections, the meeting recessed at 10:09 a.m.
The meeting reconvened at 10:28 a.m., and proceeded as follows:
COUNCIL MEETING 43 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Council Chair Rapozo: The meeting is now called back to order. Can
we have the next item, please?
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: This brings us back to page number 7.
Resolution No. 2018-31 — RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING MAXIMUM
SPEED LIMITS OF TWENTY-FIVE (25 MPH), THIRTY-FIVE (35 MPH),
FORTY (40 MPH), AND FORTY-FIVE MILES PER HOUR (45 MPH) ALONG ALA
KINOIKI, KOLOA DISTRICT, COUNTY OF KAUAI, STATE OF HAWAII:
Councilmember Kagawa moved for adoption of Resolution No. 2018-31, seconded by
Councilmember Yukimura.
Council Chair Rapozo: With that, I will suspend the rules. Lyle and
Mike, can you come up, please? I do not know if anyone has any questions, but if you
could just give us a brief overview of what we are trying to do.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Mr. Moule: Michael Moule, Chief of the Engineering
Division of Public Works. Thank you for having us today. I have the aerial image up
on the screen here to explain what is existing and what we are proposing. I will
briefly just give a little background. This is actually a pretty old request. We have
had several requests by members of the public and residents of Kaua`i, as well as
visitors to Kaua`i have contacted us or sometimes they will often contact the Hawaii
Department of Transportation because they do not realize that it is a County road.
We have gotten several requests on this, probably dating back to 2014 or 2015, but
we find that raising a speed limit is a lower priority than lowering speed limits or
doing our projects from mostly anything else, so it has kind of been on the backburner
and when we have available time, we have worked on it. So it has taken us a few
years to get here to this proposal. It is a busier road and it is important to do these
studies carefully if we are going to evaluate them. You may recall that the Council
asked us to look at the other bypass road in Po`ipu, maybe two (2) to three (3) years
ago. We did that one a little quicker since that came from the Council and we raised
the speed on that one from twenty-five (25) to forty (40) for the northern section and
thirty (30) for this southern section of that road. That was all on Ala Kalanikaumaka
and now we are looking at Ala Kinoiki. So the original, often called the "Koloa Bypass
Road," is what we are looking at now. It connects from Maluhia Road, which is the
road that goes through the "Tree Tunnel," to Po`ipu Road, which is the road that goes
passed most of the resorts on the south side of Kaua`i. Here is the start of the road
here at Maluhia Road and it continues along this path down to Po`ipu Road. Of the
rural County roads that we own, I would say that this road is designed to the highest
speed and with the widest road lanes and shoulders of almost any County road that
we have. It is designed much more like most of the State highways that we have here
on Kaua`i, which of course are not County roads, but State highways. This road acts
and feels much like a highway in much of its area, much of its length. We evaluated
it based on that condition. So the existing speed limits right now, as you leave
Maluhia Road southbound on Ala Kinoiki, the speed limit is twenty-five miles per
hour (25 MPH) around this first curve, through the intersection of Wailaau Road,
which is the road that goes into Koloa Town and some residents on the other side
COUNCIL MEETING 44 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
where we had flooding earlier this year. After the next curve, it changes to forty miles
per hour (40 MPH) right about here. It is forty miles per hour (40 MPH) most of the
rest of the length of Ala Kinoiki, and down to this very last curve approaching Po`ipu
Road, it is fifteen miles per hour (15 MPH) in the southbound direction only. In the
northbound direction, it is currently forty miles per hour (40 MPH) all the way from
Po`ipu Road, up past a handful of residences here on this side road, the church, passed
the intersection of Weliweli Road, to the same location here, just before this curve, it
changes to twenty-five (25) somewhere in that area, and then it is twenty-five (25)
the rest of the way. So most of the length of Ala Kinoiki is rural frontage, former cane
fields. Most of that area is not currently in active agriculture...the east side at least.
On the west side, I believe there are some grazing activity. There are a small number
of residences that access at two (2) locations near the southern end here and there is
a church entrance in that area as well...that one actually serves several residences
and a large church. There is the side road of Po`ipu Aina here, which serves I believe
ten (10) to twelve (12) large lot homes...not all of those are built though...there are
about ten (10) to twelve (12) lots, and then you have Weliweli Road, which is the road
to access into Koloa Town and also to the west and goes to Koloa Mill to the east, and
then it is rural again until you have the intersection of Wailaau Road, which is kind
of right in the core of Koloa Town. The road kind of splits off a piece of Koloa Town
when it was built from the rest of the area, and then of course you have Maluhia.
Before I go to our proposal, I just wanted to describe what we did for study on this.
As we discussed earlier, I think several Councilmembers suggested that when we look
at speed limits, we should do traffic studies and study the speeds, and we did that.
The counts are actually a little old now...we did them back in 2016, because again, it
took some time to do the rest of the study because there is some effort on this kind of
thing. We take raising a speed limit very seriously because it is not something that
we do very often and the potential for safety concerns and all of that. We do have the
count data and we found that...I will go more into what we found in a moment on the
traffic speeds. In addition to measuring the existing speed and volume of traffic, we
evaluated the intersection site distance, so if you are coming out of a driveway or
intersection, you will need to be able to see traffic in each direction. If traffic is going
fast you have to look further down the road, so we identified what is the sort of
maximum speed that people can go for it to be safe for someone to pull out from a side
road or a driveway and we made sure that the speed limits we were proposing were
lower than that maximum speed...at or lower, I should say. Usually, if not, I think
it is always lower. Then we evaluated the road with geometries, like the horizontal
and vertical curve. So how you drive a road, how curvy it is, and how sharp those
curves are also effects the appropriate speed to drive that road and there are formulas
and tables that we use in national manuals that show us that this curvature, the
maximum speed that this road can be designed for would be "x" and we made sure
that the speed limits we were proposing were not above that speed. It is either at or
usually lower than the maximum speed that the standards say would be appropriate
for those curves. The same thing is for vertical curves, up and down...that has mostly
to do with looking over a hump of sight distance...being able to see if there is a pig or
a car stopped in front of you...that is usually what that is. If you are looking over a
hill, for a downhill...a sag where it drops down and back up is about your
headlights...your headlights dive into that, so you have to make sure that your
headlights can see what is in front of you on the road...again, if there is something
on the road, that you would be able to see that. We studied all of those things, which
COUNCIL MEETING 45 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
again is part of the reason it took so long. We did most of that study in the early part
of this year, and then we sent these for review by other departments, like KPD, the
Fire Department, and Planning, and got their comments. We did make one change
based on KPD's comment and then we kind of tabled this thing. We have been real
busy for the last few months on flood issues. We got two (2) new staff members filling
some of our vacancies. We still have other vacancies. In the July timeframe, I had
one of the new staff finish this up for us so we can bring it to you all. That is the
summary of the studies that we did. I am not going to go into the details on all of the
design aspects of the road. I should also say that we did also look at the roadway
context. I kind of mentioned the rural, the driveways, and the residences, and
thinking about where people are running, jogging, or biking along the road, as well
as people crossing the road. The one place where you can cross the road frequently
on foot or by bike is at Wailaau Road there in Koloa Town. So that is the most
important place that we feel...sorry...it is kind of hard to see because it is on a smaller
scale, but we can zoom in if you would like...right in that area...Wailaau Road...it
crosses over from most of Koloa Town to these neighborhoods off Waihohonu Stream,
where I think most of us are aware of that area because there was flooding there
during the April storm. That is that location. We considered all of those things. I
will not bore you with the details on the engineering design issues, but I will briefly
go through what we found from how people are driving on the road today as far as
the traffic volume. Speed is what I will focus on. The volumes range from about...so
between Maluhia Road and Weliweli Road, they range about two thousand five
hundred (2,500) vehicles per day. South of Weliweli Road, from there to Po`ipu Road,
they range from three thousand five hundred (3,500), one thousand (1,000) more cars
in that area. We did four (4) different places where we took counts, but that is roughly
what we found for volume. For speed, what we found is that in the area just north of
Wailaau Road here, just in the straight area before this curve, we found the average
speed of existing traffic at thirty-four miles per hour (34 MPH)...sorry, two (2)
different directions...so thirty-four (34) to thirty-eight (38), depending on which
direction for the average speed and forty (40) to forty-four (44) for what we call the
"eighty-fifth percentile speed," which is the existing speed people are traveling in a
twenty-five mile per hour (25 MPH) posted area. So we are not having success at
people traveling the speed that is posted. I want to talk about the eighty-fifth
percentile speed a little bit because it is really important relative to some of the
discussions that we had earlier today and how we set speed limits. Eighty-fifth
percentile speed is the speed at which fifteen percent (15%) of all the traffic that you
calculate is traveling faster than that and eighty-five percent (85%) are traveling
slower than that. There is a ton of research about this and studies in the traffic
engineering profession and the general idea is to have that eighty-fifth percentile
speed be as close as you possibly can to the posted speed. You want to get people
down to that speed if you possibly can or sometimes adjust the speed limit, if that is
appropriate, for other reasons. What the idea being is that most people are
reasonable and they travel at reasonable speeds. Eighty-five percent (85%) of
people...that is the reasonable speed. That last fifteen percent (15%), there are people
that are just going to go fast, regardless...like those speeders that we talked about on
Pu`u Road at night. It is going to be very hard to get those people to slow down unless
you actually can station somebody out there and catch them when they happen to be
out there with a police officer. So when we see a situation where the eighty-fifth
percentile speed is about fifteen miles per hour (15 MPH) faster than the posted
COUNCIL MEETING 46 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
speed, in that situation where the reasonable person does not feel that speed is
appropriate or they are just not noticing the speed limit. Some people pay very close
attention to speed limits and try to follow them or say, "I am going to go ten miles per
hour (10 MPH) over it because I know I can get away with that," like we heard earlier,
because people do that. But a lot of people do not even notice the speed limit or not
paying that close attention. They just drive how the road feels. When the road feels
like it should be fast, like a highway, people are going to go faster. But just to give
you that sense...we would like to have that eighty-fifth percentile speed be somewhat
close to the speed limit, but we also want to have lower speeds where we think it is
really important to do so, where there are crossings, cars turning left or right, or
pulling out, or if people are crossing the street and those sorts of things. I am going
to point out the last few places that we did the counts. So we had thirty-four (34) to
thirty-eight (38) for the average speed in this area where it is posted twenty-five (25)
and forty (40) to forty-four (44) for the eighty-fifth percentile speed. A little further
south, after it becomes forty miles per hour (40 MPH) just north of Weliweli Road
here, we found average speeds of thirty-nine (39) to forty (40) and eighty-fifth
percentile speeds of forty-four (44) to forty-five (45), so that is pretty close to the forty
mile per hour (40 MPH) posted speed. In that case, we see that it matches, which is
the goal with speed limits and road design. Further south, down here, in the rural
area between these intersections here...hold on one second...sorry, it is north of this
street here. So right here, right where it says "Ala Kinoiki" on the map here, very
rural, very straight segment of roadway, nothing to see except for farm fields, fallow
fields, and pastures in that area. We had forty-four mile per hour (44 MPH) average
speed in both directions and forty-nine (49) to fifty mile per hour (50 MPH)
eighty-fifth percentile speed. So a little faster than the posted forty (40), but not
terribly so. Lastly, down here, in this area, near this curve but in this straight
stretch, we had...let me just double-check that...just north of that curve, we had
forty-two mile per hour (42 MPH) average speeds and forty-nine (49) to fifty-two mile
per hour (52 MPH) eighty-fifth percentile speed. So again, a little faster. That
summarizes the data. Let me just point out on this map, and you have the resolution
in front of you, what we are proposing. We are proposing different speed limits and
there is a reason for that and that is because we want to make sure that the speed
limit is appropriate for the environment. We do feel that given the rural nature and
the existing travel speeds of people in the most rural settings, that there are places
where a slightly faster speed limit is appropriate of forty-five miles per hour (45 MPH)
in most rural areas where there is not intersections or major driveways. Then in
some areas, we maintain the existing forty mile per hour (40 MPH) speed limit. In
the northern area near Koloa Town, at the one intersection where people are crossing
sort of between neighborhoods, we have maintained the twenty-five mile per hour
(25 MPH) speed limit through that intersection. Then the very northern portion up
towards Maluhia Road, we are recommending converting that from twenty-five (25)
to thirty-five (35) in the rural portion where there are no intersections. Starting at
the top at Maluhia Road, we are looking at thirty-five miles per hour (35 MPH). As
you go around the curve here and approach this intersection, then it drops to
twenty-five (25) from here, through the intersection in both directions that the break
off point we have actually proposed to be slightly different in each direction of travel
at some locations, at that location, especially. As you come out of that intersection,
the speed limit increases to forty (40) for this curve. Right now, the increase to
forty (40) is after that curve; that curve is designed for forty miles per hour (40 MPH)
COUNCIL MEETING 47 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
to be appropriate and people are traveling at faster speeds in that area now. Forty
miles per hour (40 MPH) is the existing speed and the proposed speed from that point
down to after this intersection of Weliweli Road. After this intersection, we are
proposing that the speed limit be changed to forty-five (45). For this long stretch from
there, approaching these other intersections, you have this intersection for this
neighborhood here and then the church right over here. We are recommending to
keep the speed limit at forty (40) through those two (2) intersections, and then back
up to forty-five (45) for this last rural portion where we found the fifteen mile per
hour (15 MPH) eighty-fifth percentile speeds and forty-two miles per hour (42 MPH)
average speeds. Then in the southbound direction only, the existing fifteen mile per
hour (15 MPH) speed, we feel a drop as you approach Po`ipu Road is appropriate but
fifteen (15) is so slow that no one is going even close to that and we feel that
twenty-five miles per hour (25 MPH) would be the appropriate speed of approaching
Po`ipu Road, which happens to also...it does not happen...it is the same speed limit
as Po`ipu Road and that is intentional. So we made the speed approaching Po`ipu
Road the same as the speed limit on Po`ipu Road and actually the same thing on
Maluhia Road is thirty-five (35) in that area and we are recommending
thirty-five (35) in the portion of Ala Kinoiki coming off of Maluhia Road. Those are
the speed limits. We feel pretty strongly that this will result in better overall
behavior by motorists. I think from a safety point of view, our biggest goal is to get
speeds closest to that twenty-five (25) as we can through that intersection of Wailaau
Road. That is where most of the activity occurs. I happen to live on the south side
and I drive this area a lot and following people up this road, I will see...sometimes
they pass the twenty-five (25) as they approach that and they do not slow down at all.
But I will see people, visitors especially, that will slow to twenty-five (25) or even to
twenty-eight (28) and by the time they get to the intersection, they sped up again
because it is so long right now that twenty-five (25) that it just feels really slow to
travel...I think it is more than a half a mile right now of twenty-five (25)...it is like
three-quarters of a mile. Even though someone might argue, "Anything faster is less
safe, we should not raise any speed limits"—we actually feel that by adjusting the
speed limits so that they are appropriate for the areas that they are going through
will achieve better behavior at the places where it is most important and the slower
speeds at the places where there is the most likelihood for a dangerous crash to occur
if someone is exceeding the speed limit. So that is the logic behind this to allow people
to go faster where it is appropriate, because they are doing it now, so let us make
people "more legal" essentially by raising the speed limit. I do not think that we are
going to see the actual travel speeds increase a lot in the areas we do raise the speed
limits. There have been studies that show that that does not happen in every case.
There are studies that show that if you raise speed limits, then traffic speeds go down
in some cases. In seems counterintuitive, but it speaks to the fact that people are not
always driving by what the sign says; they are driving how the road feels and we
think that they are trying to match those two things: how the road feels and how it is
designed with the speed limits is the best solution to achieve safe roads here. Thank
you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you for all of the work done on this. I
think in general, it is good. I think the complaint behind that led to the change in
COUNCIL MEETING 48 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
speed limits at Ala Kalanikaumaka on the other side, the other bypass, made things
work much better for everyone, too. We had a written testimony from a resident who
talks about the proposed land use in the future based on the Koloa-Po`ipu-Kalaheo
plan. What is your answer to that? Do we do it basically based on the present use or
the coming use so that we can change it when that use comes?
Mr. Moule: That is what I would recommend. The
current use is largely rural that we are setting slower speed limits where it is not so
rural where there are intersections. On the south end of Ala Kinoiki, there is intent
in the future to allow for more intense land use in that plan. Absolutely, when that
occurs, we think it may well be appropriate to lower the speed limit at that time and
we would propose coming back to do that when that occurs.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay, coming back to present situation, do
you folks do things like limited access highways such that you do not have driveways
all coming along a road, which would recreate the Kapa'a situation, which causes a
lot of traffic congestion?
Mr. Moule: Good question. This road is one of the few
where that has been done in the past. In our records, we see documentation of when
that road was built at the existing cane roads that cross that where the places where
access used to be limited to those and that is pretty much what is done...except for
the Po`ipu Aina...that is a new street that was put in through a whole subdivision
process. On the west side, Po`ipu Aina Road is this one here and that went through
a whole process and the left turn lane was added to allow that to be placed. There
are two other access points for the church and then for maybe a handful of residences
further south...there are two different ones...those are the only two that are supposed
to be allowed elsewhere besides for agriculture access where there were a couple little
gates. But for regular access, it was only two that were supposed to be allowed. There
has been a past proposal that may be stalled right now, but for a church to go in this
area across from Po`ipu Aina, and to answer your question, when they came in, they
wanted to put their driveway in a certain place and he said, "No, you need to put it
across from Po`ipu Aina where we can have a left turn lane." That we do limit and in
that case, we said, "Okay, we can approve a new access here, but only where we feel
a left-turn lane, which will make it safer than having a random access with people
stopping to make a left if they have to yield to oncoming traffic."
Councilmember Yukimura: If you do not implement a clear policy, you get
what is happened in Kilauea where every time there is a new agricultural
subdivision, they have a new entrance to the road, and as I have learned from the
golf course situation, having those unsynchronized entrances and exits causes some
traffic safety concerns as well as slows down and causes traffic congestion, too. That
is a fairly undeveloped corridor and depending on what our policies are and how well
we implement them, we could just be creating more congestion in the future.
Mr. Moule: As I understand it, the only areas where the
South Kaua`i Community Plan allows development along this road, I believe, right
near the bottom of Po`ipu Road...
COUNCIL MEETING 49 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Councilmember Yukimura: Correct.
Mr. Moule: Maybe a little bit near Weliweli Road, but I
am not even sure if that off the top of my head, but when this develops down here, we
absolutely will work to limit the access...we are saying that we are not going to give
any access, but we will make sure that any access that are built either on Po`ipu Road
or on Ala Kinoiki, would be safe and be few of them...we would probably only allow
one on each road, I would think, in something in a case like that, and would look to
make sure there are turn lanes as needed and make sure that the sight distance is
good and all of those things.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Just so you know, when you talk about
existing land uses, even though it is zoned "Agriculture" to the extent that we allow
agricultural subdivisions that are mainly residential, you get all of these subdivision
permit requests and they all need access to the main road. So you could have this,
depending on what your policy is with respect to the road or what the traffic
circulation plan is for the area if you do not have parallel roads or collector roads that
feed and have plans for it and you just have these individual agricultural subdivision
entrances that you are going to get a problem.
Mr. Moule: I agree. Again, there is a process for
subdivisions. We do make recommendations to Planning on access and all of those
things. The documentation on this being access control, I believe, is more than just
the plans for this project. I think it is some sort of subdivision where there is legal
access control where you cannot legally have access by the subdivision that created
this right-of-way with the half-circles that say you cannot access unless approved
through another subdivision process.
Councilmember Yukimura: Can you send me that documentation?
Mr. Moule: I have seen that document before...I do not
remember exactly what format it is in, but I will find it and send it to you.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kawakami.
Councilmember Kawakami: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Michael, that was a
good presentation. Just to clarify, that eighty-five percent (85%) rule...I guess it is
the thought that eighty-five percent (85%) of the people will drive at a reasonable
speed, so we were analyzing driver behavior and taking that percentile and
formulating an appropriate speed limit for that bypass road based on the design and
the curvature. That is what we heard, right?
Mr. Moule: Yes.
Councilmember Kawakami: I would not want the public to think that we
are out there and we are just going to lower a speed limit or raise a speed limit based
COUNCIL MEETING 50 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
on how people are driving, but in this area, this is appropriate for that particular road
at this current time.
Mr. Moule: Yes, that is correct. We not only look at the
travel speeds, but we look at the context of the road and all of those design features,
like the horizontal and vertical curves, sight distance, and all of those things, because
we want to make sure that it is safe at the faster speed based on all of these design
criteria.
Councilmember Kawakami: I kind of wanted to throw out this
out-of-the-box question, but have we ever did an analysis on how much time a driver
is going to actually save based on the current speed limit, and then this increase and
this different schematic speed limit proposal for this?
Mr. Moule: We have not done that, it could be done...it
certainly could be done...
Councilmember Kawakami: I could do it, too probably, but I would be
breaking the law.
Mr. Moule: We can certainly do that...it would be easy
enough for us to do that and bring that back to you. I think if you wanted to table
this to another meeting, we would be glad to bring that to you.
Councilmember Kawakami: I would not proposed tabling it just based on
that, but just for curiosity, I have always wondered how much time people are
actually saving by driving fifty-five (55) versus forty-five (45) when people are kind of
overtaking people. I would not think it is necessary. If it is something that you folks
do and could send over, it just peaked my personal interest. I do not think it raises
to the level of importance where I need to get an answer right now.
Mr. Moule: Okay.
Councilmember Kawakami: Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kaneshiro.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: My question is in that middle section of Po`ipu
Aina. When I think about driving, how effective is it to have that change in speed by
five miles per hour (5 MPH)? I understand the rationale that you have the Po`ipu
Aina development and some houses there so you want traffic to slow, but when
someone is driving and they see forty-five (45) in the beginning and they know that
they are not going to get to a big turn or a major intersection until I am all the way
on the northern side of the road...that is my only question...
Mr. Moule: That is a really good question. From a sight
distance, curvature, and that point of view...I will double-check that, but I believe
that all the way from Weliweli Road down to the bottom, forty-five (45) would be
appropriate, but we did...what we are proposing is forty-five (45) for most of that,
COUNCIL MEETING 51 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
except a segment of certain length maybe one thousand two hundred (1,200) or one
thousand three hundred (1,300) feet, perhaps maybe a little more than that of
forty (40) to leave it the same as it is today. I can double-check pretty quickly to make
sure on the other aspects of the design if...the other one that might have been an
issue with the sight distance at the church driveway because there is a little hump
that you go over. That might have been at forty (40), which might have been why we
recommend the lower speed there. Generally speaking, we think that forty-five (45)
is appropriate for most of the road south of Weliweli Road, but it is just...if we were
to change it, after I double-checked that, there was not an issue with forty (40), I
would recommend that forty-five (45) be that speed, not forty (40), for that entire
length if that makes sense.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: As far as the driver goes, I think they are
going to look for speed limits, usually along stretches so they will know that once I
get off the highway, I will look for a speed limit and if it is forty-five (45), I do not
know how receptive they will be to see like a forty (40) and then try to reduce their
speed by five (5). It is up to you folks. That was my only question. How do the drivers
react? Do most of them all of sudden try to slow their speed down? I know like when
you are in the mainland and you pass through little towns, you know that those are
major speed traps. You go from a highway, then you get to a town and you need to
reduce your speed a whole bunch through the town and then you can speed up. But
in this case, we do not really have a big indicator, like, "Hey, slow down, because you
are coming up to something significant." We have a few driveways and we are only
reducing it by five miles per hour (5 MPH).
Mr. Moule: One more thing that I will add on that is that
each of these segments...there is almost or more than one-quarter mile. They are
pretty long. Even though it seems like a lot, this is a pretty long road so there is a
fair amount of length for each of those speed limits. We would be putting speed limit
signs to confirm that often anyway, likely in this case. So it is not like we are putting
more signs in necessarily than we would. It is a tough call.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: I am open either way. We would do it like this
and see how it goes. I do not know if you folks keep taking tests and see that people
are slowing down or just staying the same speed limit. I have to see what the
residents say, too. Are the cars coming too fast? It is going to be only an extra five
miles per hour (5 MPH) faster. I am open, I was just wondering how receptive drivers
are for a stretch like that.
Council Chair Rapozo: Any other questions? Councilmember
Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Excuse me, Mike, what is the existing speed
limit in that stretch?
Mr. Moule: It is forty (40). So right now, it is forty (40)
from right about here from this curve, just before, all the way down to here and then
in the southbound direction, it only becomes fifteen (15) approaching Po`ipu Road. So
we proposed forty-five (45) for some of that and forty (40) for the rest.
COUNCIL MEETING 52 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Councilmember Yukimura: I see. Okay. Above the forty (40) is
twenty-five (25)?
Mr. Moule: So we are recommending twenty-five (25)just
for a short segment here...
Councilmember Yukimura: I know what you are recommending, but what
is it currently?
Mr. Moule: The existing speed limit above the forty (40)
here is all twenty-five (25) for that entire length, which is a long way for
twenty-five (25) on a rural road.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, it is.
Mr. Moule: To me, that is the one we should address the
most. I live down there and I see it driving to work and there will be a car that will
slow to twenty-five (25) and by the time they go to the intersection, they will be going
to forty (40) again. We are not doing the right thing here, we are signing this too low,
too early and we are not going to be able to (inaudible) that intersection.
Councilmember Yukimura: The unintended consequence is that a lot of
visitors might get tickets for it and to get a ticket because you are not following an
unreasonable...too slow sign limit does not convey a lot of aloha.
Mr. Moule: Agreed.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Brun.
Councilmember Brun: Thank you, Chair. I kind of had the same
question as Councilmember Kaneshiro. I can deal with the first part, but I am
struggling to catch up with the forty (40) to forty-five (45), back to forty (40), back to
forty-five (45). I think we should just stay at one on that one. I can support that one.
At the beginning, I can do that, the thirty-five (35) to twenty-five (25)...I think that
is okay, but just the forty (40) to forty-five (45), I do not see the rationale for that.
That is just my opinion.
Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? Thank you very much. Anybody
in the public wishing to testify? Seeing none, I will call the meeting back to order.
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded
as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: Real quick, it has always been amazing...this
was back when I was a cop time, why people speed on Kaua`i; the question that
Councilmember Kawakami asked and others have asked about how much time do
COUNCIL MEETING 53 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
you really save? I remember years ago, going online and finding it and I just found
it again. As you can all imagine, it does not save you much time, especially on Kaua`i,
but these are the studies that have been done basically and there is actually a website
called, "countcalculate.com" that you can punch in the speed limit, the speed you want
to go, the distance, and it will tell you how much time you will save. A lot of this has
already been done, so on a typical trip...the shortest trip they could put up on this
chart was fifteen (15) miles. If you go from thirty-five (35) miles to forty-five (45)
miles, so you speed by ten (10) miles over the speed limit, you save five and a half(5.5)
minutes and that is a fifteen-mile trip, so it does not save you much. Again, this is
based on a straight road with no stops. So the bottom line is unless you are going on
a really long car trip, the time savings for speeding are already pretty minimal. If
you factor in traffic lights and congestion, those savings can disappear quickly.
Speeding does not get you there any quicker. It just does not, especially on Kauai.
But just psychologically, people cannot accept that and people like to drive fast. They
are not moving because they want to get their sooner...they perceive that they will,
but nobody likes to drive slow. The numbers are here on the website and the
calculator is there. So it does not really help. Councilmember Brun.
Councilmember Brun: Can we bring Mike back up? I have another
question.
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes, I will suspend the rules.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Councilmember Brun: I am kind of looking at this forty-five (45) to
forty (40), would you have an issue if we would just change it all to forty (40) or change
it all to forty-five (45) instead of going forty (40), forty-five (45), to forty (40)?
Mr. Moule: I would want to go back and look at our data
first and if our data shows that there are no design issues at forty-five (45), I would
have no issue with making it all forty-five (45) and propose that. If it shows that
there are issues and that it should be forty (40) in that middle section, then if you
want to make it all the same speed, I would recommend doing forty (40). It is really
the Council's decision. We make the recommendations based on engineering studies,
but it is the Council that sets the speed limits. From my engineering
recommendation, I would recommend forty-five (45) if we find that there are not any
speed issues with forty (40). There might have been a slight one and depending on
what it was, I still might recommend forty-five (45) for the whole thing.
Councilmember Brun: Okay.
Mr. Moule: But we can certainly take it back and look at
that and then send you a proposal at forty-five (45) and then you can easily change it
all to forty (40) if you wanted to when it comes back. It would be hard to make that
change today because there is a whole lot of text that would have to change because
we have to edit those out. We can easily do that and make that change.
Councilmember Brun: Okay. Thank you.
COUNCIL MEETING 54 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Mr. Moule: I should also just add that one more reason to
try to have speed limits consistent with how people drive is speed differentials
between vehicles is a safety issue as well. So if you have a person driving at what is
a reasonable speed on a road, say they are going forty (40) on a road that is posted
twenty-five (25) and the other people are driving with what the speed limit actually
says, that forty (40) is reasonable and they are going twenty-five (25) in a forty (40),
you get this safety issue and you have cars at different speeds and one guy tries to
pass the other because he is going so slow. We are having speeds sort of match that
reasonableness because it has safety benefits that is documented as well. I think that
is important. The time savings and Chair Rapozo's point is very well-taken, it is not
a huge savings in time, but it is not just that; it is also trying to get more consistent
speeds for all drivers.
Councilmember Brun: So if we would defer this today, would you get
an answer in two (2) weeks? How long would you need?
Mr. Moule: We can easily get an answer for you in two (2)
weeks. I just want to make sure that I am here in two (2) weeks...yes, I am gone next
week, but I am back during the following week.
Councilmember Brun: Okay. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. I will call the meeting back to
order. Any further discussion?
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded
as follows:
Councilmember Brun: For me, I am just kind of struggling with the
forty-five (45) and forty (40) and it is up to the body what you folks want to do, but I
would rather defer this and see if they can come back with an answer if they want to
do all forty (40) or all forty-five (45). But if you folks want to pass it today, I am fine
with that, too. That is just my recommendation. I am struggling with the
forty-five (45) to forty (40) and forty-five (45) to forty (40)—I would rather just have
one speed limit all the way instead of going back and forth. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: I would support a motion to defer.
Council Chair Rapozo: It is not time-sensitive. I would much rather
have them check. I think I am comfortable with what is here. I do agree to some
extent with what Councilmember Brun is saying, but I am concerned in making sure
that the safety is assessed and making sure that the forty-five (45) is adequate for
those areas that you now have listed at forty (40). I do not think it is time-sensitive.
I would definitely support the deferral for two (2) weeks. The title has to be changed.
I probably would just suggest that we...if you are okay with changing it that we do a
new resolution and receive this one at the next and we discuss a new resolution with
COUNCIL MEETING 55 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
a new title. I do not want to amend titles. I just want to create a new resolution so
as soon as we know that, we can draft a new resolution. That would be my suggestion.
Councilmember Kaneshiro.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: I am kind of indifferent, but I would think it
would be more easier for a driver if it was one speed along the whole way, but again,
if the recommendation comes back to have it at the two different speeds, I would
probably be okay with that and see how it goes, because then it would just be a matter
of changing the signs on both sides. If it was not working then you would change the
sign back to forty (40) or forty-five (45), whatever it is. I am open either way, but if
they want to go back and look at if we can do just one consistent speed, I would think
it would easier on the driver.
Council Chair Rapozo: My concern was really off of Maluhia where it
goes from thirty-five (35) and then to twenty-five (25) and that creates...I hate to say
it, but it is a "speed trap" where people will come at thirty-five (35) and once they get
used to the speed change and it will go from thirty-five (35) to twenty-five (25) to
forty (40), my concern is that people are not going to adhere to the twenty-five (25).
They are just going to stay at the thirty-five (35) and KPD will be waiting right there
with the radar gun and bingo. If you are going to go back and take a look at it, then
I would suggest that we look at that as well. I was okay with it because you have
done all the studies and I trust your studies, but my bigger concern was the
thirty-five (35) to twenty-five (25) to forty (40), because that creates that short area
where I think a lot of people are going to get some tickets. Councilmember Kaneshiro.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: I guess to my earlier comments, if you check
and the driver speeds do slow down because maybe you get a hill going to the church
or something and the eighty-five (85) does slow down at five miles per hour (5 MPH),
then let us know that and I am okay with that reduced speed because that is what
the drivers do anyways, just that kind of information. If it is just, "No, guys just
consistently go forty-five (45) through the whole thing," but I think if you do see a
slowdown and because of the way that people approach that area, then I would be
okay either way.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: I see the rationale for keeping the speed limit
the same in this corridor where we are talking forty (40) to forty-five (45). I am in
favor and I would not like to tamper too much with the mauka portion
recommendations because I think there is a rationale for going from thirty-five (35)
to twenty-five (25) because I remember trying to cross personally that road across
from Weliweli subdivision to Wailaau where the flooding was and those cars speed
along there. There needs to be a slowing down there. The way our communities are
designed, there is going to be some pedestrian crossing at some point. I do not really
want to see some changes on the mauka level, but I do not mind relooking at the
makai portion that is forty (40) to forty-five (45). I also want to suggest that it is not
necessary for the titles to be so specific that there will be more flexibility in the future
if the resolution is less specific. For example, if we defer and you come and change
the speed limits, then we cannot change the title by our rules and it requires a new
COUNCIL MEETING 56 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
resolution. In the case of a resolution, it is not as problematic. In the case of a bill,
which has a much longer process, it can be very problematic.
Council Chair Rapozo: I will suspend the rules.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Mr. Moule: Thank you, Chair. I just wanted to ask a
question just for clarification, because the way it is set right now is it is
thirty-five (35), twenty-five (25), forty (40), and then forty-five (45), forty (40), and
forty-five (45) and a slight reduction at the very end. What we have talked mostly
about us changing was the portion south of Weliweli Road, which is forty-five (45),
forty (40), and then forty-five (45). When I was talking about keeping it all at
forty-five (45), I am not sure that I am comfortable raising the speed limit through
Weliweli Road beyond forty (40), even though I may be comfortable. I think we are
going to be okay with forty-five (45) at the other smaller intersections further south.
That would then mean thirty-five (35), twenty-five (25), a pretty long section of
forty (40), and then forty-five (45) pretty much the rest of the way until you approach
Po`ipu Road. It is still four (4) speed limits, but it is not as many changes. I guess
what I wanted to hear is if the Council felt that made sense as opposed to switching
to forty (40) to forty-five (45) and going all the way with that. It would still have the
same title, I guess, it would still be four (4), but at that intersection...we did not feel
comfortable, even though I think the sight distance was fine. There is enough traffic
there that I did not feel comfortable raising the speed from forty (40) to forty-five (45)
through that intersection, just because it is a fairly busy intersection where we are
adding about one thousand (1,000) cars to the road at that point based on our data. I
just wanted to see if that is okay, otherwise, we probably will just do forty (40) the
whole way and leave it, which is pretty much what it is the rest of the way.
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes, if you keep forty (40) and you keep
forty-five (45), then the title is fine. It is just that if you change all forty (40) to
forty-five (45), then we have to redo it.
Mr. Moule: Okay.
Council Chair Rapozo: That is the Sunshine Law.
Mr. Moule: Understood.
Council Chair Rapozo: For me, I will leave it up to you folks'
judgment, really, any recommendation. Councilmember Kaneshiro.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: Again, my only concern is the speed limit
change by Po`ipu Aina from forty-five (45) to forty (40) and then it goes back up to
forty-five (45). I understand like Weliweli, you would want to reduce the speed there
because you have a lot more traffic turning back into Koloa. It ends up with like...you
have cars that are driving along the bypass, cars that are turning into Koloa, and
then cars that are coming down and possibly cars that are coming out of Koloa. Along
the rest of the road, it is usually just going to be cars that are not crossing the entire
COUNCIL MEETING 57 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
road. They are either going to be heading up or down the bypass road, so I understand
the lower speed there. For me, it is just that middle area by Po`ipu Aina.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. With that, I will call the meeting
back to order. Any further discussion?
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded
as follows:
Councilmember Brun moved to defer Resolution No. 2018-31, seconded by
Councilmember Yukimura.
Council Chair Rapozo: This would be to September 26th. Just that if
we do a new resolution, we will need that resolution a week prior for the posting.
The motion to defer Resolution No. 2018-31 was then put, and unanimously
carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. Next item, please.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: The next item is Resolution No. 2018-32,
which will be taken at 1:30 p.m. We are on Bills for First Reading.
There being no objections, Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2720) was taken out of
order.
BILLS FOR FIRST READING:
Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2720) — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND
CHAPTER 23, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO
SUNSHINE MARKETS: Councilmember Kaneshiro moved for passage of Proposed
Draft Bill (No. 2720) on first reading, that it be ordered to print, that a public hearing
thereon be scheduled for October 10, 2018, and referred to the Economic Development
& Intergovernmental Relations Committee, seconded by Councilmember Kagawa.
Council Chair Rapozo: We have an amendment.
Councilmember Kaneshiro moved to amend Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2720) as
circulated, and as shown in the Floor Amendment, which is attached hereto as
Attachment 1, seconded by Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: This amendment came from the
Administration. It is just to add and touch up a few things. It was almost more of a
housekeeping amendment where they added a few more items that they were not
sure or added a few more items that they think could be sold in the market and they
vetted out some items that could not be sold. So it is more of a housekeeping
amendment.
COUNCIL MEETING 58 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Council Chair Rapozo: Does anyone have questions? With that, I will
suspend the rules. Can we have Economic Development, please?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
GEORGE K. COSTA, Director of Economic Development: Aloha Council
Chair and Honorable Councilmembers. For the record, George Costa, Director for the
Office of Economic Development (OED).
Councilmember Yukimura: Hi George.
Mr. Costa: Hi.
Councilmember Yukimura: My only concern is whether the oversight on
the part of the OED is going to ensure that the food safety issues are addressed.
Mr. Costa: Right, so in 2012, and thank you to the
County Council and the Administration, we amended the ordinance to allow for
value-added products, and with that amendment came similar requirements that
were built into the rules where any value-added producer would have to comply with
the Department of Health/Department of Agriculture requirements and procedures
and a lot of it had to do with where they produced their value-added product, it had
to be in a commercial kitchen certified by the Department of Health. So through that
process, we worked with the Department of Health to ensure that compliance and we
do inspect the farm, we do inspect the facility where the value-added product is made,
and this will be the same process. We vetted that with the Department of Health,
Department of Agriculture, and working with the different farm bureaus on O`ahu
who have similar value-added products in their markets with meat, sausages, and
jerky. So a lot of it has already been vetted and instead of reinventing the wheel, we
are going to follow those best practices and incorporate that into the process that we
already have.
Councilmember Yukimura: That sounds good. I know that the
value-added bill that was passed in 2011...did you say 2011?
Mr. Costa: It finally passed in 2012, but we started the
process in 2011.
Councilmember Yukimura: Right. I know that Councilmember
Kawakami introduced it and then when he left for the state legislature, I worked with
your department on it.
Mr. Costa: Right.
Councilmember Yukimura: There is a requirement that those products
come from a local farm.
Mr. Costa: Right.
COUNCIL MEETING 59 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Councilmember Yukimura: So in this case, there will be new participants
now, which is really great. There will be cattle raisers, cattlemen, other poultry, and
that kind of vendor, right?
Mr. Costa: That is correct.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Are you going to require...for
example...can an existing farmer sell meat, eggs, or products from another farm?
Mr. Costa: We would use the same process where in
order to be in the market initially, like the farmer would have to be growing the
produce—with the meat products, it would be supporting our ranchers, so it would be
the same thing and we would inspect the ranch. Obviously, they would need to be
raising cow, sheep, and what have you to ensure that they have a permit to be in the
market to sell those meats, and then like the existing ordinance, they are able to do
value-added products off of the beef, poultry, and whatever they are raising.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. So you are not thinking that you would
have experts in your office to determine sanitation things for cattle or sheep or
whatever, but you would rely on a Department of Health or a Department of
Agriculture certificate.
Mr. Costa: Yes, absolutely, and working with the staff
there in the Department of Health.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay, and the same thing with fish, right?
Mr. Costa: Yes, and even the produce that we have. If
there is a value-added product that is made, we rely on the Department of Health to
assist us with that process.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Then there is the issue of proper
refrigeration and that sort of thing at the site. When it is done from a storefront, you
have automatic refrigeration. But will that kind of regulation or regulatory activities
be done by us?
Mr. Costa: By the Department of Health.
Councilmember Yukimura: So they will come around our Sunshine
Markets to check?
Mr. Costa: Right, work with the individual farmer or
rancher and get approval from the Department of Health before we allow them into
the market.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. So this will expand the demand for the
Sunshine Market booths or permits?
Mr. Costa: That is correct.
COUNCIL MEETING 60 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Councilmember Yukimura: Do we have that?
Mr. Costa: Yes, we feel that this comes at a good time.
Since the last amendment in 2012, we have had various ranchers and other producers
come and ask about coming into the market, so now we feel that the timing is right.
We have had some of our farmers that are up there in age have pulled out of the
market, so pretty much every market has stalls available.
Councilmember Yukimura: So room for expansion?
Mr. Costa: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. That sounds good. Thank you.
Mr. Costa: You are welcome.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kaneshiro.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: I have a "friendly amendment" to our
amendment, if possible, to change...I should have caught it before...to change "lamb"
to "sheep."
Councilmember Yukimura: Sorry, I probably used the wrong term.
Councilmember Kaneshiro moved for a friendly amendment to change all
references of"lamb" to "sheep," seconded by Councilmember Brun.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: A lamb is a young sheep, but a sheep is a
sheep, just like...they may do sheep burgers at older sheep, but a sheep is a sheep.
Councilmember Yukimura: So you are changing what to what?
Councilmember Kaneshiro: From "lamb" to "sheep." A lamb is usually a
year old or younger. So if you sell lamb chops, it is a year old or younger and if you
sell mutton chops, then it is a year older.
Councilmember Yukimura: You want a more inclusive...
Councilmember Kaneshiro: I just want it to be "sheep" rather than"lamb."
Council Chair Rapozo: So not just lamb?
Councilmember Kaneshiro: It will change from "lamb" to "sheep."
Council Chair Rapozo: Because lamb is restricted?
Councilmember Kaneshiro: I do not think that was the intent.
COUNCIL MEETING 61 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Council Chair Rapozo: What about frog?
Councilmember Kaneshiro: Might be a whole new market.
Council Chair Rapozo: Frog legs is a ticket. I like frog legs.
Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: Thank you, George. I know we had...since
you are talking about the Sunshine Markets, I just want to commend your office for
the years of running the Sunshine Markets and expanding. I think it is a huge
success. Going forward, I was wondering what the vision is to try to expand into
having food, locally-grown type of food. I know we had one issue when I brought it
up regarding the Kapa'a Sunshine Market and I had a constituent...actually, she
teaches at Kapa'a as well and she enjoyed going to the Sunshine Market on
Wednesdays. So every week, she would bring home food for dinner from the Hanalei
Taro & Juice Company lunch wagon that was allowed there. Then we had an issue
where I think the Department of Parks & Recreation told Hanalei Taro that they
could no longer be there because it is not for food. I was just wondering now that we
are having these types of changes that we are looking at...I really did not see the
harm, because you have Hanalei Taro & Juice Company at the Kaua`i Community
College (KCC) one and I like that pastele lunch wagon at the KCC one also.
Mr. Costa: Right.
Councilmember Kagawa: I was just wondering, as times change,
whether we look at instead of saying "no" when people are enjoying it, how can we
say "yes"? We are selling or promoting Kaua`i goods and Hanalei Taro locally raises
food and poi. I do not know if the pork is local, but it is locally made, right...
Mr. Costa: Right.
Councilmember Kagawa: ...the kalua pig and the laulau. What is our
stance with that? Is that an issue with the Department of Parks & Recreation that
we need to iron out? That thing is huge...a lot of people go there. It is always nice to
not only buy the vegetables for your next meals, but then if you can have those meals
that people enjoy and can take home. It sounded to me like something we should
promote.
Mr. Costa: Right. We have looked into that. We have
worked with Lyndsey Haraguchi and actually some other food trucks. There is a
demand and there was actually quite a list of food trucks interested in being in the
Sunshine Markets and because the Sunshine Markets are in the parks, it falls under
the jurisdiction of the Parks & Recreation Department and they have their process.
Not every park they allow for food trucks, but there is a process where food truck
vendors can apply and be a part. This one just so happens to be where they want it
to be at the same time of the Sunshine Market, so we vetted that with the Department
of Parks & Recreation and looked at their permitting process and there were options
that were presented to the Haraguchis, but there I think there were six (6) other food
trucks that wanted the same spot. I have had discussions with food trucks to say,
COUNCIL MEETING 62 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
like Vidinha Stadium, just on a particular day or days, have a food court and have
twelve (12) food trucks lined up in the parking lot and you can have Thai, Chinese,
Hawaiian, and different types of food. But we have gone back to the Department of
Parks & Recreation and let them...it is their jurisdiction as far as food trucks are
concerned to allow that. We will focus on the actual farmers and ranchers in the
markets because the stalls we have...we have enough stalls for farmers and ranchers,
but we would have to rely on the Department of Parks & Recreation to find other
spaces for food trucks, especially if there is more than one in this case.
Councilmember Kagawa: So no immediate plans to cure that issue...
Mr. Costa: No, not from our department.
Councilmember Kagawa: Because there are more interested parties
than just the Haraguchis.
Mr. Costa: Right.
Councilmember Kagawa: So it is difficult to find everybody a spot?
Mr. Costa: Correct.
Councilmember Kagawa: That should not prevent us from looking at...
Mr. Costa: It should not prevent us.
Councilmember Kagawa: Like anything else, we have something good
and then to make it better, it should not hold us back or anything. One time, we went
on a trip to Kona and Councilmember Kaneshiro and I got to experience the Kona one
when there was a Hawai`i Association of Counties (HSAC) event and it was packed.
They were selling fish and all types of stuff. We saw the crowd there and we were
thinking, "This would be good if Kaua`i could get to that level," and now we are adding
more things, so hopefully it adds and then sometimes I think like, "Wow, it is such a
hit that if we can somehow get a way to get the local food vendors a chance to profit
from these nice crowds that we have, then everybody wins."
Mr. Costa: Right.
Councilmember Kagawa: I am hoping that at some point we can push
forth that.
Mr. Costa: We have had interests at KOloa, right out
here, Kapa`a, Kilauea, and the Vidinha Stadium markets for food trucks.
Councilmember Kagawa: So there are opportunities right now?
Mr. Costa: Yes, people have asked to park right out
here...
COUNCIL MEETING 63 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Councilmember Kagawa: Oh, but we still have to work it out as far as
processing...
Mr. Costa: Doing the farmer's market process.
Councilmember Kagawa: Yes. I would think that the farmers
market...that you folks are running it and we should be able to work together and
say, for farmers market, Economic Development can say as long as there are no
scheduled events, you give the go-ahead during those times, but maybe it is easier to
say from outside in. Thank you.
Mr. Costa: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo George, just a follow-up, obviously, there are
not too many food trucks that sell locally produced food, right?
Mr. Costa: Right.
Council Chair Rapozo: You have a lot of these food trucks that sell
whatever...roast beef and roast pork...but is it possible to take a look at the vendors
that actually offer local meat? If we are looking at the Hanalei Taro & Juice
Company, they have poi and kalua pig and I am not sure where they get their pork
from, but if in fact, they got their pork locally, is that something we would consider?
That narrows it down. Obviously, you cannot serve rice. You are going to serve poi,
kalua pig...you cannot serve lomi salmon because the salmon is not from here, but
you can do lomi tomato or lomi ahi. You can change it I guess, but my point is that
if you put in that requirements like we do on the farmers, the only difference is that
the farmer has a tent and the food truck would have a truck.
Mr. Costa: Right.
Council Chair Rapozo: I think it is a great idea if we just open it up
to the vendors that can actually produce a lunch using locally produced food.
Mr. Costa: That actually came up in a discussion with
the Haraguchis saying...the pork was the very one... "Okay, you need to be raising
your own pigs." Now, we are looking at meat. So the rancher that wants to sell
value-added meats to be selling his meat and whatever he raises, so we had that
discussion with the Haraguchi's food truck. They can sell their poi and the byproduct
of the taro, but they were not raising their own pigs. They could, so that was part of
the discussion.
Council Chair Rapozo: Oh, so they cannot purchase the pig from a
local farmer and use that as a...
Mr. Costa: Well, the way we have it now is that in order
to be in the market, you either have to be growing whatever is being sold.
Council Chair Rapozo: I got it. Councilmember Yukimura.
COUNCIL MEETING 64 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Councilmember Yukimura: It is very exciting. I think Councilmember
Kagawa has a new vision for Sunshine Markets that I think has been sort of playing
out at the KCC market, and certainly, I think of Conrad Nonaka, who just passed,
but the Kapi`olani Community College market is so successful and they do have
processed meals and they have music. It is just a wonderful community gathering.
So it seems to me conceivable that maybe OED could work on some rules that would
be different with respect to prepared foods and it does not have to be your own farm,
but it has to be locally bought, island-grown meats or products.
Mr. Costa: Right.
Councilmember Yukimura: But you will have the same issues with the
raw food produce now that we are talking about. At some point, you could have more
vendors or more applicants for the space then you have space.
Mr. Costa: Absolutely.
Councilmember Yukimura: I do not know how you do it, you do it on a
first-come, first-serve with the farmers?
Mr. Costa: That is what we did initially, and then
inspecting the farms to make sure they qualify.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, well, I am talking about qualified farms.
So you would have to develop a (inaudible). But it seems to me that food trucks should
not be in Department of Parks & Recreation's jurisdiction...you should get permission
from Parks if you are in a park, but it should be part of the regulation of the market
itself. You folks should make those determinations.
Mr. Costa: In the case with the Kapa`a one, we had, at
that time, all of the parking stalls occupied by farmers, so the food truck was off to
the side in the park, actually, and not in the market itself. All of that would have to
be looked at.
Councilmember Yukimura: I do agree that the Sunshine Markets
now...when did they start...1978?
Mr. Costa: Right.
Councilmember Yukimura: I think they are ready for a new level and a
new vision for them that it will be consistent with our whole effort to promote local.
Mr. Costa: We do have interest from entertainers from
other types of vendors to be all part of that, so it is growing.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Chock.
COUNCIL MEETING 65 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Councilmember Chock: I just wanted to clarify farm produce or as it
relates to agricultural products and I guess the question is about more on the
medicinal kinds of agricultural products, like la au lapa'au. There is a whole list of
things that we can take internally and I was just wondering if that covers...I do not
see a whole lot of that...you have 'olena, mamaki, and noni out there on the market.
I just wanted to make sure that it was inclusive. If not, maybe that is something to
consider for the body if it needs to be more clearly defined.
Mr. Costa: We could look at that. We have been focused
more on the...as I mentioned, the farmer/rancher type for food, but medicinal is
certainly another area.
Councilmember Chock: It is not really a farm produce is what I would
say...it would be more...it is an agricultural product. Maybe we need a clearer
definition on that or perhaps a broader definition? Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kawakami.
Councilmember Kawakami: Thank you, Mr. Chair. George, do we
currently allow, say for example if the farmer has a space at the Sunshine Market;
do we allow them to sell products that are grown from other farmers? If a farmer is
too busy farming to actually get out to the Sunshine Market, do we allow that type of
practice to occur at the Sunshine Markets?
Mr. Costa: Yes, we do. It is part of the rules where some
farmers have expressed the fact that they are busy farming and they cannot get to
the market, so we incorporated that into the current rules where a farmer applying
for a permit to be in the market, would have to be growing and selling at least fifty
percent (50%) of what they grow, and then there is another application process called
"other farmer" where it would be the same thing where that other farmer would come
and apply, we would inspect their farms, and then we would allow the first farmer to
sell the other farmer's produce and we would go through the same process.
Councilmember Kawakami: Sure thing, so it would continue on as well,
say for example, from a rancher, and there is a farmer out there and just as long as
they hit that threshold of how much that vendor actually grows, he or she would be
able to sell beef products as well, right?
Mr. Costa: Right.
Councilmember Kawakami: It was an interesting point—we did think a
little about prepared foods, but then pulled back a little bit because their original
intent is to support farmers, ranchers, and whatever they call "chicken growers" and
"frog raisers," I guess. But their original intent is to make sure that these farmers
have a venue to be able to sell their products and the only thing that we were kind of
hesitant about is having somebody now who is in the prepared food business, taking
away potential space from somebody that is actually farming. So as we move along
that route, I think we really have to be cognizant of the unintended consequences if
COUNCIL MEETING 66 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
we allow the food vendor just to buy something locally and then preparing, because
that may actually take the space away from a bonafide farmer, having these spaces.
But I think this is a good start. I want to thank the entire OED staff for actually
asking for the deferral because a lot of this language and the housekeeping inside
really makes for a better Sunshine Market. So thank you so much, Theri, George,
and the whole crew out there, and Nalani. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: With respect to Councilmember Chock's
question, I think herbs definitely fit within agricultural products, and include
horticulture and floriculture products. I think mint and `olena is being sold there and
other products would qualify.
Councilmember Chock: Mr. Chair, Mauna Kea said that he included
floriculture specific to that need or identification.
Councilmember Yukimura: I just wanted to also say that with respect to
these new ideas, I think you will have to have a lot more capacity in your department
if we were to go into prepared foods and that kind of monitoring. Even if you look at
Kapi`olani Community College, the on-site management that has to be done starts
getting greater and I think the musicians just have one spot or two spots. They rotate
musicians in those spots at Kapi`olani Community College, but it really adds to the
whole ambiance. It just takes more oversight and management.
Mr. Costa: Right. When I first came into the office in
2009 is when we met with Helen Cox and vision of the KCC market and from those
initial meetings, it has really grown. The Kaua`i County Farm Bureau is in charge
and I know that they put a lot of effort and staff to make it a successful event, so we
would definitely have to look at staffing as well.
Councilmember Yukimura: And the cost.
Mr. Costa: Right.
Council Chair Rapozo: Any other questions for George? If not, thank
you very much. Before we go, I just wanted to make sure that there is no objection to
the friendly amendment, changing all references from "lamb" to "sheep." Thank you
very much. Anyone in the audience wishing to testify?
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Chair, we have one (1) registered speaker,
Matt Bernabe.
Mr. Bernabe: Matt Bernabe, for the record. First of all, I
think it is a great idea that they have updated the way that they are going to approach
the Sunshine Market. I really like it and I agree with a lot of what was said today. I
had a couple of concerns and one was half-addressed and one was addressed. The
half-addressed one—food safety—I used to work at Kojimas with "Big George the
Butcher." I know Glenn personally and I talked to him recently about butchering.
COUNCIL MEETING 67 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
One of the things that is a red flag for me with this is you cannot grow...for one, you
cannot grow food to sell next to those pigs or cows. They will not let it...it is the
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) rules. Another thing is one of the
reasons that they stopped the butchering at Kojimas is because Kaua`i does not have
USDA inspectors. So if we are going to go as a County and promote individual
farmers and livestock ranchers, where are they going to slaughter these animals?
This is a big concern. It is not something that is new to you folks as well. I am sure
Councilmember Kaneshiro knows this very well, but the USDA guys have to come
and inspect. You cannot just take your goat, your cow, or your pig, take them in,
slaughter them in the garage, and bring them down to the Sunshine Market. This is
huge. Oahu has more. Hawai`i Island is a ranching island, so they have plenty
USDA inspectors. So to make a model comparison for us, we had one (1)...I may be
wrong, but Glenn told me that we have...oh okay...two (2)...so if we are going to grow
this, what is the commitment from the USDA? Are they going to make a schedule
where they can go to these farms or wherever we plan on slaughtering these things,
because I hear "the Department of Health" and hear "this" and hear "that," but just
now, not once did I hear "USDA." That is a huge concern for me. I like the idea of
food to buy and all of that. I bought some "fighting fish" from the one at KCC. I do
not think that was island-made. I go to these things and I buy some stuff and I would
like to see it expand, but I do have concerns. Let us not do it wrong. Let us not get
anybody sick. Let us not promote a system that people say, "Oh, let us just not say
anything and let us just do it," because that is what happens a lot on Kaua`i. The
people who try to follow the rules get penalized and everybody else just breaks them.
I would like to see the USDA aspect.
Councilmember Kagawa: I have a question.
Council Chair Rapozo: Go ahead.
Councilmember Kagawa: What kind of fish did you buy?
Mr. Bernabe: "Fighting fish." I bought more than one (1)
because they died, but...
Councilmember Kagawa: They sell "fighting fish" at KCC?
Mr. Bernabe: Yes.
Councilmember Brun: Bettas.
Mr. Bernabe: Yes, he said the right name. Obviously, I did
not know the name.
Councilmember Brun: They do not fight, it is "Bettas."
Mr. Bernabe: I do shop at these places and I want to see it
grow to the way that Oahu does, but I think there was a wrong comparison on the
meats and I would like to see that addressed. Thank you.
COUNCIL MEETING 68 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? If not, I will call the meeting
back to order. Councilmember Yukimura.
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows:
Councilmember Yukimura: Can we have George come and address that
question?
Council Chair Rapozo: The rules are suspended.
Councilmember Brun: Councilmember Kaneshiro and I can answer
that question.
Council Chair Rapozo: I would have to believe that these vendors are
going to get the necessary approvals...I heard you say earlier the Department of
Health.
Mr. Costa: The Department of Health, and as Matt said,
I failed to mention the USDA, but it will be through the processing facilities that are
approved by the USDA, mainly Sanchez and Andrade.
Council Chair Rapozo: Will we verify that as we monitor?
Mr. Costa: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay.
Councilmember Yukimura: Good. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: 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:
Councilmember Yukimura: Are we on the amendment?
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes, we are on the amendment.
The motion to amend Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2720) as circulated, and as
shown in the Floor Amendment, which is attached hereto as Attachment 1 was
then put, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: We are back to the main motion. We have a
public hearing set for October 10th. Any further discussion? Seeing none, roll call.
The motion for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2720) on first reading, as
amended, that it be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be
COUNCIL MEETING 69 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
scheduled for October 10, 2018, and referred to the Economic Development &
Intergovernmental Relations 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.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please.
Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2722) — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE
AUTHORIZING THE PROCUREMENT OF THE SERVICES OF A CONTRACT
AUDITOR AND APPROVING A CONTRACT FOR A CONTRACT AUDITOR FROM
APPROPRIATIONS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR FOR MORE THAN ONE FISCAL
YEAR: Councilmember Yukimura moved for passage of Proposed Draft
Bill (No. 2722) on first reading, that it be ordered to print, that a public hearing
thereon be scheduled for October 10, 2018, and referred to the Committee of the
Whole, 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:
Council Chair Rapozo: Roll call.
The motion for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2722) on first reading, that
it be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be scheduled for
October 10, 2018, and referred to the Committee of the Whole 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.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes.
Council Chair Rapozo: We have four (4) Executive Session items.
The plan is to go into Executive Session, come out before 12:30 p.m. to take care of
the open item, and then break for lunch. Then we will be back at 1:30 p.m. for the
public hearings. Can you read us into Executive Session, please?
COUNCIL MEETING 70 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
ES-962 Pursuant to Hawaii 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 request for authority to settle the case of Cameron Raymond v. County
of Kauai, et al., CV 15-00212 ACK-RLP (United States District Court), 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.
ES-963 Pursuant to Hawaii 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
an additional briefing update and request for authority to settle the case of Klaus H.
Burmeister, et al. v. County of Kauai, CV 16-00402 LEK-KJM (United States District
Court), 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.
ES-964 Pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) Sections 92-4,
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 on the retention of special counsel services to prepare an amicus brief on
behalf of the County of Kauai for the Ninth Circuit appeal entitled Young v. State of
Hawaii et al., and other matters. The 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.
ES-965 Pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) Sections 92-4,
92-5(a)(4), and Kauai County Charter Section 3.07(E), on behalf of the Council, the
Office of the County Attorney requests an Executive Session with the Council to
provide the Council with a briefing regarding the case of City & County of Honolulu,
et. al. v. David Y. Ige, et al., Civil No. 18-1-1326-08 DEO (First Circuit Court). This
briefing and consultation involves the consideration of the powers, duties, privileges,
immunities, and/or liabilities of the Council and the County as they relate to this
agenda item.
Councilmember Kagawa moved to convene into Executive Session for ES-962,
ES-963, ES-964, and ES-965, seconded by Councilmember Kaneshiro.
Council Chair Rapozo: Any discussion? Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, I want to speak to ES-965, which is the
briefing on the case of the City & County of Honolulu, et. al. v. David Y. Ige, et al.
Council Chair Rapozo: Go ahead.
COUNCIL MEETING 71 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Councilmember Yukimura: This is in regards to a constitutional
amendment that would allow the state legislature and the Department of Education
to tax real property and use that money for State purposes, which would breach a
longstanding division of taxing powers and very much detrimentally affect the
County, I believe. Earlier this year during the 2018 Legislative Session, I strongly
opposed Senate Bill No. 2922, which proposed this constitutional amendment. It was
brought to my attention by Real Property Tax Manager Steve Hunt and Finance
Director Ken Shimonishi because of the huge impacts to County financing. So
between April 15th and April 17th of this year, I sent a personal E-mail to every state
legislator in the House and Senate urging them to oppose this bill and I want to just
circulate for my colleagues' edification the E-mail that I sent opposing it. In this
E-mail, I said it will "disrupt a clear and longstanding division of revenue sources
between the County and State that has been very important to County function and
performance over the years," because what it will do is it will allow the State to draw
on real property taxes in each county without any requiring our say or permission.
Right now, in order to get any of the excise taxing power, we have to go to the State
for permission to exercise. Here, the State without consulting us, without
coordinating with us, they can just come in and tax our real property and it will create
the same situation we are now with fuel tax and vehicle weight tax where each
jurisdiction can pass their own taxes and not even...so that it is just a compilation of
jurisdictions taxing the same revenue sources. It creates a lot of disillusionment
about government because people feel very put upon. Then I also explained how we
created the investor residential real property tax category, which allows us to tax
higher-priced residential property and I talked about the three percent (3%) charter
amendment that I was in the process of developing so that we could tax high-priced
residential property to provide for affordable housing in our community, because that
property actually affects the price of real property on our island and makes it harder
for our families to live. That power is really important to us and it will help teachers
as well. So this is a very ill-conceived proposal, in my opinion. The counties will be
hurt by it. The people, including teachers, who need affordable housing, will be hurt
by it. I want to take this opportunity to urge everyone to vote against the
constitutional amendment that will be on ballot for the General Election. I hope my
Council colleagues and others in the County will help to educate our citizens about
the unintended consequences that this amendment will have if it passes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Go ahead.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: Yes, we actually have Scott Teruya, head of
Maui's Real Property Tax, coming in next week Wednesday to present on this. At
HSAC, a few months ago, there was a forum regarding it, a lot of discussion on it, and
Scott will be here to present on the ramifications of this bill next Wednesday.
Councilmember Yukimura: Can you say where you stand on it?
Mr. Trask: Excuse me, do not say that.
Council Chair Rapozo: What?
Mr. Trask: We will discuss it in the back.
COUNCIL MEETING 72 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Councilmember Yukimura: Have I been out of order?
Council Chair Rapozo: No, you have not. I think Mike Teruya is very
publically known because it was in the paper that Mike Teruya...
Councilmember Kaneshiro: Scott.
Council Chair Rapozo: Oh yes, Scott Teruya, opposes the legislation.
Councilmember Yukimura: I am not asking for Scott Teruya's position; I
am saying that Councilmembers need to take a stand on this and tell their
constituents because it is about the County funds.
Council Chair Rapozo: That will be left up to each individual
Councilmember. I invited Mr. Teruya after hearing that he had done a presentation
on Maui and he will be here next week to present at the Budget & Finance Committee
Meeting. Finance was consulted as well and they are perfectly fine with him being
here to do a briefing. Each Councilmember, at that point, like any other voter, will
make a determination on what side of the issue they want to be on. I wanted to hear
from Mike's position...I mean Scott...I do not know why I keep on saying Mike...who
is Mike Teruya? Is he a sports guy?
Councilmember Brun: That is the one that takes pictures.
Council Chair Rapozo: He takes pictures in the sports thing...that is
right. Scott Teruya will be here next week at 8:30 a.m. We are going to do it at
8:30 a.m. because he is flying in and flying out right after the presentation.
Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: I just wanted to state some facts, which I
think I can state some facts since we are on the subject matter, but the fact of the
matter is that Hawaii per pupil funding is second in the nation. Our teachers' pay is
about 49th in the nation. So until the public can figure out why our pupil funding is
second in the nation and our teachers' pay on the bottom, number two, in the nation;
is giving more money necessarily going to increase the teachers' pay? The current
per pupil funding is already second in the nation. If everything were all fair when
you compare all of the states, should our teacher pay not be close to second in the
nation? When you throw money at a bad idea, does it cure the problem? I think you
have to fix the problem and then you throw more money at it. That is how I see a
successful business ran. I am not advocating, I am just saying that it is very
ambiguous as far as whether the intention is really going to cure the problem even if
it passes, which I think it will not. Thank you, Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: Any other discussion before we go into
Executive Session? Public testimony? I will suspend the rules.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
COUNCIL MEETING 73 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
ANA MO DES: Aloha Council. Ana Mo Des, for the record. It
is nice to see all of you. I know you have a long list of Executive Sessions to get
through, but I would like to request, as part of the conversation on this particular
matter, since you have the expert counsel in what the requirements would be on how
to go forward before the State to request what is truly necessary for the County, which
I feel is the opposite of what this constitutional amendment is asking, which is for
the County to have more jurisdiction and be able to tax according to our needs here.
If the State is overwhelmed and proposing this as an option to alleviate what the
public school is necessary as far as funding goes, maybe there could be a conversation
on how each county can support our own public schools here if we are allowed to tax
according to our needs, not just the limited of real estate tax and all of that. If that
conversation can be had during this Executive Session with your counsel, or I may
request to add an Executive Session in the agenda item of future days to have this
conversation so that we can meet our needs of what is necessary on this island, in
particular? I will be referencing a little bit more of that at 1:30 p.m. I believe you
have the Suicide Prevention Month Awareness Resolution scheduled for that
particular time. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Again, this item will be on the agenda next
week Wednesday at 8:30 a.m., so we can have a discussion then. Next speaker.
Mr. Bernabe: Matt Bernabe, for the record. I would like to
just thank Councilmember Kagawa for pointing out that we are highly taxed, and
yet, the people that are supposed to be providing services, like teachers, are way down
on the pay list in the nation. I was going to point out that I do not trust the State
with any more money. They have a bad record of spending our money, period. The
other thing that is unique about this item is that they proposed this taxing of real
estate to look popular to the majority of us poor, lower guys. When my wife watched
this, she was like, "Yes, tax them," but she does not understand the gravity of what
she speaks. I love my wife; she is college-educated and smarter than me on many
subjects, but she does not understand what that means—that is the foot in the door.
I do not want that. Just like the Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT)—we have
watched that thing just turn into what the beast is today. They are using it for land
acquisitions, for the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) funding,
and they are using it for everything but the infrastructure which it was designed for.
That is what we do in Hawai`i. We go and look for money sources, put them in the
General Fund, spread them around with special (inaudible)...sorry...I am a little bit
excited here...we do not get the amenities back as citizens of this State for what we
pay in. We do not have it, we do not see it. Yes, maybe it is second home, maybe it
is million dollar home...maybe it is that...but I would rather see our County take that
money and put it towards some roads, land acquisition for coastal areas, and our
County to manage that money. We can grumble about how our County manages the
money, but I would still rather have that money collected for us. Instead of them
giving us the opportunity to charge all of our citizens and guests one-half
percent (0.5%) for every purchase, they should have said, "Hey, County, you folks can
go increase your property tax and that would have been a better way to fund our
roads." So I am against this. I guess I have to come back for this one, but for the
record, I do not trust the State with the money.
COUNCIL MEETING 74 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? Seeing none, I will call the
meeting back to order.
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: Any further discussion? With that, the
motion is to go into Executive Session. Roll call.
The motion to convene into Executive Session for ES-962, ES-963, ES-964, and
ES-965 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.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes.
Council Chair Rapozo: With that, we will recess. We will try to get
back out here by 12:30 p.m. to take care of the open matter.
There being no objections, the meeting recessed at 12:08 p.m.
The meeting reconvened at 12:48 p.m., and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: Can we have the last item, please?
There being no objections, C 2018-200 was taken out of order.
C 2018-200 Communication (08/31/2018) from the County Attorney,
requesting authorization to expend funds of up to $5,000.00 for Special Counsel
services to prepare an amicus brief on behalf of the County of Kaua`i for the Ninth
Circuit appeal entitled Young v. State of Hawai`i et al: Councilmember Brun moved
to approve C 2018-200, seconded by Councilmember Kagawa.
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 2018-200 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1
(Councilmember Kawakami was excused).
COUNCIL MEETING 75 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Council Chair Rapozo: We will break for lunch and be back at
1:45 p.m. for the public hearings and the remaining item on the agenda,
Resolution No. 2018-32.
There being no objections, the meeting recessed at 12:49 p.m.
The meeting reconvened at 1:53 p.m., and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: Welcome back. Can we have the next item,
please?
SCOTT K. SATO, Deputy County Clerk: Chair, we are on page number 7,
Resolution No. 2018-32.
(Councilmember Brun was noted as present.)
There being no objections, Resolution No. 2018-32 was taken out of order.
Resolution No. 2018-32 — RESOLUTION DESIGNATING SEPTEMBER 2018
AS NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION MONTH FOR THE COUNTY OF KAUAI:
Councilmember Kagawa moved for adoption of Resolution No. 2018-32, seconded by
Councilmember Yukimura.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Could we have the Resolution read since one
of the purposes is to build awareness?
Council Chair Rapozo: Sure.
Mr. Sato: This is a Resolution designating September 2018 as "National
Suicide Prevention Month for the County of Kaua`i." "Whereas, September is known
around the United States as National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month and is
intended to help promote awareness surrounding the suicide prevention resources
available to our community. The simple goal is to learn how to help those around
how to talk about suicide without increasing the risk of harm; and whereas, suicidal
thoughts can affect anyone regardless of age, gender, race, orientation, income level,
religion, or background; and whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, each year more than 41,000 Americans die by suicide; and whereas,
suicide is the 10th leading cause of death among adults in the United States, and the
2nd leading cause of death among people aged 10-24; and whereas, the County of
Kaua`i is not immune to the tragedies of suicide and therefore chooses to publicly
place our full support behind local educators, mental health professionals, athletic
coaches, youth leaders, police officers, parents, and all other partners in working to
prevent suicide in our community; and whereas, national organizations such as the
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) as well as various local organizations are
on the frontlines of a battle that many still refuse to discuss in public, as suicide and
mental illness remain taboo topics for many; and whereas, every member of our
community should understand that throughout life's struggles we all need the
COUNCIL MEETING 76 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
occasional reminder that we are all silently fighting our own battles; and whereas,
the Council of the County of Kaua`i encourages all residents to take the time to
inquire as to the wellbeing of their family, friends, and neighbors—during September
2018 and year-round—to genuinely convey their appreciation for their existence by
any gesture they deem appropriate. A simple phone call, message, handshake, or hug
can go a long way toward helping someone realize that suicide is not the answer; now,
therefore, be it resolved by the Council of the County of Kaua`i, State of Hawai`i, that
September 2018 is designated as National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month in
the County of Kaua`i, State of Hawai`i. Be it finally resolved, that copies of this
Resolution be forwarded to Mayor Bernard P. Carvalho, Jr; and the National Suicide
Prevention Awareness Month Proclamation (NSPAMP) organization, care of Joel
Frieders, Alderman, Ward 3, United City of Yorkville, Illinois. Introduced by Council
Chair Mel Rapozo."
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you for that. At this time, I know the
Mayor is here to offer a proclamation as well and I know you have a very tight
schedule, Mayor, so I am going to ask you to come up. I will suspend the rules.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
(Councilmember Kagawa is noted as not present.)
BERNARD P. CARVALHO, JR., Mayor: Mahalo Council Chair and
Members of the County Council. The Resolution has already been read. I am here
just simply to say that I am fully supportive of this Resolution; that is number one.
Number two, this past Saturday, I had the opportunity to attend the 3rd Annual
Prevention and Awareness Walk held at the Kaua`i Community College for the
purpose of offering support, hope, and healing. It was great to be here because there
was a lot of our youth there as part of the walk and a lot of the partnering
organizations and team members. More importantly, there were many of our youth
there. The Kapa'a Middle School choir sang. There were a lot of tears there because
a lot of our young people are going through troubling times nowadays, so we just have
to make sure that awareness, healing, and understanding how important this subject
of suicide is, whether it is within the community or within our families. So being
there was very emotional, but at the same time, that awareness and understanding
for us here as leaders is important. I think by doing this, Chair, it is an example of
our concern, love, and aloha for our people, our kids, and our youth, and this very
troubling issue of suicide within the schools, sometimes children going through some
bullying issues, from what I heard from the kids talking, to just within the homes.
Some of our people are going through some mental health issues and some just
emotional and frustrated. I support the Resolution. Thank you for the opportunity
to share a few words and know that there is total support between us that we continue
to reach out into our community. It is about awareness, faith, hope, love, and
unconditional love as we continue to look at this as a team. Mahalo for the chance to
say a few words.
COUNCIL MEETING 77 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you very much, Mayor. I appreciate
you being here. I know that you have to leave.
Mr. Carvalho: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Again, this is really for awareness. This is a
very difficult subject to discuss currently. We have gone through some really recent
suicides involving a lot of young people here on Kaua`i. It is not a good subject to talk
about; however, when one of the national organizations reached out to the counties
to do this and it was obviously a"no-brainer" that we need to discuss. The Mayor left,
but we have to do a better job as a County as far as outreach and getting the
information out and the resources out. Again, it is a very difficult topic, but one that
I believe that we need to have that open discussion. Any other discussion before I
open it up for the public? I know I see some volunteer organizations here. Please
come up if you want to share. I was at the Veterans Center yesterday and asked
them to come here today to share what services they provide. There are a lot of people
that watch this show, believe it or not, and it runs for a week. So there are a lot of
people that watch occasionally and hopefully we get the right message to the right
person in need at the right time and we could save a life. That is what today is all
about. Can you please come up and share? Thank you for being here. I know this
was very last minute. We all know that the veterans are another vulnerable group
and if you could just identify yourselves and please share.
TANEASHA E. EVANS, Veterans Center: I am Taneasha Evans, one of the
clinical social workers at the Veterans Center.
KATIE WELCH: I am Katie Welch, the Office Manager at the
Vets Center.
Ms. Evans: I am also an Afghanistan veteran, so I am
really honored to be here. Like you said, it was spur of the moment, so I will tell you
briefly what the Veterans Center does. There are about three hundred (300)
Veterans' Centers nationwide. What we provide is readjustment counseling for
veterans that either experienced combat trauma or military sexual trauma while on
active duty. We also do bereavement and grief counseling for families of fallen
soldiers. Our focus is trauma. A lot of Veterans Centers also employ veterans
themselves, so it is something that is very close to us. It is more than a job, we want
to be accessible. We take walk-ins and will work weekends if need be. We will work
on Sundays if somebody needs care on a Sunday. We also provide support to family
members and we have been doing that since the `80s. We know it takes an entire
community to be able to support veterans when they come home, especially veterans
that have experienced trauma. We really appreciate family members, aunties, and
uncles calling us and being able to talk to them about different ways to be able to
reach veterans that they have returning home, how to have those tough conversations
and just walking them through that. We answer our phones, I answer my phone. We
try to stay away from any automated system so that we can have that accessibility to
those that need us. We handed out some brochures today to everyone. We welcome
people, even if you are not eligible for our services, if you know somebody that is
struggling, we help. Our motto is "Help without Hassles" and that is really what we
COUNCIL MEETING 78 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
are about; getting anyone in the family, in the community, the help so that they are
able to help that person get the support that they need.
Ms. Welch: I think one important part of the Veterans
Center program is that our doors are always open and it is a safe place for combat
veterans and military sexual trauma veterans to come. What happens often is people
get deployed, they come home, and their families and friends expect them to be the
same person that they were before they left, but combat and trauma can change you
profoundly. So when they come back, they find that they are misunderstood and
people say, "Just get a job" and do all of these things, so we provide the readjustment
counseling, but also, as I said, it is also a safe place for them to come and feel
understood. We always have counselors available and they can just walk-in and see
someone. We have several veterans who come in and they do not have an
appointment, they just come and kind of hang out for a little while until they cool off
and they know that they can come and be with their peers and people who understand
them, so I think that is really important.
Council Chair Rapozo: It is important to note that the services that
you provide are limited, but that you are open to anyone and that in fact, any veteran
or families of veterans that have some issues, you will point them in the right
direction and guide them to a resolution, either if it is outside of your scope.
Ms. Evans: Definitely. That is kind of what we are about;
being in the military, it is all about family and community and the Vets Center, that
is exactly how we roll. We are a family, a part of this community, and we want to
make sure that people get taken care of to include their families. We have been
successful, usually in reaching out to veterans that are in need through their family
members, through their aunties and uncles calling us and asking, "How do I talk to
this veteran? How do I get them in?" Another way, too, is being a veteran, a lot of
times, other veterans feel comfortable coming in, because I am a veteran, that they
do not have to explain all of the jargon and lingo to me; I get some of the jargon and
the lingo, so that can also be a way for them to feel comfortable coming into the center.
We just try to be very available as possible. We are kind of are a little bit under the
radar a bit, which can also kind of work and that word of mouth helps people know
who we are. So vets can come in and have a safe confidential space where they can
talk about stuff, because like you mentioned, it is a very sensitive topic and it is very
hard for people to talk about, especially in small communities. We are located right
across from the Veteran Affairs (VA) community-based outreach clinic. Even though
we are right across from them, we are still kind of hidden a bit, so people can come in
and come out at their own discretion.
Ms. Welch: As you said, our services can be limited, but
we will make the warm hand-off and do referrals, so you can come and ask us.
Council Chair Rapozo: Absolutely. You folks provide a valuable
service. This is not the "Kaua`i Veterans Center" on Kapule Highway. I think it is
important to understand that you are right next to Gather Credit Union on Pahe`e in
the Puhi Industrial area and it is a very nice location. Yesterday, it was pretty neat
to have all of the veterans in the room, sharing their stories about 9-11 and just
COUNCIL MEETING 79 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
stories in general. I think you can see how the veterans open up when they are
around other veterans, so it was a great experience and I am glad that you folks could
make it today. I think it is vital that we share that information with the people, that
there are services available. A lot of the combat veterans that I know will not go in
to the clinic. But if there are family members that are concerned, that the family
member should reach out and allow you to do your outreach as necessary. It is just
critical that we get the word out and get them the help that they need.
Ms. Welch: Agreed.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you very much.
Ms. Evans: Thank you for having us.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you, Chair, for inviting the briefing
from both of you and thank you for your services. As the Chair pointed out, your
location is next door to the Gather Credit Union, also known as the "Kaua`i Federal
Credit Union," in case people do not know what we are referring to. Is your phone
number this number here, the "246-1163"?
Ms. Evans: That is correct.
Councilmember Yukimura: So if family members or veterans want to
reach you, it is "246-1163."
Ms. Evans: Correct. My name is Taneasha Evans and I
go by "T" because nobody goes by their full name. So if anybody has any questions,
they can feel free just to give me a call. I am accessible.
Councilmember Yukimura: Okay, so "T" and Katie. I think that is it.
Thank you so much.
Ms. Welch: Thank you for having us.
Ms. Evans: If I can point out, I also handed out the hotline
number, the "1-800-273-TALK" or "273-8255" and veterans press "1." That is a
24-hour hotline, so if it is a Sunday at 8:00 a.m. and someone feels the need, they can
call that number and talk to somebody. As we know, life happens and crisis happen,
so a lot of times, it is on those off hours when people feel like they cannot talk to
anyone. So this hotline is available. Nobody comes to your house or the cops or
anything; you can just simply talk to somebody when you need it, any time of day,
any day of the week, just to help you make it through. We know that if a person is
suicidal, that first 24-hours, if they are able to make it through, are critical. They
usually survive if they make it through those first 24-hours. I just want to encourage
people to use that phone number if they need it.
COUNCIL MEETING 80 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Councilmember Yukimura: So is that phone number actually for
everyone, anybody?
Ms. Evans: Yes.
Councilmember Yukimura: So it is "1-800-273-TALK," but when you get
the answering service, then press "1" for veterans.
Ms. Evans: Exactly.
Councilmember Yukimura: This is a handy number to know for anyone.
Ms. Evans: Yes, absolutely. Thank you.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Any other questions or comments? Thank you
for being here and thank you for your service in Afghanistan and what you folks do.
Anyone else?
Ms. Mo Des: Thank you, Council. Ana Mo Des, for the
record. This is wonderful that you have this on the agenda and I love that there was
a walk and attention for it. The key word here is "prevention," so bringing it onto the
agenda and having a discussion is what the actions are that we are going to take in
order to enact this prevention. There is a large spectrum of what ultimately causes
this decision in a human being's life. What I want to speak of is a narrow or a
perspective of this. We have support for the veterans and of course combat
transforms our existence and that is necessary. We also need to have these
all-encompassing services for what is happening here on this specific island due to
the economic disparity that I would view as an oppression, because it feels like it is
so hard to get out of. We are seeing this culminate in suicide, but we are also seeing
it reflective in drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, and homelessness; not that
all cases are because of economic disparity, this is just what I want to target on. The
way I view what happens here in these chambers when we invite every month of the
first Council Meeting is opened up by a pastor and we are inviting God into our realm
of navigating what we have to do, which is extremely difficult and your
responsibilities weigh you down. So we give it to God. There are programs that offer
this as well; if you succumb to addiction, you hand it to God. We are not expected to
know what the next step is or how it is going to formulate because we have given it
up. So all of these laws, this hierarchy of federal, state, and county laws are written
on the piece of paper that are the sacred laws of the land, "Mother Earth." This is
that piece of paper. The air that encompasses this piece of paper is the divine cosmic
law, this guidance of God. There is this fear that exists, but of course there is outside
this fear, chaos and not lawful...whatever else you want to discuss. Here in these
efforts, we have this fear, and practically speaking is why ethics exist in order to
guide our decisions. What I am requesting, in order to alleviate this economic
disparity, although, it may seem extremely difficult to face because of prior history
on navigating this with the State level, is that we have to understand that here, on
this written piece of paper, sacred laws of the land, the inalienable rights for the
COUNCIL MEETING 81 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
kanaka maoli to exist in this inherit way that encompasses living in this way. So
housing—this is part of the equation. I do not see how it is not. I do not see how we
have an authority to decide whether it can or not exist that way. So we have to change
our mind frame in that approach of"this is a given, this is a human right." That is
all my time.
Council Chair Rapozo: You can come back for the second go-around.
Ms. Mo Des: I have to pick up my son at 2:20 p.m.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay.
Ms. Mo Des: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Next.
Mr. Bernabe: Matt Bernabe, for the record. I come here
humble today. Our community was affected within less than forty-eight (48) hours
of this very thing that we are discussing right now. I was a twenty-seven (27) year-old
man when one of my best friends came to me and opened up and said, "I am going to
kill myself." How uncomfortable of a discussion is that? It is like the most
uncomfortable position. A week or two later, within that time, he did it, and it has
haunted me forever. I go to his grave and weed it. I tell myself, "I should have done
something better." The word "awareness"—even if I would have taken it at face
value, what did I know as a twenty-seven (27) year-old guy? That is why these
agencies are so important, because they have experience. Since then, I have gained
this experience. You are always going to be learning and remain teachable, but I
come here today...I waited all day for this agenda item, because we never really
talked about it publically, but what is awareness? Is it the hotline? It is. Is it the
logos that get you trapped? It is also that awareness that this is not a joke. I thought
he was joking. I am not that macho of a guy. I do kind of sound like it, but I am not
that macho. At that moment in time, I was too macho. That was it. I did not believe
him. I regret not doing something every day. Wow, I did not think I was going to get
that sad. Anyway, I have to go. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Anyone else wishing to testify?
FAITH RAPOZO: My name is Faith Rapozo. I just wanted to
say thank you for bringing awareness to this and for putting this on the agenda. I
feel like it is super important and I think a major step in preventing suicide is
awareness, like he said. Last week, some of my friends and I came out to hold signs
by the airport intersection, including Council Chair Rapozo, and we just wanted to
let everybody know that they are so loved and that suicide is not the answer. We
need to stop pretending like it is not happening here. When somebody passes away,
it gets posted all over social media for about two (2) weeks, and then what do we do?
Nothing. Until the next person commits suicide. I lost one of my best friends...I told
myself that I was not going to cry in front of you folks again, but there is not a day
that goes by that I do not think about her. My little sister just lost her boyfriend a
couple of months ago. We need to take action. I just wanted to say that if there is
COUNCIL MEETING 82 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
any way that I can get involved with you folks...if you want to go to the middle schools
or to the high schools and try to do something together and work together to help
prevent this, I would do anything. Everyone needs to know that they are so loved. If
we can make a difference in one person's life, then it is all worth it. But thank you
for putting this on the agenda. We need to talk about it. We cannot pretend like it
is not happening. Please. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Anyone else?
KAMALA MORALES: Aloha. My name is Kamala Morales. Mahalo
nui loa for having me here. I normally do not speak in public, but for this cause, I
will. It says, "Suicide victims are not weak, selfish, or cowards. They are fathers,
mothers, sons, daughters, husbands, wives, partners, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts,
nephews, nieces, cousins, grandchildren, grandparents, and friends, who are in great
pain and are missed; every day, still missed by their loved ones. Choose your words
carefully. Please, do not judge what you cannot possibly understand. Raise
awareness, not stigma." I am here to say that we are very fortunate to live here on a
beautiful island of Kaua`i and there is hope. What we need to do is speak up and
reach out and kOkua. To the world, you may be just one (1) person, but to one person,
you may be the world. We are all fearfully and wonderfully made. We are children
of God. We are wonderfully made, dearly loved, and precious in his sight. Before God
made each and every one of you, he knew you. There is no one else in the whole world
like you, so each and every person here on Earth is special, loved, and unique in their
own special way and they deserve to be here. So know the warning signs of suicide.
Some of them are talking about wanting to die, looking for ways to die, feelings of
hopelessness, feeling trapped, or in unbearable pain, talking about being a burden to
others, increasing use of alcohol and drugs, acting anxious or agitated, sleeping too
little or too much, withdrawing or feeling isolated, showing rage/extreme mood
swings. Sometimes, even if they are saying, "I am fine"—"FINE" is "F: feeling," "I: I
am," "N: nothing," "E: everyone." So sometimes when they say they are "fine," they
are just saying "Feeling that I am nothing to everyone." If they feel hopeless, empty,
lonely, or painful, please help them. Like I said before, this is our beautiful island of
Kaua`i; residents and visitors, there are hope. So take the time, share our aloha spirit
that we have been blessed to have. Share a simple smile, a hug, a phone call, and all
that you folks mentioned earlier. Mahalo nui loa. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you very much. Is there anyone else
who wants to come up for a second time? If not, I will call the meeting back to order.
Any discussion?
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded
as follows:
Councilmember Yukimura: I want to thank everyone for your testimony.
I want Faith and others to know that there is a committee that recently started under
Keiki to Career and it is a resiliency committee and they are dovetailing their efforts
with a suicide prevention committee that is...they are having one in each county, so
they would welcome your partnership and help in the campaign that they are going
COUNCIL MEETING 83 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
to be doing. Maybe see me afterwards or call the Kaua`i Planning and Action Alliance
(KPAA), which is sponsoring that committee.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Brun.
Councilmember Brun: Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess I will speak
before the mustang team comes in so they do not see me getting emotional on this
one. There are a couple of things in this world that gets me emotional: one is drugs
and the second is suicide. When I was thirteen (13) years-old, a guy that I knew drove
down the road and I could see him...I saw his back and when I turned, he was hanging
from the tree. So that kind of hit me when I was young. About thirty (30) years ago,
my brother shot himself. It hits home. I have a family member that battles a sickness
and it used to be daily, weekly that he contemplated suicide. It is something that we
had to deal with since he was nine (9) years-old. They feel left alone and feel that
nobody cares, that it is the easy way out. For me, I thought about it...everybody
knows what my past was. Being down and out, nobody is there for you—you think
about it. Drugs and alcohol has a lot to do with it. We heard it again. This is
something that is real. What can we do? I know we did some stuff...the Chair and I
went out to Anahola...this must have been fifteen (15) or twenty (20) years ago when
they had a string of suicides going on out there and we went to the clubhouse, talked
to people...it has not been that long...maybe ten (10) years...it was really touching
out there,just speaking to people...sometimes, these people just need someone to talk
to and it is hard. You feel alone and you feel like nobody cares. We still go through
that and I still see that...I still have that...I still heard that four (4) days ago. It is
rough. It is real. We take life for granted. You never know where something comes
from and a lot of these people, they do not even know where their next meal is coming
from. Some of them are so hooked on drugs and the drug is so important that they
would rather just take their life instead of trying to clean up or something and these
people need help. Are we doing enough? Absolutely not. I think we can do more. We
spend a lot more money on absolutely unnecessary stuff when we can be helping these
people. The ones that really get to me are the veterans. These people put their lives
on the line for us for combat, and then they come back and they are not the same.
You heard it from them earlier. They come back and they are not the same. What
do we do? Thank you. You are just another number in the system. We do not do
enough for our veterans. We do not take care of them. The reason we can sit here
and make laws and do whatever is because they are fighting for our freedom. One
nuclear bomb and we are all done. They are out there fighting to protect us and I do
not think we do enough. We need to do more. We can all just take this lightly, but
one way or another, this touches every one of us, somehow, somewhere, just like how
drugs does. It is exactly the same. As a body, whatever we can do, let us do more.
You heard it—go to schools and talk to kids. These people are bringing people from
the Big Island, Stay Humble Pray, (inaudible). This is what these people do, they go
to schools. Let us do more and work with these people. They love doing this stuff
and they do it for free. They are not looking for any monetary donation. They are
just trying to help every single person they can. I think we all need to step up to the
plate and do a little more. Thank you, Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Councilmember Chock.
COUNCIL MEETING 84 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Councilmember Chock: Thank you, Chair, and thank you for putting
this Resolution on the agenda. I know it is a really difficult conversation, but one
that has to be had and put out there for people to be able to engage with. I have been
to enough meetings around this topic where I know that whenever the question is
asked of who has been affected by it, everyone has. Everyone has been affected in
some way, shape, or form by what some would call an "epidemic" in our society. I
think some of the testimony that you have heard today really speaks to the
challenges. Trauma happens in so many ways, whether it is from a veteran's
perspective with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), but trauma happens in life,
in general for all of us. So as it relates to mental health, I think that we all need to
find it in ourselves to really focus on it on a daily basis with every person, with every
moment, every interaction, and every opportunity to stop and check-in with people
and really take the time to ask how they are doing, follow through, and ensure that
they are doing well. I think that because of the way we live today, that just does not
happen. What really gets me even more afraid and it seems...I do not know how it
feels, but I almost feel like sometimes it is a culture that we are a part of that I just
do not want it to be an option anymore for people. I think that sometimes there are
messages out there that says, "This is something that you can choose" and it is not. I
think that is the message that I want to really balance is we are here, someone is
here, and it is not an option because there are other options and to just support that
kind of healing, as was mentioned. I have been making my life focused on trying to
find resiliency as the goal in my life, not only for myself, but for others and building
our younger generation to be resilient leaders. I am very committed, but I think that
things like this number needs to be in the reach of every single person on this island.
I think that we can do a better job of it. Keiki to Career, the suicide prevention
committee that has come here—I think collectively there is so much more work to be
done. Thank you again for bringing awareness today, Mr. Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Anyone else? Councilmember
Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Many years ago in Chicago, my brother-in-law
took his own life and about eight (8) years ago, an eighteen (18) year-old friend of
mine on Kaua`i took her life, so I personally know the pain and sorrow and the deep
sense of loss that comes for the family. My mother-in-law never recovered and the
friends in the community. Actually, I remember contemplating suicide when I was
thirteen (13) years-old at Kaua`i High School. But most people, sometimes in their
lives have a sense of hopelessness where problems seem overwhelming and I think it
is clear that our connectedness to each other is really what saves us; our sense of
belonging and actually deep down inside knowing somebody cares, and not everybody
has that kind of strong family or friend background so it is the personal outreach that
people have talked about, as well as building systems where people—I am thinking
especially of our young people—feel loved and cared for and have at least one (1)
person that they can talk to and they feel loves them unconditionally. It is interesting
that there was this longitudinal study of children of Kaua`i that followed people who
were born in 1963, I think, and they are still following them, but they found that the
kids who are at-risk but were resilient and succeeded in life were those who had
one (1) adult who believed in them and who they had a long-term relationship with.
I really feel that is what we need to build and I love that we are having the mustangs
COUNCIL MEETING 85 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
come in, but the coaches, dance teachers, teachers, ministers, and all of those who
work with our youth and with adults as well, they play such an important role, and
we all do as friends and family, too. I really appreciate this time where we can talk
about it openly and let people know that as was beautifully said today that everyone
is precious and people need to reach out. Even though they think it is hopeless, they
need to reach out and those they reach out to, like us, need to really be open to that
so that we can help.
Council Chair Rapozo: Anyone else? Councilmember Kawakami.
Councilmember Kawakami: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to
everybody that showed up today. I come from a family of three (3) brothers and we
did not always get along. You put us in one room and there was a lot of testosterone.
My father raised three (3) alpha dogs, too. My brother Douglas and I had our fair
share of arguments and heated disagreements and the three (3) of us went through a
really fifteen (15) months—we lost our mom, fifteen (15) months later, we lost our
dad and it was both unanticipated. So that left the three (3) of us, and of course, Doug
and I, we worked the business together and I had the responsibility to take care of
the business and I feel like I have the responsibility to take care of the family as well,
especially Doug, because he really did not have too much friends, he was not married,
and he was living alone. He really fell back on my mom and dad a lot. There is not
a day that goes by that I do not think about him. I think the roughest thing is like
you replay all of the warning signs and you think about that last phone call that you
had. I remember it vividly: We were packing to go on a trip to go and honor my dad
on O`ahu at the Hawai`i Food Industry Association as they were inducting him into
the Industry Hall of Fame. I reached out to Doug and told him, "Hey, come up. They
are going to honor dad." But he said that he did not want to go. So we are packing
on Wednesday and I missed his call and usually when he calls me, it is just to
complain about stuff and it would be just the most dreary phone call because it would
be forty-five (45) minutes of just listening to him complain, so I thought maybe he
changed his mind and he wants to come and maybe wants to complain, so I kept on
calling and calling and he did not pick up, so I figured that whatever it was, he
probably figured it out. So we packed and left and celebrated my dad and then that
Monday, we got a phone call that he had committed suicide. It was the roughest thing
because in our position, we are not allowed to have bad days. People do not
necessarily know what you are up against. It can feel like people are insensitive
because they are complaining to me and I am thinking in the back of my head, "Are
you folks idiots? Do you folks know what I just went through?" People did not know,
so it was rough. I did not want to see anybody for the longest time. Until this day,
there are certain things, like that suicide walk...I really did not feel like going, but I
got my shoes on and showed up and actually felt better once I got there. I think the
hardest thing is that for the families that are left behind, I know that everybody in
the world is going to tell them that "it was not your fault" and"do not blame yourself,"
but there is not a day that goes by that I think, "Could I have done more? Would it
have been different if I did not miss the call?" I am very glad that people are willing
to talk about it. It was interesting because we had Micah Kane and the Hawai`i
Community Foundation and we had some of the top business leaders on Kaua`i at a
roundtable and Micah asked the question, "What are the issues facing Kaua`i?"
Everybody was just kind of looking around and he said, "I heard that we have a
COUNCIL MEETING 86 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
problem with suicide." Immediately, you could tell that the table knew what I just
went through and they felt very uncomfortable. So I came out and I told my story
and I said that I think we should talk about it. I think that is the biggest thing that
I can contribute to this awareness is just to talk about it so that people do not feel
uncomfortable talking about an uncomfortable subject. I think that if there is a way
that I could impact somebody to have them avoid taking the route that my brother
did, that his death would not be in vain...I think about the good times and things that
we enjoyed actually doing together when we were getting along...he loved
paddle-boarding. I think about him every time when I am at Kalapaki and I just try
to live life for the both of us now and just squeeze every drop out of life and to really
prioritize what the important things in life are that sometimes we get distracted from.
It is living, it is family. Some of these things that we often disagree about, argue
about, and get frustrated about—in the big realm of life, it is insignificantly. We have
to enjoy each other while we are here. I think that is the best thing that I can do
moving forward, is just to continue to talk, to share, and live life for the both of us.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Anyone else? When we got the
solicitation from the mainland or the information about the request to do a resolution,
I knew that we had at least two (2) members on the Council that had been affected
by suicide in their immediate family. It was a tough call for me and I want to thank
Councilmember Kawakami and Councilmember Brun for sharing. I think we have
all been affected in some way. I was a cop for twelve (12) years at a very young age
and coming up to see a kid commit suicide...I could never understand why. Just
yesterday, kind of like what Matt was saying and what Councilmember Kawakami
just said, is you find out that a good friend committed suicide and you miss that friend
request from Facebook and I think, "What if I had connected?" So there is some sense
of guilt. How long is that going to last? I do not know. I appreciate Councilmember
Kawakami and Councilmember Brun for opening up. I do not know what to do.
Yesterday, I spoke to a very close family member of the suicide victim and he is yelling
at me and saying, "You folks have to do something," but I do not know what to do. I
am the Council Chair and we are the Councilmembers, and I called the Mayor and I
said, "Mayor, we have to do something, but I do not know what to do." What are we
going to do? Throw one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) into a brochure? I do
not know what to do. You read media, read Facebook, and you watch television and
everything is so much hate. Sometimes, they glorify suicide, like it is okay, like it is
an option. Like Councilmember Chock said, it should not be an option. We, as leaders
and we, as football coaches, teachers, and parents...we are that bridge, we are that
connection to these kids and we need to understand that; we need to understand that
it is not okay. We talk about bullying, and yet we know that a lot of our teachers
bully and a lot of our coaches bully the kids, but yet we are the ones saying, "Do not
bully your classmates," yet, we are out there talking to kids like they are pieces of
nothing. I used to do coaches clinics and I used to tell our coaches, "You do not know
what that kid is going through." No one knows what these kids are going through
and they come to the football field...it could be the soccer field, it could be the band
class...I do not care where...but the connection with the leader...you do not know
what the kid is going through and you say the wrong thing, when that kid is expecting
you to reach out and love them, and you are the only one left and you say something
that is just the icing on the cake...the last person that kid thought that he had a
1 :
COUNCIL MEETING 87 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
connection with is gone. There is no other option in their mind. How do we change
that? You watch television and listen to the radio...all day long, there are birthday
wishes for this person and an anniversary wish—why do the radio stations not put
this number on every hour or every ninety (90) minutes? Why does this not show up
on every television channel instead of a commercial for some ridiculous drug? Why
not a little fifteen (15) seconds spot: "If you are suffering and you need to talk to
someone, call this number now." Is that too much lost revenue for these big corporate
giants? I do not know what to do. We have to figure it out. Councilmember Brun
and I...we went to...I do not know how many of these discussions I have been to over
the years...task force and coalition, but what is the result? What are the results? I
do not know the answer. Is there an answer that I read from a doctor, psychiatrist,
or some psychologist organization that you read and they tell you all about the signs?
Not everyone has those signs. In fact, the suicides that I have known personally...I
lost a good friend who was a police officer and my partner...he shot himself. He loved
his job, loved his family, and loved his dog. I get the call one day and I could not
believe it. You do not know the signs. Okay, so we should only treat people with
signs of suicidal thoughts nice? If they do not show signs then we can treat them like
dirt? I guess that is the message that I am trying to get out is how do we get that
message out to everybody that it is not okay to treat people poorly? I do not care
whether they show signs or not. There is just too many on Kaua`i. The last I heard
was twenty-four (24) and it has to be more now because I know just recently we have
had at least two (2) or maybe even three (3). When is enough, enough? I am venting
now...I am sorry...I do not know...I need people's help. What do we do? How do we
fix this? We love each other; that is how we do it...it is easier said than done, but
how? Is there a solution? I just do not know what it is. I know if there was and a
proposal was made, I can tell you that this Council would support it. I do not know
what it is. Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you for asking the question so
plaintively. I invite anybody who wants to really address the root causes to come to
this committee on building resilience which is actually called "Resilience and Suicide
Prevention." One of the things, Chair, that you talked about with respect to coaches
and kids, you, yourself has been a big promoter of this positive coaching approach and
that is an amazing training for coaches, who most of the times really mean well, but
they have been brought up through a coaching system that has been premised on
punishment, yelling at kids, and that kind of thing. This other approach is so positive.
It not only helps kids get the best and most out of sports that will help them
throughout their lives, but it actually produces amazing athletes. So it is a really
good thing and if we could train all of our coaches in positive coaching, whether it is
softball, soccer, football, or whatever, that would be one of the things that I think
would be addressing some of those root causes. The other thing, as Matt Bernabe
referred to it, is housing. It is making our systems loving, that is making our system
support the families. I do think that some of these basic needs that are not being
addressed do really contribute to this sense of hopelessness and that is really
something we can do about...we are at the table of public policy where we can
influence those things. It does not seem connected necessarily, but they really are.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kawakami.
COUNCIL MEETING 88 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Councilmember Kawakami: Thank you, Mr. Chair. There are some things
that need to be done and can be done. During my time at the legislature,
psychologists have been lobbying the legislature for years upon years to have limited
prescriptive authority, especially for the neighbor islands, because it is a mental
health crisis and there are gaps in our mental health system. People that need to get
help on neighbor islands oftentimes have to get on a waiting list and they are falling
through the cracks. What would happen is it would be a jurisdictional battle between
physicians, psychiatrists, and psychologists over that limited prescriptive authority.
Psychologists want to be able to treat bipolar. If they want to administer prescriptive
medicine to treat schizophrenia, then oftentimes the argument that we heard is,
"Well, they should go to school to become a psychiatrist," but that is so shortsighted
and insincere to somebody that has gone through a personal lost to suicide. That is
what has to happen. These advocates need to bring their stories and tell them the
importance of that mental health, that if they cannot agree to giving psychologists
that prescriptive authority, then figure out the compromise, because I can tell you
that on Kaua`i, it is hard. In our jail, we do not have a mental health expert to make
the analysis on people that are coming in that are not necessarily criminals, but they
may have mental health issues. I want to tell you that there is no single cause. I
have heard people say that it is housing. My brother had a house; he had a decent
living. There are rich people that we think are very successful and should have no
reason to take their life that has taken their lives. Those are some of the things that
I believe need to be done and when those bills come up in the legislature this session,
I just really beg that every one of us has gone through it, follow those bills, and tell
our personal stories so that it becomes an issue with them. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Again, that is why these
discussions are so valuable, but difficult. I appreciate Councilmember Kawakami; it
is tough for him and tough for everyone, but especially tough for him. That is what
we need, we need to know what we can do individually, whether we are
councilmembers, members of the public, mayors, or whatever it is. We need to know
what we can do and then we have to get it done. Money should not be the reason why
we are not doing what we should be doing. Every time I hear about a suicide, it is
just bizarre how many we have had lately and how many young people with so much
promise and so much life. I wish there was one root cause...I wish it was housing,
then we could direct every ounce of funding to housing...I am not saying that you are
saying that, Councilmember Yukimura, but I am just speaking in general, that I wish
we could figure to one gene and just fix it. But with suicide, it could be anything. We
just have to figure it out. Hopefully, today we will re-spark that flame and the
discussions and we can more forward and try to get something done. I thank all of
you for being here, especially those of you that have been affected personally. I
appreciate what you folks do in the community. Faith, I know you are out there...you
have assembled I do not know how many sign-waving and walks. There are more
coming out this month and we just have to participate and figure out what we can do.
Councilmember Yukimura.
Councilmember Yukimura: I just want to thank you for acknowledging
that...I was not saying that it was only housing; it is a multiplicity of factors.
Council Chair Rapozo: Absolutely.
COUNCIL MEETING 89 SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Councilmember Yukimura: We have to work on all of them. I do agree
that mental health is a big issue.
Council Chair Rapozo: That is. Councilmember Yukimura and I met
with the State Mental Health people not long ago and it was quite frustrating that
we do not have the services, as Councilmember Kawakami mentioned, that we should
have on this island. People fall through the cracks and it is sad when that happens,
because that fall commits suicide and that is unnecessary. Anyway, I am going to
end here. Thank you again for all being here. The motion is to approve. Roll call.
The motion for adoption of Resolution No. 2018-32 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.)
Mr. Sato: Seven (7) ayes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. That concludes today's meeting.
We do have a certificate at 3:00 p.m., so if you could please hang around, you folks
are welcomed to stay. Everybody is going to wash their face now and refresh
themselves. We will be back at 3:00 p.m. and we have a bunch of kids that won a
tournament and we are going to give them some certificates, so happy times ahead.
Thank you all.
ADJOURNMENT.
There being no further business, the Council Meeting adjourned at 2:53 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
AL, ,
J A DE . FOUNTAIN-TANIGAWA
C I un Clerk
:ct
ATTACHMENT 1
(September 12, 2018)
FLOOR AMENDMENT
Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2720), Relating to the Sunshine Market
Introduced by: Councilmember Derek S.K. Kawakami
Amend Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2720) as follows:
1) Amend Section 1 to read as follows:
"SECTION 1. Findings and purpose. The Council of the County of
Kaua`i finds that the ongoing success of the Sunshine Markets, in
encouraging the cultivation and marketing of Kaua`i and/or Ni`ihau-grown
produce, honey, and value-added food-based products made from fresh locally
grown produce can be expanded by allowing vendors at the Sunshine
Markets to sell what they locally grow, raise, produce, or manufacture, such
as red meat (beef, lamb, goat, deer, bison, eland), white meat (pork, rabbit,
frog), [poultry,] fowl eggs, processed meats, and "in season" shellfish, [cheese,
and other dairy products,] as well as "in season" whole fish freshly caught by
local fishermen. This increase in profitability of farms, farmers, ranchers,
fishermen, and value-added producers will strengthen the market for local
agriculture and boost Kaua`i's food security.
2) Amend Sec. 23-3.8 in Section 2 to read as follows:
"Sec. 23-3.8 The Sunshine Market; Site Of.
(a) Purpose. The Sunshine Markets are permitted to operate at
sites provided by the County so that [farm produce grown on Kauai]
agricultural products grown, raised, produced, or manufactured on Kaua`i or
Ni`ihau, such as farm produce, certified mushrooms, red meat (beef, lamb,
goat, deer, bison, eland), white meat (pork, rabbit, frog), fowl eggs, "in season"
shellfish, value-added food-based products, locally produced honey, [and] live,
farm-raised fish grown by Kauai farmers, and "in season" whole fish caught
from local waters in and surrounding the islands of Kaua`i and Ni`ihau can be
made available to the public at reduced prices.
(b) Definitions. When used in this Section, the following words or
phrases shall have the meaning given in this subsection unless it shall be
apparent from the context that a different meaning is intended:
"Agricultural products" means those products produced from
conducting agricultural activities, including livestock products, poultry
products, or apiary, horticultural, or floricultural products, or the planting,
cultivating, and harvesting of crops, or the farming or ranching of any plant
or animal species in a controlled salt, brackish, or freshwater environment.
"Farm produce" means vegetables, fruits, flowers, nuts, and other
agricultural products grown on [Kaua`i.] Kaua`i or Ni`ihau.
"In season" means agricultural products that are available and ready
for harvesting, eating, or other use, or legally permitted to be caught or
hunted during a specified period.
1
ATTACHMENT 1
"Locally Produced Honey" means honey that has been collected from
beehives on Kaua`i.
"Recyclable paper bag" means a bag that meets all of the following
requirements: (1) contains no old growth fiber; and (2) is one
hundred percent (100%) recyclable overall and contains a minimum of forty
percent (40%) post-consumer recycled content.
"Reusable bag" means a bag with handles that is specifically designed
and manufactured for multiple reuse and is made of cloth or other machine
washable fabric and/or is made of durable material.
"Value-added food-based products" shall mean products made of fifty
percent (50%) raw agricultural commodities/ingredients grown on the
vendor's premises or certified as a ["Kaua`i Grown" product.] product grown
on Kaua`i or Ni`ihau. The value of labor, intellectual property, packaging, or
other factors or components used in the final value-added food-based product
shall not be included in the aforementioned fifty percent (50%) requirement.
"Value-added food-based products" must be certified and enrolled into the
"Kaua`i Made" program.
(c) The Director of the Office of Economic Development is
authorized to select the Sunshine Market sites.
(1) The Director of the Office of Economic Development, in
consultation with the Department of Parks and Recreation, is
authorized to promulgate rules and regulations relating to the area,
location, number of farmers, farm produce, certified mushrooms, red
meat (beef, lamb, goat, deer, bison, eland), white meat (pork, rabbit,
frog), fowl eggs, processed meats, shellfish, value-added food-based
products, locally produced honey, [and] live, farm-raised fish, and
whole fish that may be sold, insurance, cleanup, sanitation, hours of
operation, traffic control, and such other safety and welfare conditions.
This shall be in addition to any other relevant requirements of State
law.
(2) The Director of the Office of Economic Development may
delegate the management and regulation of any Sunshine Market to a
representative of the vendors participating in that Sunshine Market, a
representative of the Office of Economic Development, or suitable
non-profit entity. In the event of any violation of any rule or
regulation, the Director may suspend or terminate the operations of a
Sunshine Market or the vendor(s) for an appropriate length of time,
depending on the severity and frequency of the violation.
(d) Prior to selling any product allowed under Section 23-3.8(c),
each vendor shall:
(1) Sign an indemnification agreement developed by the
County Attorney holding the County harmless and releasing it from
all liability.
(2) Obtain a Sunshine Market permit issued by the Director
of the Office of Economic Development or designee agreeing to abide by
2
ATTACHMENT 1
the requirements set forth in this Section and any rules promulgated
for the Sunshine Markets.
(e) In addition to the aforementioned requirements, prior to selling
any Value-Added Product at any Sunshine Market, a Sunshine Market
vendor shall also:
(1) Become a qualified member of the "Kaua`i Made" program
and retain that status as long as the vendor sells a Value-Added
Product(s) at the Sunshine Markets.
(2) Submit to the Office of Economic Development copies of
permits establishing that any Value-Added, Food-Based Product
requiring a kitchen will be produced in a certified kitchen as specified
by State and Federal laws and labeled as required by State and
Federal laws.
(3) Display all required permits and price lists at vendor's
Sunshine Market booth.
(4) Shall comply with any and all requirements of the State
Department of Health for retail sales without any obligation on the
part of the County to assist such vendor or adapt the markets as a
result of the sale of processed products.
(5) Provide the County a certificate of insurance establishing
that the vendor is carrying product liability insurance in the amount of
one million dollars ($1,000,000) naming the County as an additional
insured to the policy. Vendors shall submit notice of renewal to the
County on each anniversary of said product liability insurance policy
or whenever a new product is added to the policy or upon vending of a
new product in the market.
(A) The certificate of insurance shall be completed by a
duly authorized representative of the insurer certifying that the
liability coverage(s) is written on an occurrence form and that
the coverage(s) will not be cancelled, non-renewed, or materially
changed by endorsement or through issuance of other policies of
insurance without thirty (30) days advance written notice to the
County. All coverage required by the vendor will be primary
over any insurance or self-insurance program carried by
the County.
(B) Vendor shall furnish the County with original
certificates and endorsements effecting required coverage(s). All
certificates and endorsements are to be received and approved
by the County before a Value-Added Product or locally produced
honey is sold. The County reserves the right to require complete
certified copies of all required insurance policies, including
endorsements affecting the coverage required at any time.
(C) Failure to secure and maintain the required
insurance shall be considered a major breach of the privilege of
selling at the Sunshine Market. Should the County be forced to
expend funds that would have been covered under the specified
3
ATTACHMENT 1
insurance, the vendor shall agree to reimburse the County for
such funds.
(D) Vendor shall provide to the Office of Economic
Development or Sunshine Market Monitor a copy of the permit
holder's current driver's license and vehicle insurance card as
each is renewed.
(f) A Sunshine Market Permit may be canceled or not issued for
noncompliance.
(g) Vendors at the Sunshine Markets may offer recyclable paper
bags and/or reusable bags for sale to customers."
(Material to be deleted is bracketed. New material to be added is underscored.)
V:\AMENDMENTS\2018\2018-674 FA-pdb 2720 DK_AMK_mn.doc
4