HomeMy WebLinkAbout07_20_2022 Council minutesCOUNCIL MEETING
JULY 20, 2022
The Council Meeting of the Council of the County of Kaua`i was called to order
by Council Chair Arryl Kaneshiro at the Council Chambers, 4396 Rice Street,
Suite 201, Lihu`e, Kaua`i, on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, at 10:02 a.m., after which the
following Members answered the call of the roll:
Honorable Bernard P. Carvalho, Jr.
Honorable Mason K. Chock (via remote technology)
Honorable Felicia Cowden (via remote technology)
Honorable Bill DeCosta
Honorable Luke A. Evslin (via remote technology)
Honorable KipuKai Kuali`i (via remote technology)
Honorable Arryl Kaneshiro
APPROVAL OF AGENDA.
Councilmember Carvalho moved for approval of the agenda, as circulated,
seconded by Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We received no written testimony. Is there
anyone in the audience or on Zoom wishing to testify?
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there any questions or discussion from the
Members?
The motion for approval of the agenda, as circulated, was then put, and
unanimously carried.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: The motion is carried. Next item.
MINUTES of the following meetings of the Council:
July 6, 2022 Council Meeting
July 15, 2022 Public Hearings re: Bill No. 2868, Bill No. 2869 and Bill No. 2870
Councilmember Carvalho moved to approve the Minutes, as circulated,
seconded by Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We received no written testimony on this
item. Is there anyone in the audience or on Zoom wishing to testify?
COUNCIL MEETING 2 JULY 20, 2022
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any questions or discussion on this
item from the Members?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
TARA ROJAS (via remote technology): I have a question.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are you wishing to testify on the minutes?
Ms. Rojas: I have a clarifying question. The next
meeting is August 3, 2022. Is there going to be an opportunity available for a
discussion with the community instead of only hearing testimony and then something
gets passed? When is there a town hall or discussion-type of meeting where we can
have a discussion with the Kaua`i County Council or the Planning Commission?
When does that ever happen? People have been testifying and what the
Councilmember just said earlier to clarify the Bill...how does it work where a
discussion can occur?
Council Chair Kaneshiro: If you want to leave your phone number and
your E-mail address, we can have staff or a Councilmember contact you. We can tell
you the procedures for the Council Meeting. August 3rd is when the item will be
coming back up. There will be a Committee Meeting for the public to speak on it and
that is when the Councilmembers will discuss the Bill further. If you have any
further questions, please leave your name, number, and E-mail address and we will
contact you.
Ms. Rojas: Okay, so there is never really a sit-down
session with the community and the Councilmembers to discuss these things? That
is not how it works? That is part of how these meetings are held?
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmembers can meet with the public at
any time throughout the week. A Councilmember can meet with any member of the
public. The public hearing is the time when the public can testify on the item and
specifically to that agenda item. Ultimately, it is the Councilmembers' decision
during Committee if they want to amend it, vote it down, or move it forward.
Ms. Rojas: Okay, so there is no sit-down with the
community and the entire Council to talk and discuss things?
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Not on every agenda item. Again, if you want
to leave your name and number, someone can talk to you about what you are asking.
Right now it is not the appropriate time for us to be going back and forth on the
procedures of the Kaua`i County Council meeting, it is actually holding up the
meeting. Please leave your name or contact information and we can contact you after
the meeting. We are on the minutes.
COUNCIL MEETING 3 JULY 20, 2022
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded
as follows:
The motion for approval of the Minutes, as circulated, was then put, and
unanimously carried.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: The motion is carried. Next item.
CONSENT CALENDAR:
C 2022-155 Communication (07/05/2022) from the Mayor, transmitting for
Council consideration and confirmation, the reappointment of John Latkiewicz to the
Board of Ethics — Term ending 12/31/2024.
Councilmember Carvalho moved to receive C 2022-155 for the record, seconded
by Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We received no written testimony on this
item. Is there anyone in the audience or on Zoom wishing to testify on this item?
Lonnie.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
LONNIE SYKOS: Is this for the reappointment to the Board of
Ethics?
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Yes, for John Latkiewicz. Let me just
mention that we do have his Resolution coming up later on the agenda. We will
incorporate your testimony for his Resolution as well.
Mr. Sykos: Would you rather me speak now or later? It
makes no difference to me.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: It is up to you if you want to speak on it now
or later. You can wait for the Resolution as well.
Mr. Sykos: I prefer now so that you have time to reflect
on what I have to say. My understanding of when you get on a board or commission
in this County, there is a process of training, which is primarily to protect the County
from inappropriate public statements or activities by the board members, and an
introduction of Robert's Rules of Order. There is no training in what it is the board
itself is supposed to do. My question for this candidate is, what informs his perception
of ethics? This is a very critical question to the public, because he is going to
determine ethical behavior for government officials, and government officials have
protections that ordinary citizens do not have. For instance, if the government can
demonstrate that there was a past pattern of behavior, even if the behavior was
criminal, so long as the prosecution cannot prove that they knew beyond a shadow of
a doubt that what they were doing was criminal, they have an absolute defense
against criminal prosecution or civil suits based upon the fact that it is the past
COUNCIL MEETING 4 JULY 20, 2022
practice of the government. This has occurred many times in this government, and I
will address the five (5) audits that were performed when we had a County Auditor.
My question for the person for the Board of Ethics is what informs your ethics? It is
entirely possible that something I would consider unethical like having personal
possession of public property and that I am allowed to have it or dispose of it because
it was past practice that people have always done this, thus I have not done anything
wrong, but is it ethical? Can something be legal and unethical? That is my question.
This is all within the practice of government officials. Will he use the Board of Ethics
as a bully pulpit, or will they be mute and wait for the public to make accusations of
unethical behavior, or will the Board of Ethics be proactive? Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Lonnie that is your first three (3) minutes. Is
there anyone in the audience wishing to testify? Alice.
ALICE PARKER:I think Lonnie brings up good points. We
have all seen some horrendous ethical problems in this County. We do not want it to
continue. We want to make sure that ethics is clearly defined. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: That testimony will be incorporated with the
Resolution. Lonnie, did you want your second three-minutes? Is there anyone on
Zoom wishing to testify? Seeing none.
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any questions or discussion from
the Members?
The motion to receive C 2022-155 for the record was then put, and unanimously
carried.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: The motion is carried. Next item.
COMMUNICATIONS:
C 2022-156 Communication (06/27/2022) from the Director of Finance,
requesting Council approval, to accept the terms contained in the Standard Terms &
Conditions of the Trepp, Inc. contract for Real Property Assessments, to provide the
County with data and analytics of appraisal data such as comparable property data,
benchmarks, historical financials, appraised values, and property subtypes.
Councilmember Carvalho moved to approve C 2022-156, seconded by
Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We received no written testimony on this item.
Do we have any questions from the Members? Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you, Reiko. I just basically want a very
simple understanding of our relationship with Trepp. Is it a software and we just utilize
COUNCIL MEETING 5 JULY 20, 2022
their software? I know we have approximately thirty-six thousand (36,000) properties,
that is a lot to assess. If they basically scan all the data and give us a starting point for
that assessment, what is our relationship structured like?
REIKO MATSUYAMA, Director of Finance (via remote technology): Thank
you for the question. Trepp is software- and web-based, so we are just going to have a
log-in, to their information. It basically provides us information. It is powerful
information that we can use to help our assessors in Commercial-, Industrial-, and
Resort-type properties. It will not help us at all with Residential assessments.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, so this is for higher-end properties. Is it
basically we put parameters in it and do they send...who goes and assesses the
property? Maybe it does not need to be assessed? Do we ever talk to someone from
Trepp or is it that we have the software?
Ms. Matsuyama: We just have access to the software. Our
assessors are still going to be the ones doing the assessments, but it will help us in
defending those assessments at the Board of Review and State Tax Court as well.
Councilmember Cowden: Is this a new contract and new software for us?
Are we stepping into a whole new pathway?
Ms. Matsuyama: That is correct. Yes.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: I want you to explain this a little bit more for
me personally and for the people watching. You mentioned that the Residential
assessments or appraised values will not be affected and this is more for Commercial or
Resorts. I was a little worried for our local families having a home worth, in the
building, approximately three hundred thousand dollars to five hundred thousand
dollars ($300,000-$500,000) living next to a property that someone from the mainland
moved over in a year and built a two-million-dollar mansion. I am worried that our
local people in their residential homes, their assessed value would rise. It only helps if
you are going to sell a property. It does not help if you have to pay the taxes and keep
the property in our families. Can you explain again whether it will affect the residential
properties?
Ms. Matsuyama: Just to be clear, this is not going to change how
we appraise any properties. This is just another tool in our toolbox that we can use to
help us defend our valuations. Yes, it gives us access to commercial data, financial
information, appraisals, and those kinds of things that we would not otherwise have at
our disposal.
Councilmember DeCosta: You were saying that you are not going to use
that data against residential homes to increase their...
COUNCIL MEETING 6 JULY 20, 2022
Ms. Matsuyama: Trepp does not provide any residential data.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you, Reiko.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions from the
Members? Is there anyone in the audience or on Zoom wishing to testify?
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there final discussion from the Members?
Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I am encouraged to learn about this. Just my
standard question I ask regularly, have we broached this with the Hawaii Lodging
Tourism Association just to let them know that we are having an update in how we
manage our assessment pathways? It is always good, to me, that they are aware that
we are making a change, whoever might be impacted. What might be accurate for us
is that a resort might be worth more than we think it is or maybe it is worth a
percentage less. One would expect that when we improve our process by using
comparable data, that there would be a difference, otherwise we would not be
investing in this software. I think it is always good if the people or entities affected
by our choices are made aware of it. That might really be a question for Reiko. I
guess it is a question for Reiko. Are they aware that we are making a change and is
there a pathway for helping their awareness?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Ms. Matsuyama: Again, it is not changing anything. We are
going to continue to appraise them as we always have. It is more information that
we would not otherwise had when we are developing the valuation.
Councilmember Cowden: I get that. We are doing it because it is going
to make us better at what we are doing it, right? We would not buy it if it did not
make us better. I was just curious if there is anyone from the organization that we
could let know that we are doing it.
Ms. Matsuyama: No, we have not told anyone.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, alright. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions?
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded
as follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there any further discussion from the
Members?
COUNCIL MEETING 7 JULY 20, 2022
The motion to approve C 2022-156 was then put, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: The motion is carried. Next item
C 2022-157 Communication (06/28/2022) from the Chief of Police,
Deputy Chief of Police, and Elliott K. Ke, Assistant Chief, Patrol Services Bureau,
requesting Council approval to receive and expend recurring State funds in the
amount of $201,306.00, which funds three (3) Emergency Services Dispatcher
positions for the first quarter, with a total anticipated amount for the Fiscal Year
of $402,612.00, and approval to indemnify the State of Hawaii, Department of
Health, Emergency Medical Services & Injury Prevention System Branch, for the
contracted period of July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023.
Councilmember Carvalho moved to approve C 2022-157, seconded by
Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We received no written testimony on this item.
Do we have any questions from the Members? Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I just have a very simple question. First of all,
I appreciate getting State funding as it stretches our money further. It looks like this
pays the complete salaries for those three (3) Dispatchers. I am trying to remember
how many Dispatchers we have. Is it around twelve (12) or more? Fifteen (15)? Is this
just a percentage of what our total cost is?
TODD G. RAYBUCK, Chief of Police (via remote technology): Good
morning. This is a recurring grant that we receive from the State that does fund those
three (3) positions. I also have Assistant Chief Ke from the Patrol Services Bureau that
oversees the dispatch center online so that he can answer that question for you.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you.
ELLIOTT K. KE, Assistant Chief of Police, Patrol Services Bureau (via remote
technology):Councilmember Cowden, to your question, we have nineteen (19)
dispatcher positions. I believe we have one (1) current vacancy in there. This grant is
used to fund the entry-level dispatcher positions and once they become permanent, that
is when we start funding them. These funds can also be used to fund shortages because
of vacancies. That is what the State allows us to do.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, thank you. That completes my interest
in that question. Thank you for all that you do and for getting this extra funding for
the entry-level people.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions from the
Members? If not, is there anyone in the audience or on Zoom wishing to testify on this
item?
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
COUNCIL MEETING 8 JULY 20, 2022
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there any final discussion from the
Members?
The motion to approve C 2022-157 was then put, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: The motion is carried. Next item
C 2022-158 Communication (06/28/2022) from the Deputy Planning Director,
requesting Council approval to receive and expend Federal/State funds for the
Hawai`i Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Program in an amount up to $354,947.00,
and to indemnify the State of'Hawai`i in accordance with the State of Hawaii General
Conditions (AG-008 103D) for administering the program. This reoccurring
pass-through grant will be utilized to continue the implementation of the CZM
Program on Kaua`i commencing July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023 and be expended on
salaries/wages, travel, equipment, and supplies for the CZM Program, specifically for
the implementation and enforcement of the Special Management Area Rules and
Regulations of the County of Kauai and Shoreline Setback provisions of Chapter 8,
Kaua`i County Code 1987, as amended.
Councilmember Carvalho moved to approve C 2022-158, seconded by
Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We received no written testimony on this item.
Do we have any questions from the Members? Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you. I know this is a recurring grant so
I just have very simple questions. Thank you for the schedule on the budget. What
does CBA stand for?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
JODI A. HIGUCHI SAYEGUSA, Deputy Planning Director (via remote
technology): The collective bargaining agreements. The fringe benefits related to
those positions.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. Are these four (4) positions fully-funded
by these State moneys or do we pay a portion of any of it?
Ms. Higuchi Sayegusa:They are fully-funded by the CZM grant.
Councilmember Cowden: Are these job positions fully dedicated to
coastal zone management?
Ms. Higuchi Sayegusa:Yes, their primary duties are to implement the
CZM program and specifically the Special Management Area (SMA) and Shoreline
Setback program. Of course, they also do support, in general, the Planning Department
and its various functions. That is the primary duties of those positions.
COUNCIL MEETING 9 JULY 20, 2022
Councilmember Cowden: I thought this last weekend or last couple of
days is a really good example of why it is important, when we have had these king tides
in Po`ipu...the Kona footage was really incredible. Are the County's goals are shifting
or evolving with these job functions? My guess is that they adapt as we have events
such as that. It seems like we did not have a washout like that since the hurricane. It
has been a really long time.
Councilmember DeCosta was noted as not present.)
Ms. Higuchi Sayegusa:It was definitely a notable event. There is
definitely discussion within the Department on how the event would affect things like
shoreline setback and of course other regulatory measures that we are looking at
implementing as far as SMA. Yes, it is definitely a very important area and also notes
the importance of the CZM program and the moneys that go towards making that a
priority for the Department as well.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you. If I could request, if it is not easy
then I do not need it, but I would love to see if we have any kind of map that shows
where the impact of that king tide was. I want to see if it impacted Salt Pond. I heard
that it did not hurt the landfill. I have not really seen a map of where the reach of that
was. I know in Nawiliwili, I heard from some people there that it was really nerve
wracking how the water moved into Nawiliwili. That was just a particular call that I
got. I do not know if our CZM program tracks things like that. If they do, I would be
very interested to see the impact of those king tides. Have you heard from the salt
farmers if it impacted them?
Councilmember DeCosta was noted as present.)
Ms. Higuchi Sayegusa:I am not one hundred percent (100%) sure. I
know some of our staff did go out and physically take note of some of the various
impacts, as well as other agencies. We can definitely provide you with some background
information.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. That would be good. I know there has
been a lot of shoreline erosion in Kekaha. I am at a conference, otherwise I would have
driven out to go and look to see how much of that beach edge washed back. Some
properties have lost close to an acre in the past ten (10) years. Thank you for having
this CZM program. I am glad that the State is paying for it. They are the ones requiring
it, so they pay for it. Is that correct? Is that why they pay for it? It is a funded
obligation.
Ms. Higuchi Sayegusa:The CZM program has its set priorities, which
is of course sea-level rise and climate change impacts.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you.
Ms. Higuchi Sayegusa:Also, it is a Federal pass-through grant. It is a
Federal grant under the Coastal Zone Management Act that is passed through the
State, which the County implements.
COUNCIL MEETING 10 JULY 20, 2022
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, thank you so much.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions from the
Members? Is there anyone in the audience or on Zoom wishing to testify? Lonnie.
Mr. Sykos: I want to thank Councilmember Cowden for
the questions that she asked. This is very important to the public, although probably
many people in the public are preoccupied trying to survive to think about these issues.
For example, I live in Wailua Houselots. The bridge that connects me to Lihu`e
currently is two-thirds (2/3) blocked by sand and gravel, the river channel. It is
two-thirds (2/3) blocked by sand and gravel. Prior to the storm event that brought all
the logs down, about one-third (1/3) of the channel was blocked. The State is going to
come in and do a project to try and eliminate the problems created by two-thirds (2/3)
of the channel being blocked without clearing the river channel. For all of us that live
are indirectly impacted by coastal disasters. Whether or not they get this right before
the event occurs is everything. I am very much grateful to hear the questions and that
we have these positions that have been funded for many years. What is the tangible
result of all of this funding in regards to the management of our coastal lands and how
that is completely intertwined with our civil defense? The proper coastal zone
management would hopefully prevent some of the problems that we see could occur
with sea-level rise, storm surge, and all of that. I encourage the Administration to look
at what has been done over the last decade with these funds and inform the public what
the tangible, real, and measurable benefits that we got out of it versus just saying that
we studied a lot of stuff. You need to study things, I am not dogging that, but that is
not a tangible result for the public. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there anyone else in the audience or on Zoom
wishing to testify? Seeing none.
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there any final discussion from the
Members?
The motion to approve C 2022-158 was then put, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: The motion is carried. With that we are
at 10:30 a.m., so we will take a ten-minute caption break and come back.
There being no objections, the meeting recessed at 10:31 a.m.
The meeting reconvened at 10:44 a.m., and proceeded as follows:
C 2022-159 Communication (07/05/2022) from the Housing Director,
requesting Council approval to engage with Hawaii Data Collaborative, to conduct a
study of financial need and housing affordability on Kaua`i. The proposed project has
an estimated value of$40,000.00.
COUNCIL MEETING 11 JULY 20, 2022
Councilmember Carvalho moved to approve C 2022-159, seconded by
Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We received no written testimony on this item.
Is there any questions from the Members? I will suspend the rules. Councilmember
Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: Can I ask Adam for a simple explanation on the
Hawai`i Data Collaborative and what information will form our strategies? I think I
heard him say something during discussion about "scraping the web?" I found that
interesting. I want to know what we will get and how likely are we to get help from it?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
ADAM P. ROVERSI, Housing Director (via remote technology):Aloha
Chair, Adam Roversi, Director, Housing Agency. Thank you, Councilmember Cowden.
I think we anecdotally understand that rents have increased and rental units are more
difficult to come by than they have been in the past. People are being squeezed out of
available units. While there is more data available on home prices because all sales are
publicly recorded, there is not a lot of data or information publicly available and
compiled about renters. The purpose of this study is to try to put together a picture of
the rental market on Kaua`i and the need similar to what is available for homes that
are for sale. You mentioned"scraping information" from the website. Many rentals are
advertised on Craigslist and other web-based platforms—that is one of the procedures
that Hawai`i Data Collaborative, which is a nonprofit organization, will utilize to come
up with a rental picture for Kaua`i based on geography. Another opportunity that will
help with doing this project is through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program,
where we provided rental help to almost two thousand (2,000) Kaua`i households. That
has provided us a pool of data about rents in specific geographic areas. While protecting
personal data of anyone who received assistance, because that will not be shared with
the Hawai`i Data Collaborative. However, they will be able to review the higher-level
rental amounts and geographic area information. To add to the work that they are
already doing, scraping information from the internet and websites, to try to put
together a snapshot in time image of the rental picture on Kaua`i, as well as the degree
of financial hardship or financial need of the residents on Kaua`i, based in part on
information we have collected through the rental assistance program, through cenus
data, and other publicly available information.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you. I am pleased to hear that we have
an outside contracted person to help us get that. I know they are a nonprofit or
something to that effect.
Mr. Roversi:Yes. They are donating these services to us at
no charge.
Councilmember Cowden: That is wonderful and why we see an estimated
value of forty thousand dollars ($40,000). If I could make a recommendation for some
type of portal on the housing page where we are able to see how many people are leaving
the island. I asked the Department of Motor Vehicles the same question before, but we
COUNCIL MEETING 12 JULY 20, 2022
do not really understand why; there could be a number of reasons why people leave or
terminate. We had a testifier earlier today that said something that resonated with me
about people leaving on the daily. That was "his" words, it was not about leaving
monthly. I might not hear about it every day, but weekly, I hear from people we are
being squeezed out. It might not be the amount of money to pay for rent, it is the lack
of ability for any place to rent. That might be an interesting number for us to have a
vector. If people want to volunteer that information if they have it, I think it is
important indicator. I only know anecdotally. If that is something that you can talk to
your data tracker on and to look for who is leaving, and to suggest there might be some
way we can collect that data ourselves.
Mr. Roversi:We can certainly explore that possibility.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: Hi, Adam. I wanted to share with you, but I
am sure that you already know this. I believe the Department of Finance, Real Property
Tax(RPT), has a list of local homeowners who rent under the Affordable Rental Housing
Program, which should show you some numbers of available units that are for rent and
the amount of rent they are charging. I am one of those people who partners with the
County's Affordable Housing Program to ensure local families have a place to live. I am
sure there is a lot of information you can get that is readily accessible and/or point a
nonprofit in that direction. Councilmember Cowden brought up a good point regarding
having a database. It would be nice to see who is out there renting their units at an
affordable price and who is not renting to the local rental market. Thank you.
Mr. Roversi:Thank you. Yes, RPT preliminarily shared
their data about the Affordable Rental Program as it relates to the Tax Exemption
Program for the past year. To be honest, I was shocked at how many people are
participating in that program. Not having seen the data, I presumed it was much lower.
From my recollection, it is that it is somewhere in the ballpark of one thousand seven
hundred (1,700) units participating in that program. Do not quote me on that, that is
from my memory, I have not looked at the data in a few months. I can confirm that
with RPT.
Councilmember DeCosta: Adam, earlier today we had testifiers who
talked about ethics and having politicians with ethics. I think this is a good way to
show the people that some of your politicians have ethics and are renting out affordable
housing.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions from the
Members? If not, while the rules are still suspended, is there anyone in the audience or
on Zoom wishing to testify? Tara.
Ms. Rojas: Yes, aloha. I would like to testify and from
hearing you say that you need data and have a mechanism to track data. For me, it is
surprising to see the amount of people who are leaving daily. My comment is, I do not
COUNCIL MEETING 13 JULY 20, 2022
know how it all works, but I know the lahui, the people, and the community are willing
to share data and they want to be heard. Through this colonized time-consuming
process that people do not know about...I barely know myself and am only finding about
this now. Why can we not have some kind of town hall or community meeting be held?
That is how you are going to get more data. When I hear you talking about this, about,
oh we have to find the data, it would be very interesting to hear," or"I am surprised
to hear about people participating in an affordable housing rental unit" you can correct
me if I am wrong, but there are so many people. I do not know who is being consulted.
Open up a meeting and make it with a title that is relatable for the community. Ask to
hear everyone's feedback. What the testifier Lonnie said, what are the tangible results
in gathering this feedback? There is so much data from the lahui and the community,
that you can gather. There has to be a way outside of this colonized system for it to
happen. This Sunshine Law, Planning Commission, or these agendas, we need common
sense where regular people living here have the opportunity to speak. That is where
you will find the data. When I mentioned the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) trying to
find consultants within the community, who did they actually consult with? Just like
how you are able to hear out developers for their permits and submittals that they
submit to the Planning Commission,just as you hear developers and corporations,when
are you going to hear the community, reach out, and listen to the community. That is
where you are going to find the data regarding this that is going to drive the affordable
housing and any resolution. All of that should have been done and already be in place.
Not for outsiders, not for tourism, for the local community. It should be the people for
the people. Mahalo.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Okay, thank you. Is there anyone else on Zoom
wishing to testify? Lonnie.
Mr. Sykos: Addressing the Council Chair, I apologize for
the rest of the members of the community that I am a part of, who when they address
the Council obviously have no understanding of what is the kuleana of the County, the
kuleana of the State, and the kuleana of the Federal government. It is distressing for
the public to listen to all of this testimony that is well-intentioned,but utterly misguided
in regards to what a problem is and where the authority lies to address it. Some of the
issues that you get pounded over are State or Federal issues and not County issues. For
that, I apologize. Your jobs are hard enough without getting pounded for things you are
not responsible for. Thank you.
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there any final discussion from the
Members?
Councilmember Cowden: I had my hand up.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: My apologies. Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I just wanted to speak for a moment to the
distress of the testifier and let her know that there are seven (7) of us. All seven (7) of
us are regularly out in the community whether it is paddling, grocery shopping, or
COUNCIL MEETING 14 JULY 20, 2022
attending a wedding, funeral, or meeting. We hear these anecdotal stories all the time.
We meet with people at these events. I will say that all seven (7) of us care very deeply
about the pressure pushing people off of the island. We appreciate this particular study
that the Housing Agency is getting that has someone who is willing to try to quantify
and give us these numbers. We all know that there is a problem happening on a regular
basis and people are living under stress. This Housing Data Collaborative is just going
to help us get some numbers. We do try very hard. Thank you for participating.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Does anyone else have any discussion?
The motion to approve C 2022-159 was then put, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: The motion is carried. Next item
C 2022-160 Communication (07/07/2022) from the Chief of Police,
Deputy Chief of Police, and Mark T. Ozaki, Acting Assistant Chief of Police,
requesting Council approval to accept and expend Hawai`i High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Grant (Grant Award No. G21H10002A) funding from the
Office of National Drug Control Policy, in an additional amount of$2,500.00 for a new
award total of $144,100.00, to send three (3) officers to the statewide D.A.R.E.
training on O`ahu, purchase prevention-related supplies, such as drug prevention
videos and media, and conduct D.A.R.E. training in schools.
Councilmember Carvalho moved to approve C 2022-160, seconded by
Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We received no written testimony on this item.
Are there any questions from the Members? Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I am hoping for a basic explanation. I really
appreciate the D.A.R.E. program that we have had over the years. Even now as we are
really trying hard to make our Adolescent Treatment and Healing Facility manifest.
Can you give us the basics of the D.A.R.E. program? I know that it adapts
year-after-year. What recent changes have happened? What age groups are you
targeting? Who is it that is going to this training? I just want to give them gratitude
for their effort. I just want a simple overview. Thank you. I think that would be a
question for you, Acting Assistant Chief Ozaki.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
MARK T. OZAKI, Acting Assistant Chief of Police, Administrative & Technical
Bureau (via remote technology): Good morning, Councilmembers. I apologize, I
was giving...the proper protocol usually is for the Chief to have an opportunity to give
a statement first. Chief, would you like to say something before I do?
Chief Raybuck: Sorry, my computer was locked up. Thank you
for the question, Councilmember Cowden. Go ahead, Assistant Chief.
Mr. Ozaki: Thank you for that question, Councilmember
Cowden. It seems like there were several questions there. The D.A.R.E. program has
been around for a long time, probably from the 1980s. It has gone through several
COUNCIL MEETING 15 JULY 20, 2022
transitions since then. We remember it as, "Just Say No" with President Reagan out
there. The war on drugs and "Just Say No." Probably about eighteen (18) or so years
ago it already started transitioning. D.A.R.E. is more of a decision-making type of
lesson plan and curriculum. It is a better decision-making model. In fact, the corporate
name for D.A.R.E. is still Drug Abuse Resistance Education, but the new way that they
market or use the D.A.R.E. emblem is as D.A.R.E. Keeping It Real. What they really
stress is a D.A.R.E. decision-making model. In the past where they would really harp
on what is"D-Drug,""A-Abuse,""R-Resistance," and"E-Education."It is now"D-Define,
describe the problem, challenge, or opportunity." "A-Assess, what are your choices?"
R-Respond, what is your choice and what information did you gather to make that
choice?" "E-Evaluate, review your decision, was it a good one, and would you modify
the decision that you made?" It is about peer pressure, positive and negative. That is
really the goal of D.A.R.E. now. It is to create a better decision-making for our juveniles.
I think you asked about the age groups. We primarily target fifth graders in elementary
schools and seventh graders at the middle schools. That concept is around catching
them in the fifth and seventh grades, and then at ninth grade we have School Resource
Officers (SROs) in the high schools and they can continue that rapport and relationship
with our SROs, who probably may have taught them D.A.R.E. at one time or another
in seventh grade. That was the response in a nutshell. I would be happy to answer
other questions you may have. That is it in a nutshell as to what the D.A.R.E.
decision-making model stands for now.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, thank you. SRO for the people listening,
means School Resource Officers. We have police officers on each of the high school
campuses to just be there to keep people safe and to help people make the right
decisions. Thank you for that. I support that good decision-making rather than "Just
Say No." It sounds like a better strategy. These three (3)individuals, are these existing
police officers who are maybe shifting in their position and are going to O`ahu to learn
what?
Mr Ozaki: That is correct. Due to retirements,
promotions, transfers, et cetera. In the past, we had Detective Barry DeBlake who
transferred out of the unit, Lieutenant Lance Okasaki who transferred out of the unit,
Detective Morris Unutoa who transferred out of the unit, Detective Lucas Hamberg who
transferred out, and Officer Andrew Muraoka transferred out due to a time rotation.
We have to get new people in there. Right now, we have Officers Johnathan Anderson,
Kaulana Renaud, and Charles Bedford. The current group include Officer Bobilee Silva
and Sergeant Kevin Gras. That is kind of the five (5) that they are replacing over
attrition. It is a two-week training on O`ahu. It is a free training, except we have to get
them there. That is why the additional moneys are needed. It is more for travel
expenses and not really for registration fees or anything like that. The two-week
training, they learn how to teach this D.A.R.E. decision-making model curriculum, but
they also have presentation training. They are able to better present and not only be
tied down to the D.A.R.E. decision-making model. They have other lesson plans that
some people might want to reach out for. They are the primary people with our
Department. They work with our Human Relations Section. They are big advocates
for our Department and we use them a lot.
COUNCIL MEETING 16 JULY 20, 2022
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you. I want to thank all of those people
whose names you mentioned. I do not want to go through the whole list, but I recognize
most of those names. I just want to recognize also how important it is that we develop
relationships with our youth. Good relationships, role modeling relationships built in
trust not fear...I thank you for continuing this program and thank Chief Raybuck and
our whole team for doing good work. This is such an important issue for our island as
we have suicidality and depression in many of the causes that end up in the symptom
of drug abuse. Mahalo.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions from the
Members? If not, while the rules are still suspended, is there anyone in the audience or
on Zoom wishing to testify? Lonnie.
Mr. Sykos: I am sixty-eight (68) years old. For the record,
I was educated in public schools and, to me, it is abhorrent to have police officers in
public schools. Are these SROs child psychologists? What education or experience do
they bring to this in dealing with the psychology of the children at school? The police
officers exist to arrest people for breaking the law. That is why we have police. They
serve other functions, but their primary function is to arrest people. Why are they in
the schools? I could see putting a child psychologist in the school. I could see having
people with training in child behavior...but to send someone for a few days at some
workshop and think that is the equivalent of a Master's degree in child psychology or
any of the other degrees in which you do not get to practice on a human being until you
get past a Bachelor's degree and get an advanced degree. What these children need are
child psychologists or psychiatrists, people trained in child behavior, which, and I am
not dogging the Police Department,but this is not their job. They are not trained. Police
departments did not come to existence back in time to be in public schools. The D.A.R.E.
program has changed over time. My late wife was a drug and alcohol counselor, as well
as an addict. At the end of her life, there was absolutely no difference statistically and
a community that had D.A.R.E. in the community that did not. My question is, we
spend all of this money, put Police Officers in our schools, which has its advantages and
disadvantages, what is the measurable outcome of whatever it has been since the mid
1980s, the D.A.R.E. program and specifically the last ten (10) years. If we did not have
the D.A.R.E. program, is there someone who can show me...
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Lonnie, that is your first three (3) minutes. Is
there anyone else in the audience wishing to testify? Seeing none, you can have your
second three (3) minutes.
Mr. Sykos: Basically, I am asking for a spreadsheet that
shows this was D.A.R.E. and these were the things that we can actually measure about
the positive impacts of the program. There is nothing about developing a relationship
unless you can measure the value of the relationship...what is the measurable benefit
of this program? Quite frankly, if it is to keep kids off of drugs, not that this could easily
occur because of how budgets happen, but would we not be better off to have this money
spent to open our Adolescent Treatment Facility? That is the actual need we have now.
Does the program work? If it is not working, we need to figure out what could make it
work? If it could work, we need to do other things and not the same things over and
over again. That is my point in this. I hope the D.A.R.E. program has become much
COUNCIL MEETING 17 JULY 20, 2022
more productive than it was in its first twenty (20) years. I really hope that they can
come to us and say, "Yes, you would have twenty percent (20%) higher negative
outcomes, et cetera." That is my question for the Police. Thank you very much.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Is there anyone else in the
audience or on Zoom wishing to testify? Tara.
Ms. Rojas: Aloha. I am just listening to this and what
came to mind is anything for drug awareness, treatment, et cetera, is great. There were,
for example...this document...on the continent at a school that had a lot of issues going
on, what came to mind as I was listening to the previous testifier, what about in this
island community...what they did there was they had parents, fathers, mothers, but in
that particular program they had dads going into the schools and they found that really
helped. Having them there as part of the resource...those relationships could be
developed. It really did have an impact on the students' behavior. Here in Hawai`i, if
something were along the lines of kapuna where the respected kapuna who were willing
to be there as well, as part of the ability to reach and connect with the youth. Having
these relationships on the daily allow the youth to grow up feeling safe, heard,
accounted for, and to guide them to make the right decisions. It is out of the box
thinking. On the aina type of thinking to connect with and have kapuna in the schools
as well might be a good idea, to have these type of drug awareness or drug prevention
program incorporate that as an idea. Mahalo.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Is there anyone else on Zoom
wishing to testify?
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there any discussion or questions from the
Councilmembers? Do you have a question or discussion, Councilmember Cowden?
Councilmember Cowden: I would like to give the Chief a chance to
respond. I appreciate the testifier's comments. I also feel like especially in this time
where we are having shooter violence in schools and everything else, it might be that
the teachers and kids never feel safe if they do not have a representative there. Chief
Raybuck, would you like to respond to the question that was asked by the testifier?
Chief Raybuck: Thank you for the opportunity to respond to
the speaker's points. Some of them were very well positioned. As was mentioned,
the early iterations of the D.A.R.E. program proved to be emotionally effective, but
not statistically or scientifically proven effective. As Acting Assistant Chief Ozaki
mentioned, the program has been revamped and it is now based on science and
evidence-based statistical data that shows that the decision-making program that is
focused on that Keeping It Real curriculum, does in fact have a positive effect on
modifying behavior for those students who receive the training. Some of the statistics
identified that the positive effect can be realized over fourteen (14) months after
receiving that training. The importance of the current D.A.R.E. program extends
beyond just drug awareness as was already mentioned. It highly focuses on
decision-making and decision-making is an important factor for our youth to identify
not just in the world of D.A.R.E. or in drug awareness, but as you mentioned, in school
violence, and avoiding those types of situations. This new program also identifies
methodologies and approaches in avoiding violence in the schools. I would disagree
COUNCIL MEETING 18 JULY 20, 2022
that police officers do not have a role in the school today. Specifically with the level
of unfortunate violence that we are seeing across America, police officers developing
relationships with school staff, becoming very familiar with the layout of the school,
and the students in the school is a valuable opportunity for our law enforcement
community to work together to prevent these types of incidents and hopefully if one
does occur, we are able to better respond to an incident in the schools. It was a
relationship and an encounter that I had very early in my life as I had mentioned
previously to some of you where a police officer, not then called a D.A.R.E. Officer or
SRO, it was an officer-friendly program. That officer when I was in elementary
school, showed me that he cared about me, he wanted me to be safe, and taught me
to ride a bicycle. It was that early impression in my life that gave me a positive
influence towards police officers. That is what our SROs do every day. It is not their
primary responsibility to arrest individuals. Their primary responsibility is to
develop positive relationships and be positive role models in our community, and
develop those relationships with our most important members of our community,
which is the future of our community in our youth. I hope that was a proper response
to the questions raised.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions from the
Members?
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded
as follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you for that response, Chief. I have
some constructive information for this and I hope I can address Lonnie with some
tangible responses and not an opinion. I personally work out at Kapa'a High School.
I have been in transition in the last year with both officers. The old one who left and
the new Officer Anderson who is there now. I see a tremendous value to having an
officer on campus. Officer Anderson has built that relationship with the students and
he basically told me that is what he learned from his Acting Assistant Chief Mark
Ozaki, that the main thing about being on-campus is to build the relationship with
the children. Yes, maybe they are not psychologists, although on campus, we do have
our own clinical psychologist and we do have our counselors to address the emotional
and social needs of our students, but it is amazing to see what our police officers do
in the D.A.R.E. program. I am at the forefront to tell you that it is working and it is
a good thing. The last thing I want to say is that I want to give props to the Chief.
You let Mark Ozaki do his job to explain the D.A.R.E. program. You did not
micromanage him. That shows me that there is some culture being built in the Police
Department and that Mark Ozaki is doing a fine job stepping up to the plate of being
an Acting Assistant Chief in that Bureau. I am impressed today. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Does anyone else have any discussion?
The motion to approve C 2022-160 was then put, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: The motion is carried. Next item
COUNCIL MEETING 19 JULY 20, 2022
C 2022-161 Communication (07/08/2022) from the Acting County Engineer,
transmitting for Council consideration, A Bill For An Ordinance Amending
Ordinance No. B-2022-886, As Amended, Relating To The Operating Budget Of The
County Of Kaua`i, State Of Hawai`i, For the Fiscal Year July 1, 2022 Through
June 30, 2023, By Revising The Amounts Estimated In The General Fund, for the
transfer of Position No. 1202, Parks Project Manager to Project Manager, inclusive of
salary and fringe benefits, from the Department of Parks & Recreation to the
Department of Public Works, to unify the County's Project Managers under a single
department.
Councilmember Carvalho moved to receive C 2022-161 for the record, seconded
by Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We received no written testimony on this item.
Is there anyone else in the audience or on Zoom wishing to testify on this item? We are
receiving it for the record. Actually, this is coming up as a Proposed Draft Bill. Lonnie,
if you want to testify now, we will add it to the Proposed Draft bill when it comes up
later. You will not be able to testify on it later.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
Mr. Sykos: I think I will wait until later. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Okay. Is there anyone online wishing to
testify? Seeing none.
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any questions from the Members?
The motion to receive C 2022-161 for the record was then put, and unanimously
carried.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: The motion is carried. Next item.
C 2022-162 Communication (07/12/2022) from Councilmember Evslin and
Councilmember Kuali`i, transmitting for Council consideration, A Bill For An
Ordinance Amending Chapter 8 (Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance),
Chapter 12 (Building Code), And Chapter 13 (Electrical Code), Kaua`i County
Code 1987, As Amended, Relating To Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
Requirements For Parking.
Councilmember Carvalho moved to receive C 2022-162 for the record, seconded
by Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We did receive written testimony for this item
on the Bill. Is there anyone else in the audience or on Zoom wishing to testify on this
COUNCIL MEETING 20 JULY 20, 2022
item? Again, this item will come up later on the agenda as Proposed Draft Bill (No.
2877). Are there any questions or discussion from the Members? Councilmember
DeCosta. Do you have a question or discussion?
Councilmember DeCosta: Question. Can you clarify that this will just be
electric vehicle (EV) chargers...
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Let us hold questions until the Proposed Draft
Bill comes up.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions or discussion?
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
The motion to receive C 2022-162 for the record was then put, and unanimously
carried.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: The motion is carried. Next item.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
FINANCE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE:
A report (No. CR-FED 2022-04) submitted by the Finance & Economic
Development Committee, recommending that the following be Approved on second
and final reading:
Bill No. 2861 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING
CHAPTER 5A, SECTIONS 5A-3.4, 5A-6.1, 5A-6.4, 5A-12.1, 5A-12.3, 5A-12.7,
AND 5A-12.8, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO
REAL PROPERTY TAXES,"
Councilmember Carvalho moved for approval of the report, seconded by
Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We received no written testimony on these
items. Is there anyone in the audience or on Zoom wishing to testify on the Finance
Economic Development Committee report?
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any questions or discussion from
the Members?
The motion for approval of the report was then put, and unanimously carried.
COUNCIL MEETING 21 JULY 20, 2022
Council Chair Kaneshiro: The motion is carried. Next item.
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE:
A report (No. CR-COW 2022-11) submitted by the Committee of the Whole,
recommending that the following be Approved on second and final reading:
Bill No. 2863 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE APPROVING A
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT FOR BARGAINING UNIT 2
BETWEEN JULY 1, 2021 AND JUNE 30, 2025,"
A report (No. CR-COW 2022-12) submitted by the Committee of the Whole,
recommending that the following be Approved on second and final reading:
Bill No. 2864 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE APPROVING A
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT FOR BARGAINING UNIT 3
BETWEEN JULY 1, 2021 AND JUNE 30, 2025,"
A report (No. CR-COW 2022-13) submitted by the Committee of the Whole,
recommending that the following be Approved on second and final reading:
Bill No. 2865 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE APPROVING A
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT FOR BARGAINING UNIT 4
BETWEEN JULY 1, 2021 AND JUNE 30, 2025,"
A report (No. CR-COW 2022-14) submitted by the Committee of the Whole,
recommending that the following be Approved on second and final reading:
Bill No. 2866 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE APPROVING A
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT FOR BARGAINING UNIT 11
BETWEEN JULY 1, 2021 AND JUNE 30, 2025," and
A report (No. CR-COW 2022-15) submitted by the Committee of the Whole,
recommending that the following be Approved on second and final reading:
Bill No. 2867 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE APPROVING A
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT FOR BARGAINING UNIT 13
BETWEEN JULY 1, 2021 AND JUNE 30, 2025,"
Councilmember Carvalho moved for approval of the reports, seconded by
Councilmember Cowden.
COUNCIL MEETING 22 JULY 20, 2022
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We received no written testimony on these
items. Is there anyone in the audience or on Zoom wishing to testify on the
Committee of the Whole reports?
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any questions or discussion from
the Members?
The motion for approval of the reports was then put, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: The motion is carried. Next item.
RESOLUTION:
Resolution No. 2022-26 — RESOLUTION CONFIRMING MAYORAL
REAPPOINTMENT TO THE BOARD OF ETHICS (John Latkiewicz)
Councilmember Carvalho moved for adoption of Resolution No. 2022-26,
seconded by Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We received no written testimony on this
item. We did hear testimony earlier this morning on it. Is there anyone else in the
audience or on Zoom wishing to testify on this for the first time?
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there any final questions or discussion from
the Members? Councilmember Cowden, question or discussion?
Councilmember Cowden: I have a simple discussion point. I did get a
chance to talk to the nominee, and I appreciate everyone who is doing the work. I
guess I am commenting on the earlier testifier's point. I am in agreement that content
training for each of these boards is very important. I would like to see them really
get trained in their areas of expertise. The training really is more about participating
in the meeting and in the Sunshine Law. I agree with what was stated earlier. I am
happy with this Board Member.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Does anyone else have final discussion? For
me, I have worked with John for a while. He was a part of the Agriculture
Committee of the Kaua`i Economic Development Board (KEDB). I think John is a
level-headed person and I think the Board of Ethics is a good spot for him to be. He
is a straight-shooter and I think that is what you need on the Board of Ethics when
it comes to upcoming issues. He is going to take each one on an individual basis and
he is going to make the right decision. I will be voting in favor of John. Does anyone
else have anything to add? If not, we will take a roll call vote.
COUNCIL MEETING 23 JULY 20, 2022
The motion for adoption of Resolution No. 2022-26 was then put, and carried by
the following vote:
FOR ADOPTION: Carvalho, Chock, Cowden, DeCosta,
Evslin, Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL— 7,
AGAINST ADOPTION: None TOTAL — 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0.
JADE K. FOUNTAIN-TANIGAWA, County Clerk: Seven (7) ayes.
BILLS FOR FIRST READING:
Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2876) —A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING
ORDINANCE NO. B-2022-886, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE OPERATING
BUDGET OF THE COUNTY OF KAUAI, STATE OF HAWAII, FOR THE FISCAL
YEAR JULY 1, 2022 THROUGH JUNE 30, 2023, BY REVISING THE AMOUNTS
ESTIMATED IN THE GENERAL FUND (Department of Public Works Project
Manager Transfer - $118,177.00)
Councilmember Carvalho moved for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2876)
on first reading, that it be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be
scheduled for August 17, 2022, and that it be referred to the Committee of the
Whole, seconded by Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We received no written testimony on this
item. I will suspend the rules. If Troy, Pat, or Wally wants to give us a brief
description on this item.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
MICHAEL A. DAHILIG, Managing Director (via remote technology): Council
Chair, good morning. This is a request that is asking to move Position No. 1202 over
to the Department of Public Works. As you are aware, the County has been seeing a
large influx of moneys related to capital improvements and large projects. It is not
just isolated to the Department of Public Works, but all of our departments have to
some degree larger, complex types of management items that are now being put to
the forefront as a responsibility for our different shops. Currently in the Department
of Parks & Recreation, we have one (1) Parks Project Manager in the Planning
Division. Although it is tasked for handling the CIP projects, there is not much
redundancy in terms of being able to have that individual receive proper backup or
groupwork situations requiring larger dialogue. This consultation was initiated with
the union back in January 2022. The representative for the Collective Bargaining
Unit gave us a clean consultation memorandum to be able to proceed with this. We
initially tried to do this as part of the budgetary process based on the ordinance you
amended, but we needed to go through that process given there is a live employee in
the position that needed to go through consultation.
COUNCIL MEETING 24 JULY 20, 2022
We believe this is part of a larger initiative for us to have greater focus on
project management with our contracts. As you know, the Transient Accomodation
Tax (TAT) moneys that came in greatly increased the amount of construction activity
that Kaua`i County is being able to manage and supervise. The impending amounts
of money that are going to be coming through federal earmarks, housing, and moneys
relating to the sewer system that will be coming down the pipeline. It is incumbent
on us to have a more focused leadership team versus something that is devolved.
That is the gist of the proposal of this position, to be consolidated with the other
project managers who are currently in the Department of Public Works, to provide
that synergy and redundancy. Chair, I am open for any questions.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any questions from the Members?
Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you. I believe the Department of
Parks & Recreation used to be part of the Department Public Works at one time.
Mr. Dahilig:That is correct.
Councilmember Cowden: So, it is a little bit of a natural return. If we
have a project with...I am just going to make one up—fixing the broken areas on the
Kapa'a Bike Path. I would presume when you have a project manager from Public
Works that they would be deeply consulting with the Department of Parks &
Recreation anytime something needs to be fixed—the basketball courts, et cetera.
That project manager would still refer to the Department of Parks & Recreation for
partnership. Is that correct?
Mr. Dahilig:That is correct. What happens is construction
involves more than one (1) department. Councilmember Cowden, as you described,
while it may be a Parks asset, a lot of the expertise in engineering or contracting with
larger amounts would be better suited for the apparatus within the Department of
Public Works. We do not see this as an inhibition of that dialogue to continue with
different departments but rather providing a consolidated support-base for complex
contracts to be managed and supported with the best fiscal means.
Councilmember Cowden: How many job positions does the Department
of Parks & Recreation have as a project manager? Is there more than one (1)?
Mr. Dahilig:This is the only one. There is another position
that was a carryover from the split, also known as an EM-5 position that we will be
looking at. Through the consultation process, we got clean reviews on that. However,
in terms of being able to properly manage the overall portfolio of that other position,
that will remain with the Department of Parks & Recreation until we are able to get
that sorted out. This is the first increment of what we are attempting to do in
consolidating these types of activities.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember De Costa.
COUNCIL MEETING 25 JULY 20, 2022
Councilmember DeCosta: Hi, Mike. I am excited about the
reorganization. Do you see it bringing cohesiveness and efficiency to the Department
of Public Works and to be able to handle those projects?
Mr. Dahilig:That is the idea, especially for the
Department of Parks & Recreation, and that side of the portfolio. The current way of
looking at it was through a"lone wolf' type of situation. This will provide us a support
base for synergy.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you for providing ways of efficiency to
the departments.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Carvalho.
Councilmember Carvalho: Mike, a quick question. In forming the
Department of Parks & Recreation, I want to ensure overall attention is there to
support both departments, and they have what they need. I hear what you are
saying. With everything going on, the intent was to ensure the departments had
proper coverage. I wanted to make sure that was clear.
Mr. Dahilig:It is clear. I think that is why we want to
ensure that when we commit the Department of Parks & Recreation projects, there
is enough backup and support to be able to have the committed projects completed in
a timely fashion, and under budget.
Councilmember Carvalho: Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions from the
Members? Mike, is this position currently filled or is it a vacant position?
Mr. Dahilig:It is filled, and that is why we needed to go
through a Collective Bargaining consultation rather than a position movement
through the broader budgetary process that concluded in May with the Council.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions from the
Members. If not, while the rules are still suspended, is there anyone in the audience
wishing to testify? Lonnie.
Mr. Sykos: For the record, Lonnie Sykos. Mike, thank
you very much for the hard work you do for the County and particularly with this
piece today. Inefficiency in County operations has been extremely frustrating for the
public to watch. We hope this will clear up situations like when the County spent
three (3) years trying to get signs put up at the beach. According to public testimony,
there was no mechanism for the three (3) departments involved to talk to each other.
The sign painters did not know what to create because the Fire Department did not
have a mechanism to talk to the Planning Department. What ended up happening
was the Kaua`i Lifeguard Association contracted a mainland company to install signs
in nine (9) months from the day they started. Thank you very much Mike, and your
COUNCIL MEETING 26 JULY 20, 2022
team in the Office of the Mayor, for your diligent and hard work at bringing greater
efficiency to the County operation. Thank you very much.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there anyone else in the audience or on
Zoom wishing to testify? Seeing none, are there any final questions or is there any
discussion from the Members? Councilmember Evslin, do you have a question or
discussion?
Councilmember Evslin: I have a quick question. Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Mike. I know you mentioned having conversations with the union. Has
the individual who is being transferred aware of the transfer?
Mr. Dahilig:That is a good question. They are aware via
the Collective Bargaining Unit process. Typically, when we go into discussions with
the union, they are the exclusive representative of the individual. In terms of us
engaging in direct dialogue, we position the dialogue and handle this process through
the union. The initial feedback in writing from the union indicated that there seemed
to be no issues that needed to be resolved as a consequence of that consultation.
Councilmember Evslin: Okay, thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: Mike, this person that was managing the
Department of Parks & Recreation projects will now be managing projects in the
Department of Parks & Recreation and the Department of Public Works. Is that
correct?
Mr. Dahilig:It is a little of both. We would expect the
portfolio to be spread within the departments, and if there is backup from the
Department of Public Works that needs to support his portfolio and vice versa.
Councilmember DeCosta: I want to ensure this person is supported in
the Department of Public Works because that is a lot of work. He is going from an
urban park developer type manager going over to the Department of Public Works. I
know we have Troy and Boyd Gayagas. That is a good team there, I want them to
support the new transferred position.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any further questions from the
Members? If not, I will call the meeting back to order. Is there any final discussion?
Roll call vote.
There being no objections the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded
as follows:
The motion for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2876) on first reading, that
it be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be scheduled for
August 17, 2022, and that it be referred to the Committee of the Whole was
then put, and carried by the following vote:
COUNCIL MEETING 27 JULY 20, 2022
FOR PASSAGE: Carvalho, Chock, Cowden, DeCosta
Evslin, Kuali`i Kaneshiro 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.
Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2877) — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE
AMENDING CHAPTER 8 (COMPREHENSIVE ZONING ORDINANCE),
CHAPTER 12 (BUILDING CODE), AND CHAPTER 13 (ELECTRICAL CODE),
KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO ELECTRIC
VEHICLE CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIREMENTS FOR PARKING
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to refer Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2877) to the
Planning Commission, seconded by Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We received written testimony on this item. I
will suspend the rules. Councilmember Evslin, if you want to give us an overview, I
know there is a presentation on this.
Councilmember Evslin: We have short PowerPoint presentation that
Councilmember Kuali`i and I will be presenting. I will start off by briefly saying that
we have been working on this for a while. Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) 291-72
gives the County the authority to enforce charging station requirements. There are
abilities within that authorization or enabling legislation that are limited and there
are some preemption issues in here. This Bill has been somewhat difficult to work
on and tether it within what we clearly do have the authority to do as a County and
what is within the State's intent. As Councilmember Kuali`i will get into, it is in line
with our General Plan, et cetera. I want to start off by saying it is a simple Bill, but
it was complicated to get to the end result because of some state preemption issues.
With that being said, I will hand it over to Councilmember Kuali`i to get us going.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I will say that we have been working on this
for almost a year. We started with Kaua`i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC).
As far as the findings, Hawai`i State Law and the Kaua`i General Plan commit the
State to zero (0) emissions from ground transportation by 2045. Many electric
vehicles are already cheaper to finance and own than a comparable gasoline car and
they get cheaper every year. The number of electric vehicles in Hawai`i is rapidly
increasing, with a thirty-three percent (33%) increase in EVs on the road in Hawai`i
between 2021 and 2022. Hawai`i needs an estimated five-times more publicly-
available chargers by 2030 to meet demand. EV-ready infrastructure can be installed
during new construction for four thousand dollars ($4,000) to eight thousand
dollars ($8,000). With each dedicated receptacle able to serve two (2) stalls for two
thousand dollars ($2,000) to four thousand dollars ($4,000) per stall. Retrofitting
existing parking lots for EV charging costs estimated five-times more. Numerous
COUNCIL MEETING 28 JULY 20, 2022
rebates are available for EV charging infrastructure. The purpose of the Bill is
primarily to require EV charging infrastructure during new construction and
modifications of two thousand (2,000) square feet or more.
Two (2) Definitions. The first definition word-for-word comes straight out of
the Bill on Page 3. "EV-ready space" means a designated parking space which is
provided with a dedicated branch circuit that is not less than forty (40) amperes and
two hundred eight by two hundred forty (208/240) volts assigned for electric vehicle
supply equipment terminating in a receptacle or junction box located in close
proximity to the proposed location of the EV parking space. For two (2) adjacent
EV-ready spaces, a single branch circuit is permitted. Electric Vehicle Charging
System-installed "EVCS-installed" refers to an installed level 2 or faster charging
station. Councilmember Evslin.
Councilmember Evslin: What the Bill essentially does is requires any
new parking lot between one (1) and ninety-nine (99) stalls, not including
single-family homes, a commercial, multi-family, industrial, et cetera, parking lot
between one (1) and ninety-nine (99) stalls, fifteen percent (15%) of the stalls must
be EV-ready. As Councilmember Kuali`i said, the definition of EV-ready is essentially
a conduit, available amperage, and a receptacle for a future EV charging station. It
is not the actual EV charging station, it is the in the ground infrastructure for the
charging station. Again, the rationale for that is because it is relatively cheap to do
that while you are building a parking lot. It is cost prohibitive to come in
after-the-fact and rip up a parking lot to try and make a stall EV-ready. Fifty
percent (50%) up to ninety-nine (99) stalls. As soon as we cross over to parking lots
of one hundred (100) or more stalls, fifteen percent (15%) have to be EV-ready,
five percent (5%) have to have an installed level 2 charger. Again, for both, a
single-dual-head charger can service (2) stalls. If you have a one hundred (100) stall
parking lot being built, the five percent (5%) requirement would be fulfilled with
two (2) dual-heads and one (1) single charger. The fifteen percent (15%), fifteen (15)
stalls, would have to have access to the level 2. Any charger required as a condition
of the Bill would have to be maintained in good working order. The EV infrastructure
would have to be maintained likewise.
There is a requirement for existing parking lots only if they are adding on two
thousand (2,000) square feet or more of space. Only the EVCS-installed requirements
are triggered. In practice, if you have a new two thousand (2,000) square feet
structure next to an existing parking lot with less than one hundred (100) stalls, there
will be no new requirements triggered. If there is less than one hundred (100) stalls,
there is no EVCS-installed requirement, so no new requirements. The rationale there
is because EV-ready is cost effective only for new construction. If someone is adding
on units to an existing parking lot after-the-fact, it does not make sense to force them
to put in a bunch of EV-ready stalls and rip up the parking lot to do so. The EV
requirements will trigger for that two thousand (2,000) square feet structure.
A large one hundred plus (100+) stalls next to an existing building adding two
thousand (2,000) square feet or more would have to comply with the five percent (5%)
requirement for the existing lot. State law requires chargers, so you will have some
there already. That is the Bill. Do you have any questions? Lastly, this will be in
COUNCIL MEETING 29 JULY 20, 2022
Chapter 8, Zoning Code, and enforced by the Planning Department as a condition of
obtaining a Zoning Permit.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: I have a few questions, Councilmember
Evslin. You mentioned two thousand (2,000) square feet or one hundred (100)
parking stalls. What if someone comes in with one thousand one hundred
ninety-five (1,995) square feet with ninety-nine (99) parking stalls, would they not be
required to put in the EV charging system? Is that correct?
Councilmember Evslin: The two thousand (2,000) square feet
requirement is a trigger for existing parking lots to be in compliance. A
ninety-nine (99) stall parking lot, two thousand (2,000) square feet structure, will not
trigger anything. One hundred (100) stall parking lot, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-nine (1,999) square feet structure will not trigger anything. Two thousand
2,000) square feet is the trigger number and we needed to have a strictly defined
trigger because there had to be a nexus tied to requiring installed chargers. For the
Planning Department, two thousand (2,000) square feet seemed like a rationale
nexus number.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay. Did you check with the electrical union
on the installation cost per stall? How did you come up with the two thousand dollars
to four thousand dollars ($2,000-$4,000) figures?
Councilmember Evslin: We spoke to contractors who do this type of
work. They said they charge between four thousand dollars ($4,000) and eight
thousand dollars ($8,000) per receptacle. Again, that single receptacle could serve
two (2) stalls. The range could vary depending on proximity to the building. If you
are putting the stations right next to a building, it will be in the four-thousand-dollar
range per receptacle. If the stations are further away from the building, that cost
would double.
Councilmember DeCosta: Correct. We want to make sure that we take
the earth into consideration. Whether we are digging into the earth a bedrock, the
construction cost could escalate. It is not as simple as tying in the two thousand
dollars ($2,000) or four thousand dollars ($4,000). I want you to talk a little more
about the residential area. We are not going to push this on residential homes right
now?
Councilmember Kuali`i: This Bill is not for residential.
Councilmember DeCosta: Yes, I want to ensure that the people listening
heard you say that.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: I want to clarify. The Bill has multifamily
dwelling residential sites with three (3) or more units. Would that be a residential
zoned parcel?
Councilmember Kuali`i: I assumed Councilmember DeCosta was
asking about single-family residential when he said it does not apply to single-family
COUNCIL MEETING 30 JULY 20, 2022
residential. Yes, it would apply to multifamily units, including the County's housing
projects.
Councilmember DeCosta: I have a concern with that. I believe out in
Lima Ola, we did not put in the parking stalls, but the underground utilities are
installed. Is this going to be applied to Lima Ola in `Ele`ele, or no?
Councilmember Evslin: The zoning permit is the trigger. Assuming
the utilities are installed, they already got their zoning permit. It would be highly
likely not, but as Lima Ola expands, it would presumably apply.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay. I want to be sure. The asphalt and
concrete are already imbedded in that project, which means we would have to dig it
all up to put the EV line in. Can the EV line stay in the same line as the residential
electrical line that ties into each home? What is the wire they use to charge a car? Is
it a heavier duty wire and can it stay in the same channel or polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
tube with the other electrical lines that ties into the stove, refrigerator, lights, or does
it have to be separate?
Councilmember Evslin: Some of these questions might be better
directed towards the Building Division. For the most part, the Bill requires that it
has its own conduit running to the site. In talking to the Building Division and
electrical contractors, the amperage for any new construction is essentially already
there, so it would not trigger new amperage onsite that they would not have anyway.
The main requirement would be running the conduit to the stall and putting a
receptacle in. For further detail on building and electrical code requirements, both
Councilmember Kuali`i and I will defer to Leolynne.
Councilmember Kuali`i: We will definitely work with them during
Committee, where we can get into all the details.
Councilmember DeCosta: This is the time where we can discuss this,
right?
Council Chair Kaneshiro: If you have questions.
Councilmember DeCosta: I have a question. You are talking about this
being applied to County projects. I was a little worried that the Lima Ola Project has
different phases. There is a Phase II that has not been worked on yet. When I went
out to look at the project, the road, infrastructure lines, electrical lines, sewer lines,
and waterlines are all embedded under the asphalt, underneath the concrete
sidewalks. If you are telling me that we need a new EV line to run its own wiring to
the home and it cannot go into the same lines as the rest of the homes, are we okay
out there, or is this going to cost the County more money?
Councilmember Kuali`i: One thing I would say, I am not sure about the
specific parking lot configurations in the Lima Ola Project. That might be less than
one hundred (100). You are looking at Lima Ola as one (1) giant project, but it is
smaller projects within a big community. We will look at that further with the
COUNCIL MEETING 31 JULY 20, 2022
Administration. Our intent is not to hinder what we are trying to accomplish with
affordable housing and with greening any new development. The other thing I would
say is that there is a lot of funding available. It would be our intention to help on
that end also, and for the County to get funding for any additional cost for the
charging stations.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you. I like the goal, I like the
intentions, and I have a handful of questions. What was the State preemption issue
and how did we bypass that challenge?
Councilmember Evslin: In general, the State requires one (1) charger
for anything over one hundred (100) stalls. The State Legislation gives the County
the authority to enforce charging requirements. It is unclear through the existing
legislation, how much leeway we have to enforce or require physical charging units
on parking lots of under one hundred (100) stalls. It is possible that someone can
have a preemption case if we try to require a physically installed charger for a ten (10)
stall lot. Because State Law requires over one hundred (100) and they have not
clearly given us the power to require less than one hundred (100)...it is a gray area.
The short answer is the State legislation is unclear. They are trying to give us this
power, but they do not expressly say how much power we must require. With that
said, we know that we are in the clear for EV ready and lots of over one hundred (100)
on requiring installs. That is clear in the State legislation. These are the two (2)
areas where we know we have the green light to go in this direction. With that said,
Hawai`i County is going in a different direction and is requiring installed chargers on
lots of less than one hundred (100) for existing and new lots, or at least it is being
deliberated at their Council. I cannot speak to the legal review on that Bill, but their
interpretation seems it might be different.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. I see on Page 5, Section 8-.4, it says any
person who violates the provision of this article shall be subject to the penalties
provided in Section 8-3.5. I looked up what that would be and I might not be getting
it exactly correct. To me, when I look at Section 8-3.5, would it also be the ten
thousand dollars ($10,000) per day per violation? Is that accurate?
Councilmember Evslin: All zoning violations questions should be
directed to Ka`aina, but I believe all zoning violations have the same penalty
structure.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. If it is a one hundred (100) stall
parking lot, they need fifteen (15) parking spaces, that could be one hundred fifty
thousand dollars ($150,000) per day, per violation. There would be a starting point
of a leverage against them if they did not put it in.
Councilmember Evslin: I do not think it would be per stall. Again, I
will defer to Ka`aina on the implementation of the fine.
Councilmember Kuali`i: The only thing I would add at this time is that
we have heard from Planning Director Ka`aina Hull, several times, that this fine is
COUNCIL MEETING 32 JULY 20, 2022
there, but the Department does not utilize the fine and they try to get correction.
They primarily are not punitive but getting people to make the corrections.
Councilmember Cowden: We regularly hear that and have seen by
evidence of their behavior that that is accurate. They do not punitively go after
people. What I said throughout this whole time when I look at that number, I feel
that they are a good Administration that is using a strong"stick" without making the
hit." I worry heavily that things can change in the future. I am trying to be clear
when we have a different Administration with a different objective, I worry for
speculative predation. Predatory speculators could come in and utilize that final
structure that would be difficult. I am going to ask another question. I see that
Councilmember Carvalho has questions. I am going to ask another question now,
and let other Councilmembers ask questions. Have we reached out to those that could
potentially be negatively affected whether it is an apartment unit, resorts, shopping
centers, et cetera? I want to give a few examples of why I think beyond the cost of
doing it. I have a number of friends who have electric vehicles. They park at a
shopping center and ask me to meet them there to pick them up. They want to charge
their car while we go to other places. If they get to charge their car for free at the
shopping center, they are not even shopping in the shopping center. A lot of times
people want to charge at night which will have a high electric value. I do not know if
the EVCS-installed machines have a payment plan, but I hope it does. If people are
charging at the shopping center, it is not a good circumstance. When I think about a
resort, resorts often add two thousand (2,000) square feet for any kind of change. If
they have five hundred (500) parking stalls, when I think about what the resort looks
like, even if it is three hundred (300) or four hundred (400) stalls, the two
thousand (2,000) feet addition would have a heavy impact. When we are trying to do
affordable housing, this raises those rates. Right now, I am trying to represent this
particular constituent group that might not be excited about it. Have they been
reached out to, shown this Bill, and have we heard from them? I am only seeing
testimony from people who need more places to charge and the environmental
community. I have not seen anything from contractors, shopping center
management, resorts, or multifamily unit providers. Have they been contacted?
Councilmember Kuali`i: I would like to start and say, as you can
imagine we have not done all the outreach that needs to happen, but we have done a
lot. We initiated outreach with the Pacific Resource Partnerships of Trade Unions.
We are waiting to hear from the Contractors Association. If you have someone
specifically in mind, a shopping center association, now is the time. This is first
reading; we are going to work on this during the Committee Meeting.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Actually, this Bill is going to be referred to the
Planning Commission. There will be more time.
Councilmember Kuali`i: There will be more time.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. I would like to see the Chamber of
Commerce, Hawai`i Lodging & Tourism Association, et cetera.
COUNCIL MEETING 33 JULY 20, 2022
Councilmember Kuali`i: We had a presentation with Chamber of
Commerce.
Councilmember Cowden: You did?
Councilmember Kuali`i: Yes. We did the same presentation we did
today, did questions and answers, and we heard back from them, from the individuals
that were on the call, different sentiments of support. Later, we heard from them as
an organization support. They did not get their testimony in today, but they will.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. This is important for the people who
are working, this would increase the workload if you looked at the Contractors
Association, and people who are actually paying the bills is who I want to hear from.
Councilmember Kuali`i: They are on the list.
Councilmember Evslin: If I can add to that. The Chamber of
Commerce includes a number of people and property managers. They are the ones
that would be paying for this. There was a number of hotel representatives who were
also supportive. They will be submitting testimony in support. Regarding impact
on existing hotels and multifamily units, the impact is likely to be minimal to
nonexistent. Ka`aina has been clear that a two thousand (2,000) square feet
structures do not get added onto these places very often, if ever. The Big Box
Ordinance likely prohibits any additional expansion of Big Box Stores which are in
the parking lots. Resorts are maxed out on their existing entitlements for rooms on
their existing resorts, they rarely add square footage. An existing apartment or
condominium complex are often maxed out too. They do not often add anything
onsite. That trigger of the two thousand (2,000) square feet requirement is not likely
to get triggered.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you for that. I am not really thinking
or worrying about the retroactive element. Those are entities might have a good
forward looking aspect. If you put fifteen percent (15%) of your parking into EVs, it
is going to raise the rates of your businesses, it is going to raise your cost. They would
be able to estimate that. The other aspect is, and having been a retail storefront
business owner myself, I know what it is like when a parking lot gets crowded and
overloaded. It does not seem yet that fifteen percent (15%) of vehicles are electric.
What would happen is that you would have empty stalls sitting there. The parking
lot here, I do not see the electric charging station utilized often. Again, it might be
fifteen percent (15%) of some of those places where people would go and treat it like
a gas station, park there, and go somewhere else. There might be a business
perspective that I would like to see.
Councilmember Evslin: The State legislation does give people with
charging stations the authority to charge for the cost of electricity. Most chargers in
commercial areas do charge. At Safeway, you pay from the moment you plug into the
COUNCIL MEETING 34 JULY 20, 2022
station. There are other places like Kukui Grove where you get two (2) hours free
and you get charged thereafter. There is clear data out there that establishments
with chargers draw more business. I know for many electric vehicle users they are
going to choose grocery stores based on availability of charging, so it draws customers
in that sense. Lastly, what you had said about chargers staying empty, the ones in
the Historic County Building parking lot are broken. If you go across the street where
there are a number of public chargers, they are sometimes full. At the most one (1)
or two (2) are open. They are definitely very heavily utilized over there. Again, the
Bill is not going to require that fifteen percent (15%) of stalls have an EV-charger off
the bat. It requires that they are EV-ready with a receptacle so that as demand
increases, they can come in and put the charger in as necessary. Lastly, as
Councilmember Kuali`i had said earlier, there is a lot of rebate money out there for
EV chargers. Hawai`i Energy will give you five thousand dollars ($5,000)per charger.
Two cents ($0.02) per barrel of gasoline is going towards EV chargers through the
State. Through Hawai`i Energy, you can easily get a rebate for chargers. The State
has sixteen million dollars ($16,000,000) of Federal infrastructure moneys which is
dedicated towards EV chargers. Our own Office of Economic Development has been
talking for a while about trying to come up with an EV charger incentive program,
possibly specifically targeting EV-ready for affordable housing construction. There
are a lot of ways to pay for this.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, thank you for those pieces of
information. I did not know that our charger was broken in our parking lot. I did
notice that no one uses it. That is a good piece of information for me to have. I would
like to turn it over to other Councilmembers. I have more, but I want to be sure that
everyone gets their chance and they might ask some of the same questions I have.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Carvalho.
Councilmember Carvalho: I just have one (1) question. Again, it was
brought up several times, the retrofitting of existing parking lots is not part of this at
all, right? There is no discussion about that. I received some of those comments and
they are feeling like it might affect them. I just want to clarify that.
Councilmember Evslin: Exactly. The only retrofits would be for over
one hundred (100) stalls with a two thousand (2,000) square foot structure or more
going in, which again does not happen very often. Any others, if you are renovating
your existing building or adding on to it and you have less than one hundred (100)
stalls, there are no triggers. Again, it does not make sense to rip up an existing lot
to put in EV-ready. It does make sense during new construction.
Councilmember Carvalho: Got it.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: I just want to echo what Councilmember
Cowden reiterated about making all the entities available to communicate and
provide testimony. The electrical unions, larger construction companies that are
going to be putting in these EV chargers, and the cost of construction that can escalate
COUNCIL MEETING 35 JULY 20, 2022
with a new item like this. This is a totally new item and conduit line that has to go
in. I would like more input from those entities. It is great that we come up with these
green energy bills, but we need to incorporate everyone.
Councilmember Carvalho: Yes.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you, Councilmember Cowden for
bringing that up.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I want to just expose my bias for a moment. I
am pretty excited about hydrogen vehicle concept that does not require batteries. We
have issues with our wastewater. That is really the direction that I keep trying to
push for. We can make hydrogen and have more efficient wastewater treatment
plants. We are looking at getting one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) for our
wastewater improvements, I was really hoping that they would be looking at that.
We have the Department of Reclamation interested in doing it. Why that is
important to me is because of the batteries. I really like the idea of electric vehicles
and so a hydrogen vehicle does the same thing. It gives out water and oxygen. My
concern about this whole push to 2035, if we do not do hydrogen, I think about all of
these batteries and what we are going to do with them. The lithium batteries are not
easy to dispose of. I sent some questions quickly to our Solid Waste Division. Without
tying hard into it, we send about one (1) fifty-five (55) gallon of recycled lithium back.
All of these cars, Puhi Metals is the one who has to take them apart for shipping off
the island. When I look at lithium, those are open pit mines. That is a really difficult
process and there is a brine extraction, both of which have really high water
consumption and ground water contamination. Right now, a number of us are here
in Colorado. I am aware of the Native American tribes, for example the Paiute and
Shoshone tribes...
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden, do you have a
question?
Councilmember Cowden: are really upset for what is going on in their
region.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden, do you have a
question?
Councilmember Cowden: Yes, I do. Do you not like me giving
background? I will ask the question and then give the background during discussion.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: You have been talking for about two (2)
minutes and I am just waiting for the question.
Councilmember Cowden: I was just trying to give a little bit of
background. My background is lithium batteries are problematic. They are made in
China and most of the lithium comes from very difficult areas that we are not even
in good politics with. I am worried that we put all these elements there and we do
COUNCIL MEETING 36 JULY 20, 2022
not have the room for it. I wanted to say, I know you are doing this in compliance
with what the State is saying. I am asking, was there any consideration for hydrogen
or looking at that option? Maybe you can speak to any concerns there might be for
lithium extraction and getting rid of the lithium waste that we would have here on
the island. Has this been considered? There is a lot of data showing that this might
be difficult. What are your thoughts on lithium batteries?
Councilmember Evslin: I can answer that really quickly. You said
lithium is problematic and yet we know that climate change is catastrophic. I
certainly, and I think everybody does agree that there are large environmental issues
with mining lithium. Those environmental issues are in some sense dwarfed by the
threat of climate change. There are lots of time, money, and research going into ways
to recycle existing lithium batteries, how to make this process more environmentally
friendly, et cetera. In the same way that fossil fuel extraction is incredibly damaging,
one-third (1/3) of our oil comes from Russia. There are a lot of terrible aspects around
our current structure, including climate change being by far the worst here. Yes,
climate change is worst than lithium. As far as the issue with hydrogen vehicles is
that there are zero (0) charging stations here in Hawai`i. I believe there are only
approximately fifty (50) in the entire country. Hydrogen vehicles have not taken off
the same way as electric vehicles. Right now, you can buy an electric vehicle and it
costs less over its lifetime than its equivalent fossil fuel counterpart, where that is
certainly not the case for hydrogen vehicles. Electric vehicle technology is here and
is expanding rapidly. We need the infrastructure to make it work. Hydrogen vehicles
are not yet there. Hopefully, one day they will be and that will be another viable
alternative. Sorry, lastly, on hydrogen, you do not need a public charging station for
hydrogen. Hydrogen is refilled essentially at a location equivalent to a gas station.
The private market in some sense can do that. People have started running hydrogen
stations to fill up hydrogen. It does not work the same for electric vehicle charging
because of the length of time it takes for recharging. We need a public charging
network for that.
Councilmember Cowden: Yes. Hydrogen here, we would want to be
making it ourselves. How about this, I will send you a list...can I do this, Council
Chair? Can I send them a list of my concerns about the lithium batteries or send it
to staff and they can send it to them if that is not serial communication? Otherwise,
I will say it here so that we are in compliance with the Sunshine Law.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: I would say it on air. I believe if you sent it to
them it would be serial communication. That would probably be during your
discussion time.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, I will do that during my discussion
time. I am asking them now, if when I put out my concerns, that maybe when we
come back to Committee, it will have already been corrected at the Planning
Commission by this time. If there can be a presentation where we show where the
climate change challenge is different. I have been trying to research this. As I am
looking at it in the six (6) days since it came on our agenda, I am seeing a lot that is
COUNCIL MEETING 37 JULY 20, 2022
saying that this might not be environmentally better and that there are these
problems. During my discussion time I will say what my pieces are so perhaps you
can give us a presentation. I do not want to be in disagreement with you. I just want
to be sure that we are going to be asking the Building Division that if we are going to
be putting something in Code that it is going to be asking for something, that it is
going to be viable in five (5) years and that there will not be substantial changes. Are
you willing to do that? Is that something that you can look at, so I do not make you
answer a bunch of questions on the floor?
Councilmember Evslin: If you are asking for a presentation on the
threat of climate change, I do not really...
Councilmember Cowden: A comparison between electric
vehicles...lithium batteries take a lot of energy to destroy. They take a lot of energy
to create. The shipping takes a lot of energy. If we are charging at night, that is
using diesel power inefficiently. I just want to be sure the math and the science works
out.
Councilmember Evslin: I do not think you need a presentation from
me. If you look at the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) website, the
embodied lifetime emissions of lithium batteries is a teeny fraction of the lifetime
emissions of a fossil fuel vehicle. There has been a lot of research on that front. If
you want, I can bring some information at the next meeting. It is readily available
online.
Councilmember Cowden: Great.Maybe you can bring some
information on how we would be shipping these, to where, how much it would cost to
do it, and do we have the capacity to manage all of these batteries that we would be
leaving. I just want to be able to see that information. I did look.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden...
Councilmember Cowden: I just want to be excited about this. I am just
trying to be responsible and ask the alternative questions. I want to be in full support
of this and be yes, yes, yes, for this Bill.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Again, this is an EV charging station Bill. I
do not know if disposal of batteries and a whole presentation on the effects of batteries
and where they are mined is part of the actual Bill or something that Councilmembers
Evslin or Kuali`i would do. If you want to share that information in your discussion,
I think it would be the appropriate place to express why you have concerns about it.
To have them do a presentation on that with this Bill, I do not think would be
necessary.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, I will try and find some of that
information. Hopefully what they said so simply is correct. This is upstream of the
Bill. If we require fifteen percent (15%) of the parking to be EV charging stations,
that means we probably want fifteen percent (15%) of our cars to be that. If we have
fifteen percent (15%) of our cars to be that we need to be able to deal with the waste
COUNCIL MEETING 38 JULY 20, 2022
of the cars. It is just trying to look comprehensively at what we are asking for. That
is all I am trying to do.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Do we have any further questions from the
Members? Again, this Bill will be sent to the Planning Commission and then it will
come back to us for public hearing, Committee, and full Council. If not, while the
rules are still suspended, we will take public testimony. Is there anyone in the
audience or on Zoom wishing to testify? Lonnie.
Mr. Sykos: My thanks to the two (2) Councilmembers for
making their observations about this Bill. Although the Bill is about charging
stations, it also is about lithium batteries, because you are picking winners and losers
in the change in technology for motor vehicles. It is that simple. The State has
decided for whatever reason to choose lithium batteries over all of the other options.
From the theoretical side, hydrogen is by far the superior energy method that we are
aware of. It is simply a matter of will that technology develop. We are talking now
about twenty (20) some years from now. Lacking a crystal ball, we do not know which
technology is going to win out. Yet, the State is pushing us towards a technology that
is as problematic as petroleum is. The country that has the most different types of
rare Earth minerals literally on the surface of the ground that you could harvest with
a shovel is Afghanistan. Afghanistan could be a trillion-dollar country except it is
unstable, cannot be mined, and everyone has left because they gave up. We will go
and get lithium from other places. As the Councilmember showed, it is problematic
and this Bill is problematic because we are backing the State in picking winners or
losers. It bothers me that that charging station has been broken for years. It has
been broken so long I do not remember the first time I remembered it being broken.
My second observation is...I agree, I have friends that have electric cars. They go to
the shopping center to park it so that they do not have to pay to charge it at home.
They go to the shopping center, park their car, recharge it, get in their friends car,
and go cruising or surfing. You build all of these stations and how are you going to
deal with the cars that are using it as a parking stall? Maybe you need a fine for
blocking the charger. If your vehicle is not being charged, how are you going to get it
out of the stall so someone else can actually charge their vehicle. This Bill has a good
intent, but lacking to work in real life. I am hesitant to support this.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Next up, we have a testifier.
Please state your name for the record and you will have three (3) minutes. The light
will turn green when it starts. It will turn yellow when you have thirty (30) seconds.
It will turn red when your three-minutes (3) is up. If you need another three (3)
minutes, we are going to go around the room first and let everyone have a chance.
ANDREW KASS:Hello, Councilmembers. My name is Andrew
Kass. I am an electric vehicle driver for eight (8) years. I have driven eighty
thousand (80,000) miles on Kaua`i with two (2) electric cars—we have Nissan Leafs.
My experience has been that they are affordable and efficient vehicles for usage for
me—they are cheap to run. Yes, they are more expensive to buy. Although now, with
the used market, they are getting down. You can find used ones for eight thousand
dollars ($8,000) to ten thousand dollars ($10,000). In my mind, because of the
efficiency and there are no oil changes, no tuning, or anything, they are affordable
transportation. They could be for more people on Kaua`i. There is a supply issue just
like all used cars and other things right now, that hopefully will get resolved, but they
are a solution for affordable transportation on Kaua`i. There are many other issues
COUNCIL MEETING 39 JULY 20, 2022
that have been brought up, but I just think that at the same time they are reducing
our fossil fuel dependency on Kauai, so if we can with solar energy that we are
creating energy here on Kauai, then we are spending money on Kauai to KIUC for
that energy, we are not spending money on importing fossil fuels from places like
Russia and Saudi Arabia. Councilmember Cowden brought up some issues with
lithium and Councilmember Evslin mentioned yes, there are issues, but there are
much bigger problems right now. If you look at places where we get oil like Saudi
Arabia is an issue; I wish you would address things like that. Deep water horizon:
so there are a lot of issues around itwetalkaboutpollutionfromouroiladdiction,
but I think alternatives are worse. One last issue that we have is, you talked about
the electricians who have to install these chargers, at least we know about conduits
and copper wiring; that is easy, we have people who can do it, like Councilmember
Evslin said, there is no hydrogen delivery system in Hawaii, there are a few on the
mainland, but we do not know how to do that, those are expensive materials to deliver
hydrogen to your car, you need a special tank and special hoses in your car. Right
now, we can install chargers easily, it is known technology, it is easy to do, and it
helps the "chicken and egg" problem of having electric cars, you need more chargers,
then you need more cars, so it is going to help bring more affordable transportation
to Kauai to pass this Bill. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Is there anyone else in the
audience wishing to testify? Seeing none. Is there anyone on Zoom wishing to testify?
Tara.
Ms. Rojas: Aloha. I just wanted to testify on what was
mentioned about the fine. Just hearing this, for electric vehicles, I have ohana and
friends that have them, however, the issue about fines is concerning, especially, I
guess the nonchalant or mindset of the person, where you said that they are not
looking to fine, but try to remedy any discrepancies, yet, how things are written. The
Councilmember mentioned that when someone else comes in, and you read things
as-is on paper, they did not know that the previous mindset was to work with the
discrepancies before having to actually apply this fine, so again, like how they
mentioned another Administration or person reading this might have a different
mentality, so is there something that can be written in there? I looked up
Chapter 8-3.5, where some kind of levels you work with, or a warning, or something
like that, because it is two-sided. You want to encourage this, but you also do not
want to discourage, you do not want to penalize, but if it purposely being done...I do
not know, just hearing whatever you are saying, using it as a parking stall versus
actual charging, so you will have to see the two-sides, so maybe put it in writing. I
know it is in the Chapter, so it might be amending, but something where it is not just
to say, okay, ten thousand dollars ($10,000), and even at yourself you do not know
how to read this, what is written as-is, so put in "warning" or "work with" to remedy
the issue. You have to look at everything that everyone has been mentioning. Since
this is bill for first reading, now is the time to get the input in, as well as looking at
what is in the Chapter right now, as written. Mahalo.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Next up, we have Goren.
COUNCIL MEETING 40 JULY 20, 2022
GORAN RADOVANOVIC (via remote technology): My name is Goran. I live
in Wailua Homesteads. I have been an electric vehicle owner since 2013. I have
driven probably around eighty thousand (80,000) to ninety thousand (90,000) miles
on the island electrically powered. I am a solar energy consultant, as well. My
concern with this Bill is that it is absolutely necessary that we have a Bill like this.
Our neighbor islands are ahead of us in this type of legislation. One of the things
that is a huge benefit happening here on the island is that we are producing more
renewable energy of our own sourced right here on Kaua`i that could be used for
electrified transportation. This power could easily be directed into vehicles and
buses. Let us just face it, we need to ween ourselves off of oil that is putting so much
CO2 in our atmosphere, that is the cause of global warming and climate change.
Petroleum that is being burned, we might as well shift that addiction to electric, solar,
and renewable power; the technology is here. The technology is happening right now.
This Bill allows electric vehicle chargers to be available to the masses. We need to
give the public access to vehicle chargers, so that they can drive more affordably.
These vehicles are easier to maintain. It is a lot less expensive to drive an electric
vehicle. Everyone says it over and over again, if you do not know, try it, drive one,
see what it is like, it will change your mind about electric vehicles. Someone
mentioned a few times, what about people that park their cars and charge overnight,
and that sort of thing. Well guess what, I am an electric vehicle charging station
owner. We have a charging station at the Waimea Baptist Church, and we charge
people to park at that spot. So if you are charging, and you want to park there
overnight. Well guess what, the Bill will add up. So that type of technology or
accounting for time plugged in...if you are going to charge all night long, go right
ahead, it is going to cost you money. So there is a financial incentive to keep people
moving along. These charging stations are WiFi connected, time is being accounted
for, and people can move right along if they do not want to pay a set amount per hour
to stay there and charge their cars. That is all I have to say, thank you so much.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Is there anyone else on Zoom
wishing to testify? If not, are there any further questions from the Members? Are
there any final discussion from the Members before it gets referred to the Planning
Commission? Councilmember DeCosta.
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows:
Councilmember DeCosta: I had a little to say. I am going to have to
address some of the concerns of Councilmember Cowden, I think this Bill does
address EV chargers, but the vehicle that uses the EV charger does have lithium
batteries in it, it will eventually end up in our landfill, or be disposed of by our County.
We are the County government who will be responsible for those batteries. Not every
family can afford a new electric vehicle. I believe electricity and solar is a driven force
by different political parties and now we are under the Democratic regime and things
could change, and fossil fuel may become more of an importance, it may not, and I am
not saying I want to not save the world, but if you want to be real today, here in
Hawai`i, no matter what we do with our emissions and our carbon secretion and
carbon dioxide emissions, the rest of the world needs to be onboard with us, if they
are not, there still will be global warming. I think there are good points on both sides.
COUNCIL MEETING 41 JULY 20, 2022
I want to commend Councilmember Evslin and Councilmember Kuali`i for this, but I
do not want to ignore what Councilmember Cowden has brought up today. I would
like to hear what the Administration has to say in an E-mail, they do not have to tell
me now, but I would like to know what the Administration has to say about this
moving forward. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I will be brief. I love the intention of this Bill.
In this moment, I am definitely going to be voting "yes" to be moving it forward and
see where it goes. I will work myself to really find out some of the answers to these
questions, and I hope what Councilmember Evslin says is accurate, and I will be
bringing more information back when it comes to the Committee Meeting, if it is not
adapted in that time, but I think this absolutely needs to be explored by the
Commission. I want it to be something that is really excellent for us, and if I could
have an electric vehicle easily, I would have one. I am satisfied for now. I do not have
to have all my issues addressed.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Evslin.
Councilmember Evslin: Thank you all for the dialogue. I want to
thank Councilmember Kuali`i for slogging through this with me for the last year and
the collaboration with the Planning Department, and Office of Economic
Development (OED), that is doing a lot of great work on trying to figure out electric
vehicle charging incentives, so I appreciate all the work on this front. Just to respond
to a couple of things. Regarding the broken chargers in the Historic County Building
lot, those were replaced by the chargers across the street. I think there are
sixteen (16) chargers right across the street. We have more publicly available
chargers here in this County parking lot than I think anywhere else on Kaua`i, at
least anywhere else that I have seen, so we are doing good on that front. As far as
the cost of an EV that goes up a little bit. Today, if you finance a car, you are going
to be paying, if you have taken the financially cost monthly, fuel cost versus electricity
cost, you are paying less at the end of the day with an electric vehicle for almost all
types of electric vehicles on the market than you are for a comparable fossil fuel
vehicle, and that is using Hawai`i electricity and fuel rates, and that was the study
that did show that was done before the spike in fuel charges, and because of that
significant annual drop in the cost of electric vehicles, that is what accounts for the
thirty-three percent (33%) increase in electric vehicles in Hawai`i in just a single year.
The transition is happening very rapidly, whether we like it or not. For me, I think
it is a great thing, I am happy to encourage it, but we are not choosing winners or
losers, the market is essentially choosing the winner here, that EVs are getting
cheaper. The forecast is just a few years, up front sticker price would be less than
the cost of a fossil fuel car. What is happening and we need to ensure that we have
the infrastructure in place to help enable people to have access to these cars. A major
barrier is that if you have an older home, you often do not have the amperage for a
level 2 charger. It means you need to charge all night long with a triple charge, which
takes twelve (12) hours to get a full charge. So, if you have an old home, you cannot
have the charger, you are required to rely on the public network, and also, if you live
in multi-family housing, then you would rely on public charging network. So, when
COUNCIL MEETING 42 JULY 20, 2022
you see people parked in a grocery store parking lot, they are paying more than the
cost of electricity for charging, they are not doing that because they do not want to
charge at home. If you have the charger at home, you are going to choose to charge
at home. People are parked at Safeway for hours because they do not have access to
any other chargers. When a mall like Kukui Grove Shopping Center does not charge
someone for two (2) hours then charges after that, they are making their own
financial decision. They are deciding that it is enough of a draw to give free charging
for two (2) hours, get people to come to the mall, and start charging them after, and
that is what businesses around the island are doing, because you can charge over and
beyond the cost of electricity—help draw people there and then start charging people
for power. So, no establishment should be losing money with an installed charger.
Again, this is going to the Planning Commission and a lot more input there, then the
Committee Meeting where we can have a robust conversation about all aspects again,
but I appreciate the dialogue today. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I will add that if we are serious about
addressing climate change, this is really just one (1) very small step; there is a lot
more to do. I challenge all of you to come up with some Bills of your own, and some
ideas, maybe an amendment if you think you can improve this Bill, but it is just a
small thing, and we have to do a lot more if we are serious about addressing climate
change, and it is a catastrophe, it is a disaster, what we see in the news today, the
heat waves, it is ridiculous; long overdue.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Council Vice Chair Chock.
Councilmember Chock: Thank you, Chair. Thank you to the
introducers of this Bill. I can imagine what you had to go through to get it to this
point, so I look forward to the Planning Commission's review of it, and to see it back.
I think oftentimes government is criticized as being reactive, and to be quite honest,
we are, but this is being proactive, so I appreciate you, outside of any political agenda.
I think what we need to do is look at options and opportunities for us as a community,
and this offers something that we should be looking at. I hate for that to be the center
point of discussion here, yes, the reality of the political regime is as such, let us focus
on what it is we can do to help encourage new industries, new ways of thinking, and
new opportunities for us to live more sustainably on this island. Thank you. I look
forward to the Committee Meeting where we can unpack this more, and I will
encourage everyone...there are concerns that we do come together to bring some
background research on your own, so that we can contribute to a more productive
discussion in the Committee Meeting. I would also encourage that if that is the
direction that you as individual Councilmembers are leading, that you do come with
at least potential amendments that we can dive into and unpack further. Thank you,
Chair.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Carvalho.
Councilmember Carvalho: Overall, we have been moving in this
direction in so many different ways. Even our Kaua`i Buses are moving forward with
COUNCIL MEETING 43 JULY 20, 2022
is happening already,buses and charging stations that pp g reay, so in this discussion
there is more to put on the table. I look forward to reaching out more. There will be
more discussion on this, but I believe we are moving in the right direction, especially
with how we are at with our environment and being more sustainable overall. So I
look forward to more healthy discussion, and I think we have good opportunities to
bridge and connect and get resources coming back to move this effort forward in a
positive way. A lot of questions will come up, I know that for a fact, but I think we
are on the right track as far as what is happening before us, so I look forward for
more discussion, of course, with the Planning Commission, as well.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there anyone else? Councilmember
DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: I appreciate Councilmember Evslin and
Councilmember Kuali`i on encouraging us to come up with some amendments or a
Bill of our own to improve this environment. Council Vice Chair Chock, you made a
good point about coming to the Committee Meeting and doing our homework, but
remember the Bill was introduced by Councilmember Kuali`i and Councilmember
Evslin, and we did not know about it until now, so now we are asking questions, and
I need to give "props" to myself and Councilmember Cowden for bringing up critical
issues that there are people out there watching today that believe the same as us.
There are people like you who believe the same as you, and that is the beauty of this
Council that we can have these discussions, intellectually fruitful discussions, and
we may not see everything the same way, we might not be as...I do not want to say
climate change sensitive, but we might have other ideas, or other ways, or other
constituents that we need to speak on behalf, and we need to be able to articulate our
vision and not get in a frustrating way, because your discussion did not go the way
you folks wanted. So I am excited to see what is going to happen in the Committee
Meeting. Yes, by all means, I will do my homework. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there anyone else? If not, roll call vote.
The motion to refer Proposed Draft Bill (No.2877) to the Planning Commission
was then put, and carried by the following vote:
FOR REFERRAL: Carvalho, Chock, Cowden, DeCosta,
Evslin, Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL— 7,
AGAINST REFERRAL: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We are past our lunch and break, but I do see
testifiers in the audience who have been here all morning. I want to get to their
two (2) items, so I am going to jump around. We are going to take the Fire Collective
COUNCIL MEETING 44 JULY 20, 2022
Bargaining Bill No. 2866 on the Council Meeting agenda. When we complete that,
we are going to recess the Council Meeting. Then, we will take the Committee
Meeting Parks & Recreation / Transportation Committee item, so the other two (2)
testifiers can testify. I do not want them to have to come back after lunch; they have
been waiting very patiently for their item. Clerk, please read page 5, Bill No. 2866.
There being no objections, Bill No. 2866 was taken out of order.
BILLS FOR SECOND READING:
Bill No. 2866 —A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE APPROVING A COLLECTIVE
BARGAINING AGREEMENT FOR BARGAINING UNIT 11 BETWEEN
JULY 1, 2021 AND JUNE 30, 2025
Councilmember Carvalho moved to approve Bill No. 2866 on second and final
reading, and that it be transmitted to the Mayor for his approval, seconded by
Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We have testifiers. Blair.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
BLAIR YAMASHITA:Aloha, Council Chair. For the record, Blair
Yamashita, Hawai`i Fire Fighters Association (HFFA), Kaua`i Division Chair, also
Kaua`i Fire Department (KFD) Fire Captain. I want to say thank you for allowing us
the opportunity to speak today. As you folks know, HFFA represents one thousand
eight hundred (1,800) career firefighters around the State, responsible for staffing
both County and State facilities, as well as six hundred plus (600+) retirees, and here
on the island we have one hundred thirty-nine (139) County firefighters along with
around forty (40) State firefighters, as well. HFFA thanks the Council for its
continued support and commitment to public safety and urges the passage and a"yes"
vote on Bill No. 2866 for the contractual award for bargaining Unit 11. Having
satisfied the procedural requirements of Hawai`i Revised Statutes 8 and 9, and
arbitrated on by a neutral third party as being fair, we stand by this contract. The
last time we were here three (3)years ago, we came to this Chambers informing about
the secondary and hidden hazards that we face that go and compound along with the
inherent dangers of our jobs that people see the fires that we go to, the working
conditions. Things like the increased rates of cancer and shorter life expectancies
than the general population, and increased diagnosis of Post Traumatic System
Disorder (PTSD) comparatively. COVID-19 in the last thirty (30) months have just
reinforced the importance of having a well-supported and funded public safety sector.
Fire, Police, and Emergency Management Services (EMS), continued at the same
high-level through a once in a lifetime pandemic, often putting our members face to
covered face with the disease, and each time the phone went off, we answered the call
knowing we were possibly subjecting ourselves to COVID-19 and not only that, but
to our families. I will finish by reiterating, we stand by the contract, and we know
COUNCIL MEETING 45 JULY 20, 2022
that the Council, the County of Kauai, and the community stands with us also.
Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Is there anyone else in the
audience wishing to testify? Nick.
NICHOLAS PANANGANAN: Good afternoon. Nick Pananganan, Fire
Captain for the Kaua`i Fire Department, Division Recorder for HFFA. I will be brief.
As Blair reiterated, we stand just at one hundred thirty-nine (139) members for
our County Divisions. We also represent our State Association of Retired Fire
Fighters (ARFF) members, one thousand eight hundred (1,800) members across
Statewide. Just here to put faces to the numbers and names associated with this Bill,
just asking for your support. It went through first reading, we are just looking for a
yes" vote to pass our bargaining agreement, everything went through binding
arbitration where employer and bargaining unit met with fair negotiations and was
awarded by third party arbitrator, and we are just asking for that recognition of the
process in compliance with good faith bargaining in the HRS. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there anyone else in the audience wishing
to testify? Seeing none. Is there anyone on Zoom wishing to testify? Seeing none.
Are there any questions from the Members? Is there any final discussion from the
Members? Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: I want to thank the two (2) firefighters for
coming today. I want to be proactive and thank all the firefighters throughout the
State, moreso here on Kaua`i, because they are the ones that save us, respond
medically to our kapuna, you folks are under thanked, and we only do it when we hit
the emergency and something happens to our loved ones, and we feel compelled to
thank you, so today, I am goingto thank you on behalf of the Council and Council
staff that we are indebted for you folks to keep us safe at the forefront of our
wellbeing. Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there anyone else? Councilmember
Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I want to thank you both for coming in here
and speaking to us, waiting patiently through the meeting. I want to thank all the
firefighters both on Kaua`i and in the State, you are deeply appreciated. This is
second reading right now, so when we say "yes" today it is a done deal, and when I
look at the numbers, the percentages, I know that does not keep up with inflation, so
it is a very easy, willing, and strong "yes." Yes, you deserve it, yes, we are going to
give it to you, yes, we are glad that you are getting it, so thank you very much.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i.
COUNCIL MEETING 46 JULY 20, 2022
Councilmember Kuali`i: I, too, want to lend my voice of gratitude,
mahalo nui loa to Firefighter Yamashita and Firefighter Pananganan for showing up
today and representing all our other firefighters. Absolutely, we have always known
how critical first responders are for us, and became even more apparent during
COVID-19, and we appreciate all that you have done to help get us through that, so
I will support this very easily.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Carvalho.
Councilmember Carvalho: Mahalo again, you folks have been totally
supportive, your heart, your soul, your dedication to the work that you do for the
people, mahalo to your families, as well. Today, we totally support it one hundred
percent (100%). Mahalo for everything you folks do.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there anyone else? Councilmember Evslin.
Councilmember Evslin: I just want to express my appreciation for the
work that KFD does here. My guess is I have the distinction among the Council of
being rescued by the Fire Department more than anyone else among my colleagues
here, maybe Councilmember Cowden has me beat there, but three (3) or four (4) times
that I have been in hairy situations, and it is always such a relief to see someone
paddling out on a board or in a helicopter to help you out. So a lot of appreciation for
the work that our first responders do, even outside of the last two (2) years of crisis
that we have been in. Thank you. Easy vote today.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there anyone else? If not, roll call vote.
The motion to approve Bill No. 2866 on second and final reading, and that it
be transmitted to the Mayor for his approval was then put, and carried by the
following vote:
FOR APPROVAL: Carvalho, Chock, Cowden, DeCosta,
Evslin, Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL— 7,
AGAINST APPROVAL: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: The motion passes. With that, we will recess
our Council Meeting and we are going to start with the Committee Meeting, starting
with the Parks & Recreation / Transportation Committee.
There being no objections, the meeting recessed at 12:54 p.m.
The meeting was called back to order at 2:04 p.m., and proceeded as follows:
COUNCIL MEETING 47 JULY 20, 2022
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Welcome back, we are on page 4 of our Council
Meeting agenda under Bills for Second Reading.
Bill No. 2861 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 5A,
SECTIONS 5A-3.4, 5A-6.1, 5A-6.4, 5A-12.1, 5A-12.3, 5A-12.7, AND 5A-12.8, KAUAI
COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO REAL PROPERTY TAXES
Councilmember Carvalho moved to approve Bill No. 2861 on second and final
reading, and that it be transmitted to the Mayor for his approval, seconded by
Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We received no written testimony on this
item. Are there any questions on this item? Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I am just making sure that I understand this
completely. My understanding is that when these corrections happen at the Board of
Review, the person under consideration has eliminated an extra step and they get
their status changed as far as real property tax is concerned. That is the main thing,
right? It is removing that extra step.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Ms. Matsuyama: Sorry, Councilmember Cowden, can you
repeat that question?
Councilmember Cowden: The main piece, and we have been over this
multiple times, but the Board shall have the power to change a property tax rate
classification right there where it gets corrected, and the person does not have to go
back and refile if they had it wrong? When they go to the Board of Review, they could
fix it right there. That is the main element?
Ms. Matsuyama: Yes, that part is basically a housekeeping
measure, because the basis to appeal a tax classification does not appear in Section 12
of Chapter 5A. It appears in the other section that establishes the tax classification,
but it was not written in the appeal section. We are just making sure that all of the
ways that someone can appeal are all captured in Section 12, which is the appeal
section of Chapter 5A.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. It is simple.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions from the
Members? Is there anyone in the audience or on Zoom wishing to testify on this item?
Jeff.
JEFF LINDNER: Aloha, Councilmembers. There was a point of
clarity that under an illegal claim, the Board does not handle that, right? That is
what I read. Typically, you could go straight to Honolulu if you wanted to, right? If
it is an illegal claim or issue, I think what it is saying is that you have to...the court
has to rule on that. I guess my question is if somebody has illegal with non-uniform
COUNCIL MEETING 48 JULY 20, 2022
or any of the other issues, do you have to go through the Board and satisfy those other
three (3) first, and then go to the court for the illegal, or if the illegal is in that will
you go straight to the court? That was not clear. I am just trying to get clarity on
that. That is if I am understanding the illegal part, that it has to go to court.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Okay. Is there anyone online wishing to
testify? Are there any further questions from the Members? Councilmember
Cowden, do you have a question?
Councilmember Cowden: I sort of understood what he was asking. Is it
possible that we can get clarification on that, what Jeff was asking?
Ms. Matsuyama: I can run through the ways or the reasons
why you can appeal. The assessed value you can appeal on. I think the one that he
was talking about was the second one, lack of uniformity or inequality. If you did not
get an exemption or dedication, you can appeal that. The illegality one, you can
appeal that as well. Then tax classification, we are adding to the section. We are not
adding to the Code, but adding to the section. On any of those basis, what we are
saying in this Bill is that you can appeal any of those or all of those, but you still have
to go through the Board of Review first in any case, before you went to the State Tax
Court.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Are there any other questions from the
Members?
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded
as follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there any final discussion? I will take a roll
call vote.
The motion to approve Bill No. 2861, on second and final reading, and that it be
transmitted to the Mayor for his approval was then put, and carried by the
following vote:
FOR APPROVAL: Carvalho, Chock, Cowden, DeCosta,
Evslin, Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL— 7,
AGAINST APPROVAL: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes.
Bill No. 2863 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE APPROVING A COLLECTIVE
BARGAINING AGREEMENT FOR BARGAINING UNIT 2 BETWEEN
JULY 1, 2021 AND JUNE 30, 2025
COUNCIL MEETING 49 JULY 20, 2022
Councilmember Carvalho moved to approve Bill No. 2863 on second and final
reading, and that it be transmitted to the Mayor for his approval, seconded by
Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: This is for blue collar supervisory workers. Is
there anyone in the audience or on Zoom wishing to testify?
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there any questions or discussion from the
Members? If not, we will take a roll call vote.
The motion to approve Bill No. 2863, on second and final reading, and that it be
transmitted to the Mayor for his approval was then put, and carried by the
following vote:
FOR APPROVAL: Carvalho, Chock, Cowden, DeCosta,
Evslin, Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL— 7,
AGAINST APPROVAL: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes.
Bill No. 2864—A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE APPROVING A COLLECTIVE
BARGAINING AGREEMENT FOR BARGAINING UNIT 3 BETWEEN
JULY 1, 2021 AND JUNE 30, 2025
Councilmember Carvalho moved to approve Bill No. 2864 on second and final
reading, and that it be transmitted to the Mayor for his approval, seconded by
Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We received no written testimony on this
item. Is there anyone in the audience or on Zoom wishing to testify?
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there any questions or discussion from the
Members? This is for white collar non-supervisory employees. If not, we will take a
roll call vote.
COUNCIL MEETING 50 JULY 20, 2022
The motion to approve Bill No. 2864, on second and final reading, and that it be
transmitted to the Mayor for his approval was then put, and carried by the
following vote:
FOR APPROVAL: Carvalho, Chock, Cowden, DeCosta,
Evslin, Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL— 7,
AGAINST APPROVAL: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes.
Bill No. 2865 —A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE APPROVING A COLLECTIVE
BARGAINING AGREEMENT FOR BARGAINING UNIT 4 BETWEEN
JULY 1, 2021 AND JUNE 30, 2025
Councilmember Carvalho moved to approve Bill No. 2865 on second and final
reading, and that it be transmitted to the Mayor for his approval, seconded by
Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: This is for white collar supervisory employees.
Is there anyone in the audience or on Zoom wishing to testify?
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there any questions or discussion from the
Members? If not, we will take a roll call vote.
The motion to approve Bill No. 2865, on second and final reading, and that it be
transmitted to the Mayor for his approval was then put, and carried by the
following vote:
FOR APPROVAL: Carvalho, Chock, Cowden, DeCosta,
Evslin, Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL— 7,
AGAINST APPROVAL: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes.
Bill No. 2867 —A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE APPROVING A COLLECTIVE
BARGAINING AGREEMENT FOR BARGAINING UNIT 13 BETWEEN
JULY 1, 2021 AND JUNE 30, 2025
Councilmember Carvalho moved to approve Bill No. 2867 on second and final
reading, and that it be transmitted to the Mayor for his approval, seconded by
Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: This is for professional and scientific
employees. We received no written testimony. Is there anyone in the audience or on
Zoom wishing to testify?
COUNCIL MEETING 51 JULY 20, 2022
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Is there any questions or discussion from the
Members? If not, we will take a roll call vote.
The motion to approve Bill No. 2867, on second and final reading, and that it be
transmitted to the Mayor for his approval was then put, and carried by the
following vote:
FOR APPROVAL: Carvalho, Chock, Cowden, DeCosta,
Evslin, Kuali`i, Kaneshiro TOTAL — 7,
AGAINST APPROVAL: None TOTAL — 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: Next up is Executive Session.
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
ES-1078 Pursuant to Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) Sections 92-4 and
92-5(a)(4) and (8), and Kaua`i County Charter Section 3.07(E), the purpose of this
Executive Session is to consult with the Council's legal counsel to receive legal
updates, overviews, and recommendations for purposes of obtaining Council approval
to settle two (2) workers' compensation claims. This deliberation and
decision-making involves matters that require the consideration of information that
must be kept confidential due to significant privacy interests. The significant privacy
interests relate to a medical history, diagnosis, condition, treatment, and evaluation.
This information is protected from disclosure pursuant to State or Federal law,
including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
Councilmember Carvalho moved to convene in Executive Session for ES-1078,
seconded by Councilmember De Costa.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We received no written testimony. Is there
anyone in the audience or on Zoom wishing to testify?
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
Council Chair Kaneshiro: We are going to take this Executive Session at
the end of our Committee Meetings.
The motion to convene into Executive Session for ES-1078 was then put, and
unanimously carried.
Council Chair Kaneshiro: The motion is carried. Not seeing or hearing
any objections, this Council Meeting is now adjourned. We will now begin our
Committee Meetings.
I
COUNCIL MEETING 52 JULY 20, 2022
ADJOURNMENT.
There being no further business, the Council Meeting adjourned at 2:14 p.m.
tfull submitted,
JADE FOUNTAIN-TANIGAWA
County Clerk
ks