HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/31/2023 Council minutes COUNCIL MEETING
MAY 31, 2023
The Council Meeting of the Council of the County of Kaua`i was called to order
by Council Chair Mel Rapozo at the Council Chambers, 4396 Rice Street, Suite 201,
Lihu`e, Kaua`i, on Wednesday, May 31, 2023, at 8:32 a.m., after which the following
Members answered the call of the roll:
Honorable Bernard P. Carvalho, Jr.
Honorable Felicia Cowden
Honorable Bill DeCosta
Honorable Ross Kagawa
Honorable KipuKai Kuali`i
Honorable Mel Rapozo
Excused: Honorable Addison Bulosan
APPROVAL OF AGENDA.
Councilmember Carvalho moved for approval of the agenda, as circulated,
seconded by Councilmember Kagawa.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
Seeing none.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
The motion for approval of the agenda, as circulated, was then put, and carried
by a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Bulosan was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please.
MINUTES of the following meetings of the Council:
May 10, 2023 Public Hearing re: Resolution No. 2023-33, Bill No. 2896, and
Bill No. 2897
May 15, 2023 Special Council Meeting
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve the Minutes, as circulated, seconded
by Councilmember Kagawa.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
Seeing none.
COUNCIL MEETING 2 MAY 31, 2023
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
The motion to approve the Minutes, as circulated, was then put, and carried
by a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Bulosan was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please.
CONSENT CALENDAR:
C 2023-119 Communication (04/20/2023) from the Mayor, transmitting for
Council consideration and confirmation, Mayoral appointee Kevin P. McGinnis to the
Board of Ethics — Term ending 12/31/2025.
C 2023-120 Communication (04/27/2023) from the Mayor, transmitting for
Council consideration and confirmation, Mayoral appointee Tyler R. Rodighiero to
the Cost Control Commission — Term ending 12/31/2024.
C 2023-121 Communication (05/01/2023) from the Director of Human
Resources, transmitting for Council information, the May 1, 2023 Human Resources
Report (Vacancy Report and Recruitment Status Report), pursuant to Section 24 of
Ordinance No. B-2022-886, relating to the Operating Budget of the County of Kaua`i
for Fiscal Year 2022-2023.
C 2023-122 Communication (05/02/2023) from the Director of Finance,
transmitting for Council information, Period 7 Financial Reports — Statement of
Revenues, Statement of Expenditures and Encumbrances, Revenue Report, and
Detailed Budget Report as of January 31, 2023, pursuant to Section 21 of Ordinance
No. B-2022-886, relating to the Operating Budget of the County of Kaua`i for Fiscal
Year 2022-2023.
C 2023-123 Communication (05/08/2023) from the Director of Finance,
transmitting for Council information, Period 8 Financial Reports — Statement of
Revenues, Statement of Expenditures and Encumbrances, Revenue Report, and
Detailed Budget Report as of February 28, 2023, pursuant to Section 21 of Ordinance
No. B-2022-886, relating to the Operating Budget of the County of Kaua`i for Fiscal
Year 2022-2023.
C 2023-125 Communication (05/16/2023) from the Director of Finance,
transmitting for Council information, the Condition of the County Treasury
Statement quarterly report as of February 9, 2023.
JADE K. FOUNTAIN-TANIGAWA, County Clerk: There is a request to take
C 2023-124 off the Consent Calendar.
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to receive C 2023-119, C 2023-120, C 2023-121,
C 2023-122, C 2023-123, and C 2023-125 for the record, seconded by
Councilmember Carvalho.
COUNCIL MEETING 3 MAY 31, 2023
Council Chair Rapozo: The motion is to receive all items on the
Consent Calendar except for C 2023-124. Is there any discussion or public testimony?
Seeing none.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
The motion to receive C 2023-119, C 2023-120, C 2023-121, C 2023-122,
C 2023-123, and C 2023-125 for the record, was then put, and carried by a vote
of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Bulosan was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please.
COMMUNICATIONS:
C 2023-124 Communication (05/09/2023) from the Director of Finance,
transmitting for Council information, Period 9 Financial Reports — Statement of
Revenues, Statement of Expenditures and Encumbrances, Revenue Report, and
Detailed Budget Report as of March 31, 2023, pursuant to Section 21 of Ordinance
No. B-2022-886, relating to the Operating Budget of the County of Kaua`i for Fiscal
Year 2022-2023.
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to receive C 2023-124 for the record, seconded
by Councilmember Cowden.
Council Chair Rapozo: With that, I will suspend the rules. Reiko.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
REIKO MATSUYAMA, Director of Finance: Good morning.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you, Reiko, for the great job that you
do. I know we do not normally pull items off the Consent Calendar, but I want to
appreciate that we are looking at the audited financial report, which is last year, we
are looking at the budget, which is next year, so when we look at this financial report,
that is this year. Thank you for the work that you do there. I appreciated that you
responded to some of my questions. What is important to me when we are looking at
how we spend money is...like, you called it the "burn rate." I like that term. When I
look through the report, for example, I see on page 31 Human Resources (HR), we
have estimates, maybe seven thousand or some odd percent or six thousand and some
odd percent of what is expected. I appreciate that you gave me a written response,
but I would like it in the future if we can have that at the top of these reports.
Ms. Matsuyama: Reiko Matsuyama, Finance Director. These
reports are current year, so Fiscal Year 2023, we closed them as we get things in from
the departments, we are able to close periods. Periods correlate to the months, so
right now you see Periods 7, 8, and 9 in front of you, so that is January, February,
and March of 2023. Yes, if you go through Period 9, you would expect the "burn rate"
to be approximately seventy-five percent (75%), because you are three quarters of the
COUNCIL MEETING 4 MAY 31, 2023
way through the year. That being said, you have these abnormalities, obviously there
are expenditures that come, initially like in the beginning of the year or vice versa
that come in the latter half of the year, so you might not be every month you spend
exactly the same amount. For the ones you are talking about, HR and Accounting, I
think are the two (2) that have these real big abnormalities where...I think the one
you are talking about is...
Councilmember Cowden: HR.
Ms. Matsuyama: HR covers everything, so they will pay for
everything up front and then they will do an adjusting journal entry at the end of the
year to charge back all the departments. It will look heavy on HR, but it should be
spread across everything. Overall, the burn rate for Period 9 was seventy-three point
something percent, so it is kind of on track on the overall grand scheme of things.
Councilmember Cowden: How do we get that burn rate to be put on this
report? That would be easier, it is like looking through the entire budget, it takes a
lot of work to go through these reports. I focus mostly on Period 9, because that was
March, the other two (2) would roll into that, but I feel like it is our job to be looking
at: "Are we spending what we are supposed to be spending?" Throughout the budget
there are areas where it is higher than normal, so it is important for us to be able to
anticipate ahead of time. If we had a burn rate and maybe a sentence or two that if
there is some sort of anomaly, it would be easier to interpret it. The amount of time
it takes to look at it is a lot. While I have faith that you are doing a good job, it is my
responsibility to be looking, noticing, and anticipating a problem ahead of time. I
picked HR because that was extreme, but there are variations throughout...and there
was no burn rate written there, so that would have helped. Can we have that?
Ms. Matsuyama: Yes, we can put it in the transmittal. I cannot
take credit for any of the period closing, it is these folks behind me, they are sitting
behind me for the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) presentation, but
they are the ones who put it together.
Councilmember Cowden: I appreciate all of you. I like to not waste your
time by having a bunch of questions, but I am trying to do my best job by paying
attention, so thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: You mentioned about not taking credit, you
brought two (2) of your workers, I would like to know who we have there and I would
like to personally thank them for a good job.
Ms. Matsuyama: Sherri Silva is our Fiscal Control Analyst, so
she is the one who actually is responsible for closing the periods. If there is a delay,
it is not her fault. These are inputs from other departments that usually hold up the
period closings, so you will see Period 10 come forward next agenda, so she was able
to close a bunch. Marisa Bettencourt is our Accountant IV, who is sitting back there
as well.
COUNCIL MEETING 5 MAY 31, 2023
Councilmember DeCosta: I would like to thank Sherri and Marisa for all
your hard work. Thank you for helping our County be where we are today.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any further questions? If not, thank
you, Reiko.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
The motion to receive C 2023-124 for the record was then put, and carried by
a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Bulosan was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: I do not see our auditors here yet, so we can
move to the next item.
C 2023-118 Communication (05/06/2023) from the Mayor, submitting his
Supplemental Budget Communication for Fiscal Year 2023-2024 and Proposed
Amendments to the Budget Bills, pursuant to Section 19.02A of the Kaua`i County
Charter.
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to receive C 2023-118 for the record, seconded
by Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
The motion to receive C 2023-118 for the record was then put, and carried by
a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Bulosan was excused).
C 2023-126 Communication (05/16/2023) from the Director of Liquor Control,
requesting Council approval to accept a donation from the Hawai`i State Department
of Health, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division, of two hundred forty (240) NARCAN
Nasal Spray Units (NALOXONE), valued at $30,000.00, to be offered to liquor
licensees upon successful completion of the manufacture training and
acknowledgement from the licensee of training completion.
Councilmember Carvalho moved to approve C 2023-126 with a thank-you
letter to follow, seconded by Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Rapozo: Did anyone have questions? I will suspend
the rules. Can you introduce yourself?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
LEO SANDOVAL, Director of Liquor Control: Good morning, Chair and
Members of the Council. Leo Sandoval, Director of Liquor Control. I am open to any
questions that you may have.
COUNCIL MEETING 6 MAY 31, 2023
Council Chair Rapozo: Can you provide the Council with a
brief...this is awesome, maybe you can explain how this came about and what the
plan is.
Mr. Sandoval: The Liquor Department—obviously we have
been a little more proactive trying to find resources for the community that will help
our licensees and also the community members who frequent these locations. With
the situation of the opioid overdose going on throughout the entire State and the
world, this was an additional resource that was brought to our attention through the
State Department of Health (DOH), Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division. They reached
out to the counties and asked us if they would like to distribute these types of
NARCAN devices through the Liquor Department. Seeing that there is a high
probability of people that may have this type of circumstance that happen, we wanted
to provide our licensees with that type of resource so that way they can act and
possibly save a life in the meantime before emergency services is able to respond to
those locations. That is kind of the things we were trying to do for our Department
and for our licensees. It was at no-cost to the Department and no-cost to our licensees,
so there was no reason why we could not offer this up as a beneficial service to them.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I am happy with this. How would your
licensees that would typically be bars and restaurants, and maybe liquor stores, how
would they know that this is available to them? Do you give them a handout or do
they come in; do you bring it there?
Mr. Sandoval: Right now, the plan is we are receiving the
merchandise at the Department. We are going to be sending out a communication to
all our licensees to advise them that this product is available for them. They can come
to our office at the time we begin the distribution and upon the release of...we have
a release of liability waiver that is being provided to us by the Office of the County
Attorney, so they can release the County from any liability. Once they come to us,
we will have to provide them with the training that also has been provided to us, so
we are going to have an acknowledgement that they received training of how to use
this product, and then the liability waiver, and then we will give it to them after they
have signed off all those acknowledgements. It is not going to be delivered by the
Department, it will be completely voluntarily on their part. If they would like the
product, they can come to our office and receive the product from us.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: How much training are we giving these people
who are going to be in control of these NARCAN sprays?
Mr. Sandoval: The training itself is a video that is provided
by the manufacturer. It is hardly any training that is required, it is more of an
informational video and it is about ten (10) to fifteen (15) minutes. It is the same
COUNCIL MEETING 7 MAY 31, 2023
training that is provided to all the police departments, it is an equivalent of a Nasonex
spray; any person can use it on the street.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you for that.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any further questions? If not, thank
you very much. That is good stuff. Is there any public testimony?
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any further discussion? Go ahead.
Councilmember Cowden: I want to appreciate this effort and very often
with places where there is congregating for celebrations with alcohol and different
things, might be typically an area where people who have other substance issues, this
is for fentanyl and opioid overdoes, there can be overlap in those communities, so I
thank the Department of Health and I thank our Liquor Department for the effort.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any further discussion? If not, thank
you for that. I will put a plug in for Malama Pono, because they also offer free
NARCAN sprays for the public. Everyone should always have a NARCAN in their
possession. This thing has saved many lives.
The motion to approve C 2023-126 with a thank-you letter to follow was then
put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Bulosan was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Chair, the next agenda item is C 2023-127,
but we have to convene in Executive Session, so if we can move to C 2023-128.
There being no objections, C 2023-128 was taken out of order.
C 2023-128 Communication (05/17/2023) from the County Engineer,
requesting Council approval of indemnification language as noted on Invitation For
Bid (IFB) 3863 and IFB 3871 for equipment rental for island-wide use for the
Department of Public Works.
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve C 2023-128, seconded by
Councilmember Cowden.
Council Chair Rapozo: With that, I will suspend the rules.
Mr. Tanigawa.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
TROY K. TANIGAWA, County Engineer: Troy Tanigawa, for the record.
COUNCIL MEETING 8 MAY 31, 2023
Council Chair Rapozo: Why do we need to rent equipment?
Mr. Tanigawa: These contracts are put out for equipment
rentals, various types of equipment for the Roads Division and the Solid Waste
Division. The need comes about for equipment rentals because operational needs
require certain specialty equipment, so for example the Roads Division does certain
road construction. They require anything from rollers to various types of equipment
to do the work that they do not typically do not have in inventory currently or the
equipment that they do have is in repair. To allow work to proceed as scheduled, the
rentals help us keep the workflow going. The indemnity provision is required by the
vendors. A joint inspection is done by the representative of the County in the
department or the division that is doing the rental and the rental company. After the
joint inspection and the equipment is cleared for the County to receive it, being in
good working order, it is turned over to the County. The vendors do not want to retain
the liability that is associated with the work being done with their equipment...the
work being done by the County, per se. That indemnity provision pretty much frees
them of that liability when the County is using their equipment.
Council Chair Rapozo: So, is this as-needed?
Mr. Tanigawa: As-needed, correct.
Council Chair Rapozo: We do not rely on these rentals to perform
work that...we should buy these types of equipment if we use it on an ongoing basis.
This is specifically for if a need arises, we do not have the equipment for whatever
reason, we do not have to go out to a bid, this is all done, the approvals are here in
this contract?
Mr. Tanigawa: Correct, and it is for equipment that we do
have on inventory, but it is down for repairs.
Council Chair Rapozo: Right, but it is as-needed.
Mr. Tanigawa: As-needed.
Council Chair Rapozo: We are not relying on this to do our daily
operations, that is the question.
Mr. Tanigawa: Not on an ongoing basis, but if we see a good
span of work or if we will have similar type of work or work requiring that similar
type equipment, we will actually come during budget and propose a purchase.
Council Chair Rapozo: The funds for these rentals are already
appropriated and secured?
Mr. Tanigawa: That is correct.
COUNCIL MEETING 9 MAY 31, 2023
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. The crane by Wailua Bridge, I know
that is a State project, but that crane has been there for months and months and not
being used. I am assuming that the State is paying a rental fee for that crane.
Mr. Tanigawa: I am not sure what the arrangement is.
Council Chair Rapozo: I cannot believe the rental company is letting
the State park their equipment there and...I guess that is what I am trying to avoid,
where we do not want to rent equipment for the sake of renting equipment and not
using it. That is why I asked the question about the "as-needed."
Mr. Tanigawa: Thank you. When we rent equipment,
typically we are in active use of that equipment.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any further questions?
Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I believe they are waiting on a bit, I asked
about that. They do not have the right bit for what they are trying to do...when I look
at all these, like twenty-five (25) different pieces of equipment, is it the same company
or would we get bids for several...as need we might use it from one company or
another.
Mr. Tanigawa: Based on the bid, the company who has the
low bid, fully-qualified bid, they will be a contract drawn up...
Councilmember Cowden: For all these pieces.
Mr. Tanigawa: For the pieces that, I believe that it is
awarded by group, so each company might have a certain amount of equipment in a
certain group. There will be contracts drawn up and they will be based on which
company has the lowest bid.
Councilmember Cowden: So, these seem like important pieces of
equipment and I do not remember us having done this any time while we have been
in office. Do we put a bid like this out every few years? Does this last for several
years? This is not familiar to me. Is it largely for the landfill?
Mr. Tanigawa: It is equipment for the landfill, it is also
equipment for the Roads Division operations. Allison, you might want to speak to the
term of the agreement.
ALLISON FRALEY, Acting Environmental Services Manager: Good
morning, Council. Sorry that we are late. Allison Fraley, for the record, Solid Waste
Division. We put out this contract for long-term rentals and it is for the Department
of Public Works, so it is for roads and landfill equipment, if we need to rent equipment
for longer than a very short period for a special project. That we have equipment
ready to rent. The last contract that we had for the landfill was for a three-year
COUNCIL MEETING 10 MAY 31, 2023
period when we took over the landfill, and then the Roads Division had a three-year
contract that we are going out for new equipment now.
Councilmember Cowden: I remember when Waste Management was
doing it and they left, all that equipment left the island, right?
Ms. Fraley: Yes.
Councilmember Cowden: We were days away from that. I want to make
sure that something like that does not happen again. This is our contract, no one will
take our equipment. We have control over it. But that equipment that had been
rented in the past was what we used to run the landfill, is that basically what is
happening again? This equipment might be used for a couple of years at a time.
Ms. Fraley: Yes, correct. Originally when we took over the
landfill, we did not own any heavy equipment and so we did have to rent it. Since
then, we purchased all the heavy equipment and we own all the landfill equipment,
except for one (1) piece right now that we are looking to rent. Most of the need for this
contract is for the Roads Division at this point, but yes, if something went down, then
that is when we would rent equipment. This is regarding the landfill need for that.
Councilmember Cowden: Does the Roads Division own most of their
equipment also?
Ms. Fraley: I believe they do.
Mr. Tanigawa: Sorry, Councilmember, could you...
Councilmember Cowden: The Roads Division...I was a little nervous
because we had almost lost our rental equipment before, that would have been a very
difficult situation. When we are using this for the Roads Division, like she just said,
we own most of our heavy equipment for the landfill now, do we own or lease most of
the equipment for our roads?
Mr. Tanigawa: We own most of the equipment that we use on
a regular basis. Specialty equipment that we do not regularly use, that is typically
what we are going to be renting.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. Those are my questions.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember DeCosta and then
Councilmember Carvalho.
Councilmember DeCosta: I want to thank the Department Head for
corresponding with me on this, because we talk a lot but do not mention it on the
floor, but I want to you folks to know that this equipment that our Department of
Public Works need to rent, it is almost like running your yard with your lawnmower
and weedeater. Most of the time we buy a lawnmower and we buy a weedeater, but
we do not buy the one with the blade, because we do not have a lot of thick grass in
COUNCIL MEETING 11 MAY 31, 2023
our yard. Why would you want to buy a piece of equipment that is going to sit on the
shelf, if you are only going to use it once or twice a year. I support them with their
insight...
Council Chair Rapozo: There is a question tied into this somewhere,
right?
Councilmember DeCosta: Yes, I am going to do it now.
Council Chair Rapozo: Just checking.
Councilmember DeCosta: I am explaining for the people out there, my
constituents who like the way I use common sense in my explanation. We do not
want to buy equipment that we are not going to use, it is a specialty equipment. I
would like to support this when they need it, they can go out and rent it. The question
I have for you is—are we giving them upfront money for that rental to be available?
We pay as we rent, am I correct?
Mr. Tanigawa: That is correct.
Councilmember DeCosta: If we use it, we pay, if we do not use it, then
we do not pay, and when our equipment is being fixed and we rent this equipment, if
our equipment comes back from the shop, can we return the equipment without
getting any field penalty?
Mr. Tanigawa: The rental is for a certain duration. Once the
duration is up, we return it.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: Years back, I remember having some claims
from the rental companies against us for returning equipment damaged, how is that
going on right now? Is that rare or is that something that is regular and how are we
addressing those users, so that we can reduce those numbers of...
Mr. Tanigawa: Damaged rentals? To my knowledge, I have
not heard of any problems. I would think if there were, that was an isolated case.
Councilmember Kagawa: Okay.
Mr. Tanigawa: We do inspections—a pre-operating
inspection and a post-operating inspection, as our standard procedures. All damages
are supposed to be reported, whether it is a rental or whether it is equipment that we
have and own. To that point, I have not heard of any problems.
Councilmember Kagawa: It was maybe before your time as County
Engineer, but I recall having one (1) case that came up that we had to pay for the
COUNCIL MEETING 12 MAY 31, 2023
damages. I am just wondering if that was something that occurs a lot, that would tell
me that maybe we perhaps are not having the proper people on that specific machine
with the proper training. If that is not happening, then it is all good.
Mr. Tanigawa: If I can clarify, recently I have not heard of
any problems, but if I recall, previously, years ago, that there were damaged trucks
that the County ended up having to get into a settlement with the rental company.
Councilmember Kagawa: Okay. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes, there have been a few, and the one I
remember that sticks out was a lot of money was attributed to not using the
equipment properly, something to do with the teeth or something on the buckets. I
would believe that the operators that we have are qualified in that equipment that
we rent, because these are not equipment that we have in inventory, so they are not
using these types of equipment on a regular basis, so when we do rent one of these,
are we making sure that these people have the right certifications to operate that
specific...
Mr. Tanigawa: That is correct, yes, we do.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there anyone in the audience
wishing to testify? Seeing none.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any further discussion? Seeing none.
The motion to approve C 2023-128 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1
(Councilmember Bulosan was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. The auditors are here, we
have two (2) items that should not take long, just so we can get rid of these two (2)
items, so these folks can get back to work. Next item, C 2023-129.
C 2023-129 Communication (05/18/2023) from the Prosecuting Attorney,
requesting Council approval to apply for, receive, and expend Federal funds in the
amount of$962,172.00, from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Fiscal Year (FY)
2023 Second Chance Act Pay for Success Program. These funds will be awarded to
start the E Ho`i I Ka Piko (Returning to the Center) Program and will fund a 1.0
Full-Time Employee (FTE) Social Worker IV position, fringe benefits, a modular unit
to house the Life's Choices staff, and the E Ho`i I Ka Piko Program, office equipment
and supplies. The proposed project period is October 2, 2023 to April 1, 2028.
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve C 2023-129, seconded by
Councilmember DeCosta.
COUNCIL MEETING 13 MAY 31, 2023
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion? We can suspend the
rules.
Councilmember Cowden: I am very thankful that we have this almost
one million dollars ($1,000,000) to be working for E Ho`i I Ka Piko (Returning to the
Center) Program, Second Chance Act Pay for Success Program, can you tell us a little
bit of what this is and where it is going to be? This is for people coming out of prison,
right?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
MICHAEL MIRANDA, Prevention Services Coordinator: Good morning,
Council Chair Rapozo and Councilmembers. Mike Miranda, Life's Choices
Coordinator, for the record. The program would be to provide permanent funding for
a mini grant that we were awarded last year to deal with reentry for inmates.
Basically, what we found was a full-time coordinator for this would be beneficial for
people who are released from Kauai Community Correctional Center (KCCC) or
released from court. The timing of the entire thing was kind of abrupt, I guess the
Department of Justice announced this back in March and there was a nine-day
window to apply after the announcement, so we had to quickly turn around and get
this in.
Councilmember Cowden: Good job. It help us reduce recidivism and
gives people hope. Do we know where this little building is going to be or any idea...is
it right near KCCC, it is near the Courthouse, where would it be?
Mr. Miranda: It would be in front of the Kaua`i Police
Department (KPD) and the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney complex on Ka'ana
Street.
Councilmember Cowden: Would we be able to help them get out of that
translucent paper suit, so they do not leave naked?
Mr. Miranda: Correct.
Councilmember Cowden: That would be great. I want to thank you. I
know we have a short period of time, is there anything else like...I think this is so
important, is there anything else that you feel like is essential to share with us now
to the public? When will this start?
Mr. Miranda: July or August of this year if we are awarded
the contract.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, we are just asking for the money.
Okay, "apply, receive, and expend"—we do not have the money yet?
KEOLA SIU, First Deputy Prosecuting Attorney: The "go-pack" program
itself has already started, as of February.
COUNCIL MEETING 14 MAY 31, 2023
Councilmember Cowden: I am just wondering if it is larger than just the
simple "go-pack." Does it pay for plane tickets home if someone is really incarcerated
here when they were not from here? Sometimes that happens. They come over here,
they commit a crime, they go to jail, sometimes it is good to send them back to
wherever they came from. Would it have that much capacity?
Mr. Miranda: That I am not sure. The contract language
was vague. Because of the short window, it allows us to establish those parameters
in the first eighteen (18) months.
Councilmember Cowden: Can I make a comment?
Council Chair Rapozo: When we are done with the questioning.
Councilmember DeCosta: Can you explain permanent funding? You
were asking for a grant but hopefully it leads to permanent funding. Are we as a
County going to permanently be funding this position, building, or this program? Is
that your wish?
Mr. Miranda: The contract would be good for up to five (5)
years.
Councilmember DeCosta: After the five (5) years, where does this
funding come from? Would we discuss that later with a new set of Councilmembers?
Mr. Miranda: Yes. The grant would be good for five (5)years
and then we hope to find ways to make it permanent as we go along.
Council Chair Rapozo: They just have to make it successful, so the
Council in five (5) years will say, "We will fund it." It is a good program. Are there
any further questions? Thank you. Is there anyone in the audience wishing to
testify?
BRUCE HART: For the record, Bruce Hart. What I would like
to speak to the Council about is not directly related to this grant request or the OPA.
In the recent past I spoke about the fact that some of the documentation that the OPA
gave, eighty percent (80%) of all crime on Kaua`i is drug-related. I said at that time
that I felt that it was a spiritual battle. I said that the church must accept some
"blame." I would like to change that to "responsibility." I think we all must accept
some responsibility for what is happening in our community, whether it is this or
other issues. In the past some Councilmembers were here and some were not, I
brought up a similar issue and asked the Council to look into faith-based
organizations in order that they might be able to participate. I feel that with the
comments I made that representing the church, here at Council that I am asking the
Council once again to investigate the issue of faith-based organizations having access
to programs like this. I look at the attachments to this grant request and I see one,
two, three, four, five organizations that they are going to work with. I do not know for
sure but it does not look to me like any of them are faith-based. We had faith-based
organizations come into the Council several times and offer themselves for service, so
COUNCIL MEETING 15 MAY 31, 2023
would you please consider, Council, looking into this? See if we can get faith-based
organizations included. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Hang on, Alice.
JILL LOWRY: Good morning, Council. Jill Lowry. I did not
even know this was on the agenda, but I spent part of my career in an adult detention
facility working there and it was hands down was one of the best jobs I ever had. I
learned so much about humanity and the brokenness of humanity, and so I strongly
encourage this Council to support not only this program, but any others that might
present itself and look at preparing to absorb this at the County-level ongoing. It is
a huge responsibility for our County and so I just randomly encourage you to support
this today. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Ms. Parker.
ALICE PARKER: Alice Parker. I heartily discourage combining
State and religion, because once one religion gets in there, they say, "It is only my
way or the highway," so please keep it "State and government" and not religion.
Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there anyone else?
SHERRI CUMMINGS: Sherri Cummings, Malama Anahola, for the
record. Same here, I did not know this was going to be on the agenda, but I wanted
to say Bruce brought up a point regarding churches, but also nonprofits, church, or
anyone, recidivism, unfortunately, Native Hawaiians are that high population. The
only thing that I ask for consideration is when you have these types of nonprofits, the
rehabilitation is with cultural-based and I am happy to say, if she did not say it
sooner, that my girlfriend, Malia Rosa-Kerr, has been appointed the individual who
will be running that facility that the County is going to be opening very shortly. She
indicated to me that the ask was for some type of cultural type of rehabilitation, which
I think is really good for us because, like I said, around seventy-five percent (75%) to
eighty percent (80%) of the population is local, so please take that into consideration.
Mahalo.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there anyone else? Seeing
none.
There being no further public testimony, the meeting was called back to order,
and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any further discussion?
Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I want to make the comment of the
serendipity of when we came back from Utah, the week before last, sitting next to me
on the airplane was a man who had committed a crime in Utah, spent fifteen (15)
years in jail there, and it was his first time in an airport, first time on a plane,
COUNCIL MEETING 16 MAY 31, 2023
terrified, came from a disadvantaged immigrant mother, and it was a learning
process for me to sit and listen to him. He got released two (2) days earlier in one of
those transparent suits. It was a church that gave him clothes and a plane ticket. We
have very vulnerable people leaving. He had been working during his incarceration
in the solar industry, so he had been set up by a church, set up for a job, when he was
returning home to Texas. It was very interesting to listen to maybe what worked well
there and what we might be able to do here, and just the experience someone had, so
I got to keep him calm on that plane flight. Thank you for what you are doing.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there anyone else?
Councilmember Kuali`i: I think this is critically important, I support
it immensely. I think our State DOH needs help. I knew of one (1) individual who
has been in jail, comes out, has mental health issues, goes back in jail, comes out.
There needs to be more social services, a kind of handholding, if you will, to help some
of these folks. The biggest benefit to the community is crime prevention. If they are
rehabilitated and helped, then they are not creating more crimes. I think this is
important. Like what one of the testifiers said, humanitarian rights is a
compassionate thing to do.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone else?
Councilmember Carvalho: I just want to say how important this is and I
am totally in support of it. It involves all, even churches, I believe that overall, and I
think we need to continue to reach out and bring whatever resources back and then
have people get second and third chances, that is the bottom line. I totally support
this program and looking forward to more opportunities to really reach out and bring
in, and have everyone go back into our community and be part of our island. I just
wanted to say that. Mahalo.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: I am going to be supporting this. I often ask
the tough questions, because your tax dollars go towards programs like this. When I
ask my questions, it is not that I do not support the program, it is just being fiscally
responsible to every individual on Kaua`i who pays taxes. There is a lot of times that
the ones who pay the taxes have no programs going on for them. I am going to be
supporting this. I did want to clarify one thing, I believe Ms. Cummings said
something about culture, and I am a strong believer in culture. My wife is a
Kamehameha Schools graduate, so culture is embedded in her entire educational and
upbringing system, but I would like to clarify something about culture, because as I
look out into the audience, I see a very diverse group of cultural people. I do not only
see our native Hawaiian people, I see Asian culture, the Western culture, so the point
I am trying to make is Hawai`i is a melting pot of a very diverse group of ethnicity. It
is the cultures that came during the plantation days that shaped the culture that we
believe exist today, so I just wanted to clarify that and give a shout out to all
ethnicities out there who have contributed to our culture on Kaua`i and in Hawai`i.
COUNCIL MEETING 17 MAY 31, 2023
Councilmember Cowden: I want to acknowledge how OPA has many
reoccurring grants that they bring in every three (3) or four (4) years, so you folks
have a lot of success at continuous funding through these other vectors. I am happy
that it is five (5) years. I think we would know we either have success or no success
by that time and so in agreement with Council Vice Chair Kuali`i, really the
commitment to the community with this funding is having a healthier population and
making better choices and contributing in functionable ways.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. I just want to thank OPA for
hopefully getting this grant, because we are just applying, but this program is simply
one that will provide resources to inmates that are released from prison, that the
state has identified as being vulnerable and suffering from drug addiction. It provides
them with the resources like the taxi fares and the bus passes, and NARCAN, believe
it or not, I read it in the proposal, so these folks will not just be kicked out of the jail
walking with the white suit and nowhere to go. This will give them a taxi ride to
where they need to go with some clothes, and the most important part, the bulk of
this funding is a staff person, a social worker that is going to work with these people
and connect them to the resources that we currently have from the State to give these
folks a chance to succeed. I appreciate it. It is almost one million dollars ($1,000,000)
that is coming from the federal government.
The motion to approve C 2023-129 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1
(Councilmember Bulosan was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried, next item.
C 2023-130 Communication (05/18/2023) from the County Engineer,
requesting Council approval to apply for, receive, and expend State funds in the
amount of$348,055.56, from the State of Hawai`i Department of Health (DOH), and
to indemnify the State DOH for the Fiscal Year 2024 grant cycle, for the HI-5 Deposit
Beverage Container program to be used to fund two (2) HI-5 Recycling Specialist
positions and support mobile redemption center operations in Kekaha and Koloa, and
approval to apply for, receive, and expend State recycling grant funds in the amount
of$45,000.00, to be used by the Department of Public Works, Solid Waste Division,
to support Electronic Waste (eWaste) Recycling for Fiscal Year 2024.
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve C 2023-130, seconded by
Councilmember Carvalho.
Council Chair Rapozo: With that, I will suspend the rules. Again,
welcome back.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
Ms. Fraley: Thank you. Good morning, Councilmembers.
We do not have a presentation, we are here to answer any questions you have about
the grants that we are seeking approval for.
COUNCIL MEETING 18 MAY 31, 2023
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. The application process is quite
intense, so thank you for that. Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: Currently, Reynolds Recycling does the HI-5.
Ms. Fraley: Yes, and another agency has HI-5
redemption, which is Kaua`i Community Recycling Services.
Councilmember Kagawa: Where is that at?
Ms. Fraley: They have four (4) locations: Kapa`a, Koloa,
Kekaha, and Kilauea.
Councilmember Kagawa: And then Reynolds has Lihu`e.
Ms. Fraley: Reynolds is in Lihu`e at the Kaua`i Resource
Center.
Councilmember Kagawa: So, hiring two (2) of these positions will be
working with all the private vendors?
Ms. Fraley: Yes, so what the two (2) positions do is they
monitor the redemption centers for the State, they also monitor the distributors of
the beverage containers to make sure that they are properly labeled and that the fee
is properly charged.
Councilmember Kagawa: And then the Electronic Waste (e-waste)
Coordinator, is that what it is going to be? E-waste is like computers, televisions,
etcetera?
KEOLA AKI, Acting Solid Waste Program Development Coordinator: Aloha,
Councilmembers. Yes, our e-waste grant from the State is only for promotion, there
is a small portion for administration and that goes to the Recycling Coordinator, that
is going to oversee the grant program, that used to be my job. I used to oversee the
grant. It pays for the promotion for the e-waste, so that is computers, televisions,
accessories that go to computers. Overall, it is very focused on just the technology
side.
Councilmember Kagawa: Our e-waste strategy is we offer dates
periodically across the island that we say, "This is e-waste day"?
Mr. Aki: The only place that can accept e-waste that is
permitted is Puhi Metals and they are open every day except Sunday. We do not have
regional locations for drop off. We are looking towards expanding. We are permitted
in Kekaha right now to accept, but we have to get the contract going for that, so we
are working on expanding right now, but for right now, it is only at Puhi Metals.
Councilmember Kagawa: So, none at the transfer stations.
COUNCIL MEETING 19 MAY 31, 2023
Mr. Aki: Not currently.
Councilmember Kagawa: So, if people do not see it, they just throw
away recyclables inside their regular rubbish?
Mr. Aki: We are working with the attendants to get
them educated so they can encourage the public to bring it to Puhi Metals during the
period. It is all free for commercials, as well as residents, so it is a big push, so that
is why we want to promote it to the island.
Councilmember Kagawa: What is the value of...I know there is value in
cardboard, you can turn it back into usable source. Plastic, there is some good plastic
that can turn it into another usable source. What is the value of e-waste?
Mr. Aki: E-waste has multiple...you do not want to get
it into the landfill because it does contain heavy metals, and if we can divert it, and
it goes to a processer that can take it all apart, sometimes they can reuse some of the
parts and put into new products and refurbish it or they can dissemble it completely,
take out some of the gold, silver, aluminum, all the precious metals, and everything
else they shred up and broken down for the landfill.
Councilmember Kagawa: If we are going in that direction of having
people sort it and we only have Puhi Metals, then we must do the prevention at the
transfer stations, is my idea where we are trying to monitor and I do not really see it.
I think a lot of times, the attendants are just too busy to do it, to me, you are either
in or you are out. Right now, it looks like we are halfway whether we are in or we are
out on that. It is just my observation.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: Just for confirmation, these people are
already hired and working, this is not new hires, this is continuous, so continuation
of funding.
Ms. Fraley: Correct.
Councilmember Cowden: And when there is a little extra money here
just because we are paying everyone a little bit extra.
Ms. Fraley: Correct.
Councilmember Cowden: I appreciate that you sent me an answer last
night, but when we talk about retail recycling with these same people go to the big
stores that take the bottles and cans back.
Ms. Fraley: Correct, so we have two (2) HI-5 Recycling
Specialists who are employed with the State funding for the HI-5 grant and they have
the obligation to monitor the retailers, like I said before...and retailers can be big box
stores, grocery stores, mom and pops, even just small restaurants and food trucks, all
COUNCIL MEETING 20 MAY 31, 2023
of those sell the beverage container, so they are going to all of those locations
throughout the island on a random basis to just audit to just make sure that the
charges proper. There are some funky beverages that have milk products or a little
bit of milk or a little bit of alcohol that can be improperly labeled through no fault of
anyone, but it is confusing sometimes. They are there to monitor that, report back to
the State, and make sure everything is properly labeled.
Councilmember Cowden: Those retailers, especially big box retailers or
any retailer that has a recycle bin, and gratitude to even the small food trucks that
have recycling bins right outside their places, how does that make it to the recycle
center? Do we have a truck that picks those things up? Do they drive it themselves?
Ms. Fraley: They drive it in. Part of our program is we do
offer those retailer bins for free to the retailers through the State program that we
use State funds to buy those bins, so they can have a place where people can recycle
the items. Since they have a value, they make it back to the redemption centers where
they can get redeemed.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. Those little restaurants will get the
money for those...
Ms. Fraley: Yes.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I imagine you thought about it and it is a
problem, when you said the staff at the transfer station would encourage the public
to take it to Puhi Metals, so if someone showed up with a big old-fashioned television
and they did not want to take it to Puhi Metals, you would take it right?
Mr. Aki: Yes, there is no ordinance or statute that we
can say, "No, we are not going to take it."
Councilmember Kuali`i: So, there are some big items that they put off
to the side, like refrigerators and things like that. Do we, as the County, then dispose
of that differently, so we are not set up to take the big television off to the side and
then we take it to Puhi Metals if the people do not do it, so it ends up in the landfill,
right?
Mr. Aki: We do not have a program for "We" to haul it
out ourselves.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Being that it is an ongoing problem, should we
think of a program? Should we come up with something?
Ms. Fraley: Yes, yes, and thank you for that. First,
commercially-generated monitors and computers are banned from the landfill, so we
are not getting businesses, it is just residents that is not banned currently. However,
that is something we could do. As Mr. Aki mentioned, we are working on it. We have
COUNCIL MEETING 21 MAY 31, 2023
permits at our transfer stations that are very specific about what we can take and
how we take it; this is a special waste where it needs to be properly handled, and as
you mentioned the attendants are busy, so managing this type of equipment is
difficult. We have put it in our permit application to the state that we would have a
placeholder to be able to do e-waste recycling at the transfer stations.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Yes, signage, education...
Ms. Fraley: Yes, we do have signage and now we are
working as a team with our operational side to...and we have a new Recycling
Coordinator, he is not here, but he has gone out to the transfer station, met with all
the attendants, talked to them about this, he is making a binder and education for
them to be able to really know what to say to customers if they do not, but a lot of
them do, and to encourage them. We did a waste characterization study where we
looked at it, and that was in 2016, where they hand sorted the waste at the landfill,
and at that time there was very little e-waste at the landfill. We are lucky that we
have a place that is open six (6) days a week—other islands have periodic collections
that are not open that often. Those electronics, believe it or not, are one of those types
of waste that people put aside, they do not just take it with their trash, that is what
the studies have found and what we have seen. When people have an electronic, they
just set it aside and then they call us, we have a hotline, we have five (5) people who
answer it every workday, and we get a lot of calls on e-waste and we tell people where
to take it. We are not seeing a lot of this at the transfer stations, but we definitely do
not want to let it slip by, so we are working on a program to make sure...
Councilmember Kuali`i: And you do have these e-waste events and
locations other than Lihu`e on a regular basis.
Ms. Fraley: We used to. We had those and they were very
poorly attended, and we were spending a lot of money for something that the public
was not using. There is just a better value in educating people about going to the
one (1) location where it is accepted every day, six (6) days a week.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Figuring something out at the transfer
station is the answer.
Ms. Fraley: Instead of a periodic event that people have to
schedule, remember, and go to a different place. That is what we were doing with
these...by monthly events.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any further questions?
Councilmember DeCosta: How difficult would it be for us as a County to
have a container there that our residents...I know the commercial is banned from
throwing away televisions and computers, but how much of a burden would it be for
us to contract a container from, let us say, Garden Island Disposal and have it sit
there, and when it fills up, you call them to pick up the container? We are giving our
COUNCIL MEETING 22 MAY 31, 2023
residents of Kaua`i one more opportunity to recycle, because it seems like we know a
lot of people know about recycling, the education part is out there right now, our
attendants, our people, the folks in the audience know about recycling. We have to
make it easier for people to recycle, that is the bottom line. Let us solution-base right
now. Did you know mattresses are not allowed in the transfer stations, you have to
drive out to Kekaha? If that person came from KOloa, Kalaheo, or Puhi, and they
cannot dump the mattress in Hanapepe, they have to drive all the way out to Kekaha
or Mand to dump the mattress? We have to make it easier for our people to have
these bins to dump trash. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: He did ask a question about putting a
container out there.
Ms. Fraley: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is that something that...I heard you
mentioned earlier about a placeholder and I am assuming...
Ms. Fraley: Right, there is a placeholder.
Mr. Aki: We have started...we have containers at the
Kaua`i Resource Center and in Kekaha already staged and ready to go. Kekaha is
permitted, so during the next Fiscal Year, we are going to look where we can get the
funding to start hauling out of there and contract out that service. We are working
on the permit now for the Kaua`i Resource Center in Lihu`e and once that is approved,
then we hope to get that contract done as well. I believe the other locations, we
probably need to work on the construction first before we can start looking at
placement of new containers.
Council Chair Rapozo: So, we need a permit to put an empty
container out there for people to throw their televisions and things in, and that is a
DOH permit?
Mr. Aki: Yes, to accept it.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Thank you.
Councilmember Carvalho: Is this specific to Kekaha and Koloa?
Ms. Fraley: The redemption centers that are funded, yes.
Originally when the program started in 2006, this is for HI-5, redemption centers
sprung up in some places, and then others, there were not any, so the County stepped
in and used grant funding to fund those locations where no one came in from the
private sector.
Councilmember Carvalho: So, overall, we covered all the other areas.
Ms. Fraley: Yes.
COUNCIL MEETING 23 MAY 31, 2023
Councilmember Carvalho: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any further questions for the
Administration? If not, thank you.
Ms. Fraley: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone in the audience wishing to
testify?
Ms. Cummings: I will introduce myself. Sherri Cummings.
For Councilmember Billy DeCosta, I thought we introduced ourselves when we first
talked, so I am going to explain myself again, Sherri Cummings. I am very much
Irish, French from the Cummings side, my Pia side is Hawaiian, Chinese, I am also
a Charmon, who is also from Koloa, he is Hawaiian, English, I am also a Sinclair,
who is very much English. I can go further, but I choose not to. When I talk about
kanaka and I talk about native, I do not just talk about Hawaiian. I also come from
Kamehameha Schools, my family, my children, they also graduated from
Kamehameha Schools, so I am very partial to that, but I support public education.
When you speak to my lingo in regards to talking about Hawaiian and Native
Hawaiian, just for clarification for the people behind me, I own all of my
mo oku auhau. I own all of my culture. I do not reference people in this place as less
than. Just for context purposes, so FYI (for your information) on that. Now, I am
going to speak on this here, so you did mention, which is very true about opportunities
for us to throw our `opala because unfortunately Anahola was a landfill also during
Hurricane Iniki, 1991. That place was pilau just as much as Waimea, there was no
lining, that place was there forever, and now we are trying to say we are going to
raise mala in that place. If people in the back do not know what mala is, go figure it
out. But just FYI on that. Our lands are dumping grounds in Anahola, so my brother
folks are cleaning up four hundred (400) acres on the shoreline and up on our side
where we are trying to take care of, you have metal galore up there, out of sight, out
of mind, so no one has any idea what is in the back of Anahola by the monument and
Anahola down by where the water source is. It pains me to see everything being on
the emphasis on the Westside, Kekaha and Koloa, where you have that opportunity
to be near those landfill areas, when our rural side has nothing. We talk about being
responsible and the population of the Hawaiian people and the Hawaiian is more
than just kanaka. They have the Chinese and everything, not just native beneficiaries
of the trust, who has fifty percent (50%) Hawaiian or more does not make them pure.
I can only think of two (2) families, besides my Ni`ihau family who has one hundred
percent (100%) Hawaiian. I take that very seriously when we allude to the fact of
what I am talking about kanaka being just Hawaiian. We have to do more for the
Eastside and the North Shore. Mahalo.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there anyone else?
Councilmember DeCosta: I had a clarifying question.
Council Chair Rapozo: Well, she did not...the topic on the agenda is
HI-5.
COUNCIL MEETING 24 MAY 31, 2023
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay.
Council Chair Rapozo: I am being very lenient with some of our...and
that is going to change real soon. We need to stick to the agenda, so I am not going to
allow any debates about Hawaiian culture on a matter that is related to HI-5. With
that, any further discussion?
There being no further public testimony, the meeting was called back to order,
and proceeded as follows:
Councilmember Kagawa: I want to thank Allison and Mr. Aki and the
Department of Public Works, I think overall Kaua`i does a great job of having our
transfer stations, having our landfill accessibility, but when you talk about the
e-waste, more and more we see electronics, if we can improve in every area, then we
are reducing contamination, we are extending the life of our landfill. If we are going
to improve, then let us make some commonsense decisions. Perhaps the e-waste bin,
have one (1) on the North Shore, have one (1) in Hanapepe. With gas being over five
dollars ($5) a gallon, you are going to have some people that are just going to continue
to store it and then when they get frustrated, it is going to get thrown in the transfer
station where no one sees. Puhi is great, no doubt, so Puhi should cover Lihu`e,
Hanama`ulu, Koloa, possibly. But again, having the different areas, and Kapa'a is
close enough to Puhi. The Kapa'a people shop at Costco. Just being realistic, having
a bin is not hard for e-waste, maybe North Shore, Hanapepe, you folks know where
the e-waste demand is, but I think that would help. Like I said, if we just keep doing
the same thing and do not make changes, then we will end up with the same results.
The same results going be more unnecessary e-waste going into the landfill on a daily
basis. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I wanted to thank our recycling team for what
they do. I want to acknowledge Anaina Hou in the room, Kilauea, thank you so much
for being one of those nonprofits that help with it, and I am in supportive of
considering expanding the e-waste. My e-waste is mostly in my garage or up on the
shelves and some of those things have been sitting there for five (5) or six (6) years. I
come to Lihu`e every day. I need to figure that out and get everything down here. I do
not throw them away, but it clutters my world.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone else?
The motion to approve C 2023-130 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1
(Councilmember Bulosan was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. We have one (1) more item
before the audit. It is a communication for the zoning bill that comes up later, so let
us take the communication, receive the communication, and we will have comments,
questions, and testimony at the bill. With that, next item.
COUNCIL MEETING 25 MAY 31, 2023
C 2023-131 Communication (05/19/2023) from Ka`aina S. Hull, Clerk of the
Planning Commission, transmitting the Planning Commission's recommendation to
approve Chapter 8, Kaua`i County Code 1987, as amended, relating to Zoning
designation in Puhi, Kaua`i (University of Hawaii Community Colleges, Kauai
Community College, Applicant)
Councilmember Carvalho moved to receive C 2023-131 for the record, seconded
by Councilmember Cowden.
Council Chair Rapozo: I need to ask for public testimony on this item.
If you cannot stay for the bill, I will take your testimony now.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
The motion to receive C 2023-131 for the record was then put, and carried by
a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Bulosan was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please.
C 2023-132 Communication (05/23/2023) from Council Chair Rapozo,
requesting the presence of the Managing Director, Director of Finance, and
representatives from N&K CPAs, Inc., to discuss the Annual Comprehensive
Financial Report (ACFR), Single Audit Reports, and Management Advisory Report
for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2022.
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to receive C 2023-132 for the record, seconded
by Councilmember Cowden.
Council Chair Rapozo: With that, I am going to suspend the rules
and have the Auditors come up. Sorry about the delay.
BLAKE ISOBE, Principal, N&K CPAs, Inc.: Good morning, Blake Isobe,
Principal at N&K CPAs, I am the Engagement Principal on the audit for the County
of Kaua`i. This is John Bautista. He is the principal in charge of the audit for the
County. I will turn it over to him and he will go over some highlights from the ACFR
and some of the findings that we have.
JOHN PAUL BAUTISTA, Principal, N&K CPAs, Inc.: While they set up
the slides, I will go over the Summary of Audit. We issued three (3) separate reports
for the Fiscal Year 2022. The first is your ACFR, that is the thick book that you have
in front of you. These are the financial statements of the County. We also issued a
Single Audit Report, which is a report on Federal funds that are expended by the
County. Finally, we also issued a Management Advisory Report, on an additional
recommendation that we came across during this year's audit.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are you going to start with the Single Audit
Report?
COUNCIL MEETING 26 MAY 31, 2023
Mr. Bautista: I will start off with the ACFR.
Council Chair Rapozo: The big one.
Mr. Bautista: Yes. Starting off on page 11 of the ACFR, you
will see the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. This is
issued by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), otherwise known as
the GFOA. This is based off of their review of the prior year ACFR. This is the
twenty-nineth (29th) consecutive year that the County received this certificate. Going
on to the different sections of the ACFR, there is an introductory section, which
contains a transmittal from the Department of Finance along with the management
discussion and analysis of this year's results. If you flip to page 14, that is our
Independent Auditor's Report. In the second paragraph, we state that we issued an
unmodified opinion on the County's ACFR and that it is presented fairly, which is
also known as a clean opinion. We then go over our basis for our opinion which is a
new paragraph that clarifies our responsibilities for the audit and that is on page 15.
For an audit, we obtain reasonable assurance that the ACFR is free from material
misstating.
The ACFR is comprised of the Government-Wide Financial Statements, your
Individual Fund Financial Statements, your Disclosure Notes, Other Required
Supplementary Information, and then finally your Unaudited Statistical Section. We
will go over noted items on each of these sections on the next couple of slides.
Starting with the County's Statement of Net Position, and this is on page 31.
This represents the balance sheet of the County, so during the current year the
County implemented the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) 87,
relating to "Leases." This guidance requires the recognition of assets and liabilities
that were previously recognized as operating leases. Payments of the leases are now
recognized as deferred inflows or outflows based on the payment provisions of the
lease contract. We also wanted to point out some fluctuations on the balance sheet.
There were increases through your ending cash and investments of twenty-seven
million three hundred thousand dollars ($27,300,000) and a large portion of this was
attributable to your new transient accommodations tax (TAT) revenues coming in.
Councilmember Cowden: Our new transient accommodations tax?
Mr. Bautista: Yes. During this FY, and then there was also
year-to-year increases in real property taxes based on your assessed values. If you
look below that, as part of your GASB 87 implementation, there is a new line item
titled "Intangible assets," or otherwise known as right-to-use assets. This is totaling
nine hundred thousand dollars ($900,000) and these are the lease assets I mentioned
earlier. Below that, moving on to your non-current liabilities, there was an increase
of around fourteen million dollars ($14,000,000), and a part of the increase is
recording the new lease liabilities, related to GASB 87, but there was also a large
increase in your estimate of your landfill liability closure and post-closer costs that I
will go over on a later slide. There was also a large decrease in your pension and
Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) liabilities of around one hundred eight
million dollars ($108,000,000). A large reduction of both liabilities was primarily due
COUNCIL MEETING 27 MAY 31, 2023
to investment earnings that reduced the overall liability, and this was purely based
off of third-party actuary reports.
If you flip to page 32, this is your Statement of Activities. Within the statement,
you will see your expenses by function on the top left, and your general revenues at
the bottom of the page. Going over your general revenues, there was a real property
tax increase of three million dollars ($3,000,000) from increasing growth and billable
assessed values, including new residential developments. Assessed values also
increased seven hundred million dollars ($700,000,000) to twenty-six billion
dollars ($26,500,000,000) in the current year. The County's TAT was also enforced
and implemented in the current year beginning in the fall of 2021. This resulted in a
new revenue stream and sixteen million dollars ($16,000,000) were received this FY.
This number should increase in the following year, 2023, because it would be for a
full year of collections. There were also decreases in your government-wide expense
of twenty-one million five hundred thousand dollars ($21,500,000) and this was
attributable to prior year non-recurring expenditures for your Coronavirus Aid,
Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) relief moneys expended and disaster
relief projects related to infrastructure repairs for projects that were completed in the
prior year.
If you flip to page 34, this is your Governmental Fund Financial Statements.
This presents each individual funds balance sheet and income statement. Going over
some notable fund balance fluctuations in the current year, starting on the left side
of the page is your General Fund column.
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as not present.)
Mr. Bautista: This had an overall increase of eight million
five hundred thousand dollars ($8,500,000) and again, this overall increase is
attributable to revenues coming in from your County TAT and then also increases in
the real property tax collections. Directly to the right of that column you will notice
a new fund that is being presented and that is the County's General Excise (G.E.) Tax
fund, which is now required to be presented as a major fund, under GASB 34 Basic
Financial Statements Guidance. This is purely based on the amount sitting in the
fund as a percentage of your government-wide and enterprise funds. This fund
accumulates the County's half-percent (0.5%) surcharge on the State's General Excise
and Use Tax. The County uses it to fund transportation, operational, and capital
costs. As a result of the movement of this major fund, the overall fund balance in
your Other Governmental Funds, all the way to the right of the page, also
correspondingly decreased. Meanwhile, all the other major funds presented on this
page have comparable year-to-year net changes in their fund balances.
Moving on to your disclosure Notes to the Financial Statements, this begins on
page 51. I will just go over some notable disclosure notes or changes to your prior year
notes. If you go to page 73, this is your detailed note on your Capital Assets. If you
look towards the bottom of the page, you will see those lease assets that have been
adjusted for as of the beginning of the FY, July 1, 2021. Therefore, your net value of
nine hundred thousand dollars ($900,000) that shows up on that page, is shown on
your Statement of Net position as an asset, that was one of the line items that I went
COUNCIL MEETING 28 MAY 31, 2023
over on the first page, page 31. If you flip to page 78, we have another note. In the
prior year, this note was titled...well it was for your capital leases, so GASB 87
revised that description to call it Finance Purchases Upon Implementation. In
addition, the total liability recorded for all your Right-To-Use Leases is shown here
by year of required payment, and this totals approximately nine hundred thousand
dollars ($900,000).
From page 92 to 105, the County's Net Pension and OPEB liabilities are
described in detail. There are no major changes year-to-year in the measurement of
both liabilities and there were only fluctuations in your overall liability. A lot was
due to your net plan investment earnings that I mentioned earlier, in addition to
expected projections, recognition to contributions, benefit payment, and
administrative expenses, which are calculated by actuaries. Overall, your
contributions for both plans remain comparable year-to-year for both liabilities.
Moving on to the County's landfill liability, which is stated on pages 106 and
107 of your ACFR. The main increase year-to-year is based on an update of the
County's estimate of liability. This was due to a new closure and post-closure cost
estimate report for the landfill that was completed during November 2021. In the
prior years, the most recent report being used was from May 2016, and that was just
updated annually by the County based on projected inflation costs and also the usage
of the landfill. Another change you will note is that the percentage decreased and the
capacity decreased due to a vertical expansion that added capacity to the landfill
during 2022.
Finally on page 114, this Note details one (1) prior period restatement that
resulted in three million four hundred thousand dollars ($3,400,000) that increased
your beginning net position. This was related to pension contributions that were
made after June 30, 2021, but it was for FY 2021. This should have been recorded as
deferred outflows as an asset in the prior year until the County's pension liability
recognized it, at which time it would reduce the overall liability, but instead it was
expensed and instead reduced the County's net position. Due to the amount of the
adjustment, there was a prior period restatement and this was reported as a finding
in the current year, which will be covered in one of the following slides. That
concludes the first report.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any questions?
Councilmember Cowden: When you use deferred inflows and deferred
outflows, you are talking about credit debit, right? Is that what you mean by that?
Mr. Bautista: Yes.
Councilmember Cowden: Because that was a little confusing for me. On
page 18, can you please explain the accounting change, I did not quite understand
that. Under Government Activities on page 18, I did not quite get that.
(Councilmember Carvalho was noted as not present.)
COUNCIL MEETING 29 MAY 31, 2023
Mr. Isobe: Is that under Financial Highlights, the second
paragraph about adopting GASB?
Councilmember Cowden: No. It is under Governmental Activities,
where it says "the assets and deferred outflows of the government activities exceeded
its liabilities and deferred inflows," I think I struggled a little bit with those terms.
At the close of the fiscal year, it is saying that there is an accounting change and I
did...it said, "The accounting change is why this happened," and I did not understand.
Where did we change our accounting change?
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as present.)
Councilmember Cowden: Am I not understanding, maybe it...I got that
basically you are saying most of these things are fine, I am just was trying to...
Mr. Isobe: Reiko.
Councilmember Cowden: I can wait and ask Reiko a few questions later,
I guess.
Mr. Isobe: Sure, so the management discussion and
analysis that starts on page 18 is actually "management," so that is the Finance
Department section of the ACFR explaining their different highlights that they want
to highlight to the public.
Councilmember Cowden: Are we going to defer questions for Reiko for
later?
(Councilmember Carvalho was noted as present.)
Council Chair Rapozo: I am trying to understand the question.
Councilmember Cowden: This is a lot to digest, I am sure it is a lot to
create, so thank you. I had questions, Reiko, about just the leases, the right-to-use
leases where it is talking about...I do not know if those are soft assets like vehicles
or hard assets like land. He just went over right-to-use leases.
Council Chair Rapozo: Let us focus on page 18.
Councilmember Kagawa: What page is this?
Councilmember Cowden: It just says, "there is an accounting change,"
and I am trying to understand how it changed.
Ms. Matsuyama: I am trying to look for where it says,
"Accounting change" in this paragraph.
Council Chair Rapozo: Which paragraph on page 18?
COUNCIL MEETING 30 MAY 31, 2023
Ms. Matsuyama: I think it is the one right under Governmental
Activities.
Councilmember Cowden: Yes, I am looking at that and I think it
referenced it in the opening...the summary, I thought was excellent, who wrote that
summary? It has your name at the bottom.
Ms. Matsuyama: Yes. I will take credit for that. It was Renee
Yadao.
Councilmember Cowden: Extraordinary job. It was just a real
incredible one and so she references different pages, so when I was reading it, I was
jumping to the different pages, so it just referenced an accounting change and I read
that and I did not understand.
Ms. Matsuyama: I think major accounting changes that were
implemented this year was GASB 87, which they talked about that has everything to
do with leases.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. And so all these leases that we have, I
know for a while we were leasing big pieces of equipment instead of buying outright,
we were leasing things and now that we have an increase change, we are buying
rather than leasing. I consider those soft assets, if they are done five (5) to ten (10)
years, are all these leases basically equipment?
Ms. Matsuyama: Yes, like a lot of them are copying machines
that are across the County, we have to reflect all of those differently than we did in
the prior year.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, because it seemed like leases were
what was creating these changes and this is a lot of grasp this way of GASB. When
we are looking at the pension liabilities and OPEB, again, that is challenging for me.
It seemed like it was significant, the amount of the OPEB is extraordinary and can
anyone speak to that? Why it is so much, not everyone must have all of these...
Mr. Isobe: Correct, so a few years back...many, many
years back, GASB did recognize that a lot of the governments across the nation have
both pension and post-employment liabilities out there that used to only be disclosed
in the notes. Amounts would only be reflected as these footnotes in the back and not
reflected as part of the County's or the State's or whatever municipality's financial
statements. At some point, I want to say maybe six (6) or seven (7) years ago, they
required the states and the governments to start recognizing the unfunded portion of
that liability on the financial statements. The year after that, they required the
recognition of the post-employment or your health benefits that are provided to your
employees as a liability on the books offset by your funded assets, or planned assets,
which continue to grow based on the investments. It is a very complicated disclosure
and a very complicated calculation that is done. Your OPEB is smaller, you folks do
have your own pool of planned assets, but on the pension, side is where you are
funding to the State of Hawai`i Employees Retirement System (ERS) and it is a
COUNCIL MEETING 31 MAY 31, 2023
combined liability out there. I believe it is in the billions, right, that all participating
municipalities and the State owe its retirees, it is a big number that goes on the books.
It is complex, I understand, but what the disclosure is trying to do is at least let the
public and the users know what that liability is out there that you are going to have
to continue to fund in the future and pay as people retire.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, it is daunting. On page 84, when we
have these conduit debt obligations, I know some when it is a special district fund,
that does not go onto the taxpayer, but when I am looking at some of these things,
like I am seeing the bond is issued four (4) years ago and we still owe the same
amount, are we doing interest only payments? There are a few of those where I am
seeing years are going by and I am expecting the debt obligation to drop as we are
paying annually, and so are we doing interest only payments? Why are we not seeing
this debt service lower our original obligations?
Ms. Matsuyama: For the most recent facilities district, it starts
off as interest only and then on the second or third year, it starts as principal and
interest. For our general obligation (G.O.) bonds, we do not have any that are just
interest only. Once a year we make principal payments and then twice a year we
make interest payments. That is how it works.
Councilmember Cowden: That is an unusual way. This year, when we
talked in our budget that we were going to be pushing down, I think principal, we
were looking at how to defer some of this...avoid interest, is that when we would be
making the payment twice a year type of thing? I am in the middle of the budget; I
am looking at this...
Ms. Matsuyama: Our G.O. bonds, the rates are set, right, so we
would not necessarily be taking advantage of...or trying to reduce future increase
rates by paying down our G.O. debt. In the budget, we do not have any additional
payments to the G.O. debt. We do have a little bit in there for OPEB, as Blake was
saying. OPEB is our single pot, whereas ERS is the big, combined pot, so any
additional payments we put in that, we do not get credit for. If we put money to
OPEB, that will specifically reduce our County of Kaua`i liability.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. Page 19, please explain the inflation,
the increase relative to the real property tax, but maybe we do not need to go there. I
think I get that one.
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes, let us focus on the audit report and then
we will have the discussion with the Administration after.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay.
Council Chair Rapozo: Possibly in a committee meeting, so we can
have a thorough discussion on the County's actions, but I do want to get through the
audits. Councilmember Kagawa.
COUNCIL MEETING 32 MAY 31, 2023
Councilmember Kagawa: On page 3 of your slide, can you help clarify
what this means—the "Notable fluctuations on the Statement of Net Position,"
similar to what Councilmember Cowden asked. The increase in Net Pension and
OPEB liability, it says, "Decrease of one hundred eight million
dollars ($108,000,000)," so I am confused.
Mr. Bautista: No, that should be decrease.
Councilmember Kagawa: So, it decreased in net pension and should
be...
Mr. Bautista: Yes.
Councilmember Kagawa: Okay, because the other way was like...it is
going up, but it is going down.
Mr. Bautista: Sorry, it was a typographical (typo) error.
Councilmember Kagawa: Okay, thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any further questions on the ACFR?
There is a lot to digest, but these folks are available at any time, if you have questions.
Mr. Bautista: Let us move on to the Single Audit Report.
Starting on page 6. This is your report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
and on Compliance with other matters. This is a required report to be issued.
Whenever we complete audits under government auditing standards. During the
current year, we noted three (3) deficiencies in Internal Control, which we will cover
in the next couple of slides. Moving on to pages 9 through 11, this is a report on
compliance for each major federal program and internal control over compliance.
This report is required to be issued whenever you expand federal money. If you look
at the top of page 9, we state that the County complies with all material respects to
the compliance requirements for each of this major federal programs. This means
that we did not note any findings on the major federal programs audited this year.
Below that, we state that we conducted our audit and our basis for our opinion is in
compliance with generally accepted auditing standards, government auditing
standards (GAAS) and the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles,
and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance). If you flip to page
11, this is a report on Internal Control over compliance where we state that we did
not identify any deficiencies. We also state on page 12, a report on your Scheduled
Expenditures of Federal Awards, otherwise known as the "SEFA," and we state that
it is fairly stated and provides a clean opinion. If you go to page 23, this is the
Summary of the Audit Results for both the ACFR and the Single Audit. At the top
states that for the Financial Statements the type of auditors issued is unmodified,
otherwise known as a clean opinion. We did note that there were some material
weaknesses and a significant deficiency identified in the current year, but we did not
note any material noncompliance. Below that on the federal awards section, we noted
that there were no material weaknesses, significant deficiencies or other findings and
issued an unmodified opinion on compliance. We also state on this page the five (5)
COUNCIL MEETING 33 MAY 31, 2023
major federal programs that we audited in the current year. We also note that the
County did not qualify as a low-risk auditee purely based due to the prior year
material weakness findings that were reported.
This slide goes over the different types of findings. Based on materiality
calculated in the current year, this is based off your amount in your financial
statements. A finding may be material which we state as a deficiency which is not
prevent or detect a material mistake in the ACFR or Single Audit. A significant
deficiency is less severe but important enough to note and bring to the County's
attention and report authored. Other reportable findings are just instances of
noncompliance that we are reported to report based on the uniform guidelines,
appliance supplement, or other abuse.
In the current year we only identified deficiencies in the Financial Statement
Report, which we will go over in the next couple of slides. Starting with the first
finding, which begins on page 24. We noted that there is a material weakness related
to the County's pension contributions. This was already touched upon in the
restatement note in the ACFR that I had gone over. Again, this was related to the
County's contributions for the prior year that should have been recorded as a deferred
outflow asset rather than being expensed and reduced your net position.
On page 25, we noted a finding related to...
Council Chair Rapozo: On page 24, can you expand? I can read it
here, but was that a reporting error?
Mr. Bautista: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: And you are saying that the reconciliation
was not performed, so it is not reflected in this financial statement?
Mr. Bautista: It is reflected as a restatement here beginning
net position.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay.
Mr. Bautista: Moving on to page 25, we noted a finding
related to federal drawdown. During the current year we noted that the County
initially spent one million three hundred thousand dollars ($1,300,000) in County or
State funds for its various active projects. The County subsequently submitted these
expenditures for available federal funding, however when the federal funding was
received, it was not recorded and reconciled to the County project that it was
submitted for. So, this one is just basically when the funds were received, it was not
recorded either in the correct fund to offset those expenditures or a new project code
was opened and the moneys sat there instead of being recorded against the existing
expenditures.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are you able to say which grant or which
Department?
COUNCIL MEETING 34 MAY 31, 2023
Mr. Bautista: The departments are in the Management
Advisory Report.
Ms. Matsuyama: Pages 31 and 32, I think.
Mr. Bautista: The responses to the findings are in the back.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Thank you. We will get to that.
Mr. Bautista: And finally on page 26, we have a finding
related to amounts due to the County. During the current year, we noted that the
County recorded two million five hundred thousand dollars ($2,500,000) of transient
accommodations tax (TAT) receivables at fiscal year end, however, during our audit
through our procedures, we noted an additional six hundred twenty-three thousand
dollars ($623,000) in TAT revenue that was available to the County, that should have
been recorded as part of the receivable balance, as it was received within sixty (60)
days of the end of the fiscal year. This is just making sure that the receivables are
completed at year end, that is recorded as part of the receivables.
This slide follows up on the prior year's findings. These are stated on the
beginning of page 35 of the Single Audit Report. The findings are all related to prior
year adjustments related to construction and progress, SRF loan drawdowns, or cash
available to the County related to conduit debt. During the current year, we noted
that the County implemented procedures to address each deficiency, such as
quarterly reviews of expenses or transactions, and that these findings did not repeat
in the current year from our audit worked performed. So, we consider all three (3) as
accomplished. That was it for the Single Audit.
Councilmember Cowden: I have a question.
Council Chair Rapozo: Go ahead.
Councilmember Cowden: On your Single Audit Summary, you put, "Did
not qualify as a low-risk auditee in the current year due to prior year material
weakness findings." Was the prior year two (2) years ago, 2021? I do not remember
if we did this last year.
Mr. Bautista: Yes, that was 2021 and these were the
findings that we noted.
Councilmember Cowden: I noticed in multiple places actually in here,
you mentioned that it is a lot easier to find a mistake, and it sounds like most of these
material weaknesses are just accounting mistakes, not that the money was lost, it
just did not get in the right place. So, there is no foul play, right?
Mr. Bautista: Yes.
Councilmember Cowden: I know the one before that we had found that
the Treasury Division was behind on nightly deposits and a few things like that, and
COUNCIL MEETING 35 MAY 31, 2023
so that again was an enduring mistake. This says you cannot really find fraud with
much ease. I am not suggesting that we have fraud, but can you just explain that.
When you look for mistakes, if someone wanted to find fraud, how do they find that?
Mr. Isobe: Part of the audit—we design procedures to
keep things different every year whether it be looking at different amounts of things
that we look at, or where we assess risk, normally risk is going to be where...let us
say changes in accounting policy, so GASB 87 being implemented, risks will be high
that there might be a misstatement there just due to how new that pronouncement
is and having to implement something like that. We also will target areas that we
noted errors in the past, so if there are errors in the past and they have not addressed
whether implementing a new control, implementing a new procedure, we will target
that area too to make sure that process is working and are those numbers that it
affects still correct. You are correct, some of these items are...I think there are more
timing issues, like the three-million-dollar prior period adjustment for the
contribution being recorded in the prior year, it is a complex accounting for the
pensions as to how that contribution is recorded as a deferred outflow in the prior
year and then offsets in the current year, 2022. A lot of this is timing, it is just pure
accounting literature that they need to follow and it has been getting more and more
complex with how GASB has been constantly issuing different things for them to
follow.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you. It is a lot of work and you do a
great job. I am pleased with what we are doing. It is just when I put all this energy
into it, it is not easy, even just to follow.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any further questions? Go ahead.
Councilmember DeCosta: On page 26, I want you to explain your
findings and how does that relate to where that additional six hundred twenty-three
thousand three hundred thirty-one dollars ($623,331) is sitting today. You told me
in your explanation, it is a lot to digest especially for the people watching today, you
said that we brought in two million four hundred ninety-nine thousand seven
hundred seventy-six dollars ($2,499,776) from the TAT, but an additional six hundred
twenty-three thousand dollars ($623,000) was not recorded as part of the receivable
balance. Receivable balance—does that mean that funding was never received in that
certain balance account, it went into another account...let us know, because I do not
want to have preconceived notions of how to read this. I want you to tell me.
Mr. Bautista: The additional receivables were recorded in
your General Fund. Any connections within sixty (60) days of your fiscal year-end
should be recorded as part of your revenues because it is measurable and available.
We noted that collections of up to a certain point in August or July was already
recorded by the County as part of its unadjusted trial balance, but during our audit
procedure performed, we noted just an additional amount that should have been
recorded and therefore it was recorded as part of that ACFR.
Councilmember DeCosta: But that money was recorded, right?
COUNCIL MEETING 36 MAY 31, 2023
Mr. Bautista: Yes.
Councilmember DeCosta: It is not that it is in any place and we cannot
find that money or that money was not spent, right?
Mr. Bautista: Just recording.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay. Thank you for that.
Council Chair Rapozo: Any further questions on the Single Audit
Report? If not, we can move to the Management Advisory Report.
Mr. Bautista: Going on to the final report. This is your
Management Advisory Report. On page 3, we noted an opportunity for strengthening
internal controls and operating efficiency that we just wanted to bring to your
attention and communication. That is on page 4. During the current year we noted
four (4) instances where an employee's total vacation or sick leave hours records did
not tie to that particular department's summary leave reports for all employees. This
issue and finding comes up from time to time purely based on how the County records
their leaves. They do it on a manual process. In 2023, we did note that the County
implemented a new time tracking Human Resources Management system, and I
believe everything should be electronic now and entered into the system itself. This
issue should be resolved in the following FY 2023.
Council Chair Rapozo: This is not the first time.
Mr. Bautista: No, it is not.
Council Chair Rapozo: This is one that comes up every audit and I
am not sure...I am glad we went electronic now. I do not know what to say. This is
one that happens every audit and I am not sure how that happens, supervision, none,
the employee takes off and does not do the paperwork, and it is allowed, so hopefully
this will fix that. Thank you.
Mr. Bautista: Finally on page 9, we followed up on the prior
year's Management Advisory Report comments related to timely grant
reimbursement and timely set up of project codes. During the current year, we noted
that the County implemented procedures and processes to ensure that drawdowns
are continuously monitoring and that the County-wide correspondence is sent
periodically to set up project codes for the various projects. We noted these two (2) as
also accomplished.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you for the good job you do and I know
it is complicated, so when I ask questions, there is no implications in those...we had
on one of these pages here the thirteen (13) instances totally roughly one million three
hundred thousand dollars ($1,300,000) where the County obtained reimbursement of
COUNCIL MEETING 37 MAY 31, 2023
eligible grant expenditures from federal sources, do you know which years those were
and which types of grants?
Ms. Matsuyama: I do not know the years, some were old.
Councilmember Cowden: If I can be specific, because Reiko, four (4)
years ago, we did an audit on our emergency 2018, our flood, I do not think we ever
received that audit yet.
Ms. Matsuyama: We have not.
Councilmember Cowden: And I do not understand why, we are four and
a half years after-the-fact that we have not received that audit. Are any of these from
that problem?
Ms. Matsuyama: No. These would be separate. On page 31, of
the Management Advisory Report, you will see the departments that were
responsible and you will see their responses.
Councilmember Cowden: I do not see page 31.
Ms. Matsuyama: On the Single Audit, I apologize.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. These are where they were?
Ms. Matsuyama: Yes, so the thirteen (13) instances were in
these four (4) departments.
Councilmember Cowden: Kaua`i Emergency Management
Agency (KEMA) right here, and that is why I was wondering about Parks, KEMA,
those would have all been things that could potentially have had FEMA grants from
the flood, but we did not have any failures on that?
Ms. Matsuyama: No, this is completely outside of the scope of
that 2018...
Councilmember Cowden: Are any CARES Act or...when would we find
this out?
Council Chair Rapozo: For which one?
Councilmember Cowden: Like when we had eleven (11) instances where
the County received approvals to request reimbursement of grants, oh, okay...but the
project was not set up until the moneys were received...
Ms. Matsuyama: That is 2021 finding, so that one the auditors
were saying that we have accomplished that and it is done, so this is a separate
finding for 2022 audit.
COUNCIL MEETING 38 MAY 31, 2023
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, so what did we do wrong in 2022? What
was our failure?
Ms. Matsuyama: Basically what happens is we have to spend
money before we get reimbursed for it, so we spend money in a certain project or a
certain fund, and then when we get the reimbursement in...the expenses are here
and they are flowing someplace else, so they are not matching up. It is not offsetting
to a zero balance. They are reflected in separate parts, like the revenue is coming in
and the expense is somewhere here, and so it is not reflecting the same project.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, and why was it not?
Ms. Matsuyama: It is just an accounting thing.
Councilmember Cowden: It is just an accounting thing; it is not that we
used the money for something different than we asked for.
Ms. Matsuyama: Yes, correct.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, that was the question.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any further questions? I want to
address the FEMA thing, only because it was brought up. I had shared that with
you, they are working on the audit as we speak, and when that is complete, it will be
here.
Councilmember Cowden: And when will it be complete?
Council Chair Rapozo: I do not bring that up because that is not on
the agenda, but I did share that it was in process.
Ms. Matsuyama: The deliverables on us right now, so I know
that...
Council Chair Rapozo: As soon as that is complete, it will be here,
just like we are doing this one. Are there any other questions for the auditors on the
Management Advisory Report? Being that there were only a couple findings, which
is a good thing, are there any questions for Reiko on the findings pertaining to this
audit? If not, thank you all.
Mr. Isobe: On behalf of N&K, we want to thank you folks
for giving us a chance to come and present the audit and for the Finance Department
for their time and labor to help us pull the information and get ready for the County's
audit. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there anyone in the audience
wishing to testify on the audit?
COUNCIL MEETING 39 MAY 31, 2023
Ms. Parker: Alice Parker, for the record. Just a quick
question on lexicon, GAAP is generally accepted accounting principles, GASB is
generally accepted...government standards of government, I do not understand.
Thank you.
There being no further public testimony, the meeting was called back to order,
and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any further discussion?
The motion to receive C 2023-132 for the record was then put, and carried by
a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Bulosan was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: At this time, we will take a caption break...let
us take the claims first.
CLAIMS:
C 2023-133 Communication (05/04/2023) from the County Clerk,
transmitting a claim filed against the County of Kaua`i by Erin M. Sharpe, for bodily
injury and loss of income, pursuant to Section 23.06, Charter of the County of Kauai.
C 2023-134 Communication (05/15/2023) from the County Clerk,
transmitting a claim filed against the County of Kaua`i by Brandy Dias-Christian, for
vehicle damage, pursuant to Section 23.06, Charter of the County of Kaua`i.
C 2023-135 Communication (05/15/2023) from the County Clerk,
transmitting a claim filed against the County of Kaua`i by Tina M. Soberano, for
vehicle damage, personal injury, and medical bills, pursuant to Section 23.06,
Charter of the County of Kauai.
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to refer C 2023-133, C 2023-134, and
C 2023-135, to the Office of the County Attorney for disposition and/or report
back to the Council, seconded by Councilmember Cowden.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
Seeing none.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
The motion to refer C 2023-133, C 2023-134, and C 2023-135 to the Office of
the County Attorney for disposition and/or report back to the Council was then
put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Bulosan was excused).
COUNCIL MEETING 40 MAY 31, 2023
Council Chair Rapozo: We still have five (5) minutes. Let us move to
the Committee Reports.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE:
A report (No. CR-COW 2023-04) submitted by the Committee of the Whole,
recommending that the following be Received for the Record:
"COW 2023-02 — Communication (05/17/2023) from Committee Chair
Rapozo, transmitting the proposed increases to, deductions from, and other
proposed amendments (plus/minus sheets) to the Mayor's Fiscal Year
2023-2024 Annual Operating and Capital Improvement Projects Budgets,"
A report (No. CR-COW 2023-05) submitted by the Committee of the Whole,
recommending that the following be Approved as Amended:
"Resolution No. 2023-33 — RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING THE REAL
PROPERTY TAX RATES FOR THE FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2023 TO
JUNE 30, 2024 FOR THE COUNTY OF KAUAI,"
A report (No. CR-COW 2023-06) submitted by the Committee of the Whole,
recommending that the following be Approved as Amended on second and final
reading:
"Bill No. 2896 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO THE
OPERATING BUDGET AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL
YEAR JULY 1, 2023 TO JUNE 30, 2024 (Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Operating
Budget)"
A report (No. CR-COW 2023-07) submitted by the Committee of the Whole,
recommending that the following be Approved as Amended on second and final
reading:
"Bill No. 2897 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE
FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2023 TO JUNE 30, 2024 (Fiscal Year 2023-2024 CIP
Budget)"
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for approval of the reports, seconded by
Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
Seeing none.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
COUNCIL MEETING 41 MAY 31, 2023
The motion for approval of the reports was then put, and carried by a vote of
6:0:1 (Councilmember Bulosan was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: Now, we will take our caption break.
There being no objections, the Council recessed at 10:25 a.m.
The Council reconvened at 10:39 a.m., and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: The meeting is called back to order. I do not
normally do this, but I am going to take a moment of personal privilege, because I
forgot to do it this morning, this is for the public. I found out that some "clowns" went
and burned the Kapa'a Pop Warner storage locker this morning between 3:00 a.m.
and 4:00 a.m. The fire destroyed everything—helmets, shoulder pads, pants,jerseys,
cheer equipment, etcetera, to the ground. Again, it is frustrating when we hear
stories like this. These jerks that have no respect for anything, while we sit here
today talking about respect...I just think it is ridiculous and for the community out
there, you have the ability, I am sure you will be seeing and hearing about it, and a
GoFundMe campaign will be started, if you can please help. The season starts on
August 1st and there is no way that an association will be able to survive without the
community's help. I do not know if this is ethically proper, but it is what it is. It is
terrible and we hope the community can get behind...there is going to be a reward.
My interest is catching the clowns that did it and prosecuting them. The equipment
can be replaced, but these people need to be taught a lesson. With that, thank you
for indulging me. Next item, please.
RESOLUTIONS:
Resolution No. 2023-33, Draft 1 – RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING THE
REAL PROPERTY TAX RATES FOR THE FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2023 TO
JUNE 30, 2024 FOR THE COUNTY OF KAUAI
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for adoption of Resolution No. 2023-33, Draft 1,
seconded by Councilmember Kagawa.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
Seeing none. Members, we will have an opportunity to have our budget messages at
the end of the day when we do our final bill.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
The motion for adoption of Resolution No. 2023-33, Draft 1 was then put, and
carried by the following vote:
COUNCIL MEETING 42 MAY 31, 2023
FOR ADOPTION: Carvalho, Cowden, DeCosta, Kagawa,
Kuali`i, Rapozo TOTAL— 6,
AGAINST ADOPTION: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Bulosan TOTAL — 1,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Six (6) ayes and one (1) excused.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Next item, please.
Resolution No. 2023-44, Draft 1 — RESOLUTION URGING THE STATE OF
HAWAII BOARD OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES TO CONSIDER
PUBLIC ACCESS, USES, AND PURPOSES FOR STATE PARCELS AT WAILUA
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for adoption of Resolution No. 2023-44, Draft 1,
seconded by Councilmember Cowden.
Council Chair Rapozo: This is a deferral from two (2) weeks ago,
when we had a lot of discussion and there were concerns about the contents of the
Resolution. I will ask the introducers if they want to make any statements before we
open it up for public testimony.
Councilmember Cowden: We removed a few elements in here that had
to do with history where people were concerned about the migration of the ali i from
one area to another or where it references either Queen Kapule or King Kaumuali`i.
We had all the spellings looked at that was of concern about Hawaiian history. It
was looked at and verified and I think what is really important for people to be aware
of is this is to this portion that opens it up. It is just honoring that there was roughly
one thousand (1,000) years of very significant history in this area that we are aware
of. The essence of this Resolution is that there are three (3) State parcels that have
been tied to private interests for longer than thirty (30) years and that what we are
asking the State to do, that is going to be considering this at an upcoming Board of
Land and Natural Resources meeting, is to have this be directly available to the
public, that it would be for public use. It is a parking lot, it is a little piece of the
beach that is on either side of Wailua Beach Park, because the previous parking has
basically been taken away by the ocean, and then the larger 14.83-acre piece in the
middle, for the State to consider that for public use or at least to be reconsidered for
how it would be assigned. It is all in Wailua, right there at the beach area at Kuamo`o
Road and Kuhio Highway. Do you have anything you would like to say, Vice Chair?
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Yes. What I will add is we are not saying we
are the experts on what Wailua was all about and if there is any whereas that states
something about the area that is inaccurate and someone opposes it, it is not
necessary for the essence of the Resolution, which is primarily about those public
lands. Obviously, this is not a decision that this body is making. This is just a
Resolution supporting that the public lands provide access to the public, the most
obvious one (1) being that front corner that can now...and has in the past as well,
COUNCIL MEETING 43 MAY 31, 2023
provide parking to access the Wailua Beach Park across the highway. Before we
continue, I do have a short, simple amendment that I want to put forward.
Council Chair Rapozo: Go ahead.
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to amend Resolution 2023-44, Draft 1, as
circulated, and as shown in the Floor Amendment, which is attached hereto as
Attachment 1, seconded by Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kuali`i: This amendment basically clears up the last
three (3)...well, it does not do anything to the middle. There are three (3) WHEREAS
clauses at in the end of the Resolution that talk about the three (3) different
properties. The middle WHEREAS clause, which talks about the property on the
makai side of the highway in the corner where the restaurant was is unchanged. It
remains. Let us go through it. The first WHEREAS clause, the third to the last
WHEREAS clause removes "offer the public a valuable opportunity to regain" and
replaces it with "once again be appropriate for parking access to the County of
Kaua`i." The next WHEREAS, which talks about, like I mentioned, the restaurant
there remains unchanged. It still says "which could also be appropriate for public
access to and use of the ocean." The last WHEREAS clause talks about the coconut
grove. It removes "offers access to a historical and natural resource" and continues
"includes the longstanding coconut grove, which could once again be appropriate for
public access to and use of the coconut grove." It is more semantics but it is putting
the three (3) whereas' using the same language.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion on the amendment?
Go ahead.
Councilmember DeCosta: In the amendment, you mentioned the beach
access...
Councilmember Kuali`i: That is not being amended. That is the second
to the last WHEREAS clause. I just mentioned it because the phrasing is the same.
The third to the last and the last.
Council Chair Rapozo: Just the middle TMK is not...
Councilmember DeCosta: The middle TMK, the use of the coconut grove.
Council Chair Rapozo: That is the third.
Councilmember Kuali`i: The final.
Councilmember DeCosta: You folks are asking for public access to use
the coconut grove, right?
Councilmember Kuali`i: It is public lands that has been under the
control of the entity running Coco Palms.
COUNCIL MEETING 44 MAY 31, 2023
Councilmember DeCosta: I am just trying to clarify it.
Councilmember Kuali`i: They have maintained it as well.
Councilmember DeCosta: Who maintained it?
Councilmember Kuali`i: It is the agreement between, I imagine, the
Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) and the entity.
Councilmember DeCosta: Correct, but that entity since Hurricane Iniki
has not existed.
Councilmember Kuali`i: It has changed, right? There are different
owners.
Councilmember DeCosta: Correct, it has changed. Were our Kaua`i
people not allowed in the coconut grove up until now? I am just trying to figure out
why would someone not...
Councilmember Kuali`i: If it is in construction...I do not know.
Council Chair Rapozo: There are private property signs.
Councilmember DeCosta: The place where the native Hawaiians are
planting taro is not on these fourteen (14) acres, right, the coconut grove?
Councilmember Kuali`i: It is in the back.
Councilmember DeCosta: It is in the back.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Further back.
Councilmember Cowden: On private property.
Councilmember DeCosta: On State private property?
Councilmember Cowden: No, on private property.
Councilmember DeCosta: A private property.
Council Chair Rapozo: A fee simple property.
Councilmember DeCosta: I am just wondering, because there were a lot
of people on this property even with the trespassing signs. I do not know if they were
legally allowed there or not, but there were quite a bit of people on the property.
Councilmember Cowden: Can I respond?
Council Chair Rapozo: Sure.
COUNCIL MEETING 45 MAY 31, 2023
Councilmember Cowden: We definitely had a cluster of people that were
on the revocable permit property where the lease belongs to the County. That is right
there near Haleilio. There has been a cluster of people there. Also, there is an area
behind the coconut grove where people were living and some are still living. That is
a private piece of property. It appears like it is part of the coconut grove, but there is
a fence there and people did not cross into the State parcel. They were not living in
the State parcel, to the best of my knowledge.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay. I am just trying to understand.
Councilmember Cowden: I was there regularly and they were on the
private property in the back.
Councilmember DeCosta: I am just trying to understand why we are
asking for the use of this coconut grove now when this place has not been used since
Hurricane Iniki. I am wondering why we are only now introducing this.
Councilmember Cowden: I could answer that. Basically, that parcel
that is fourteen point eight three (14.83) acres has been assigned to a private entity
for more than thirty (30)years, but it is basically tied to that private entity that keeps
it from being available for the rest of the public to decide a use for it, to decide on
that. A coconut grove is not a place where we really want people walking through, it
is dangerous. His amendment is a little different from how we once had it simply
describing it as a parcel that includes a longstanding coconut grove.
Councilmember Kuali`i: You took out the description.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. What you did add was "could once
again be appropriate" for public access. Whoever is maintaining that for public
access, that particular parcel would need a lot of management because a coconut
grove is not a place to play.
Councilmember DeCosta: What I am understanding is it actually was a
good thing that the private entity had this lease from the State, so the public could
not go in and get hurt. Because if they went in the coconut grove and a coconut fell,
the State would be liable.
Councilmember Cowden: Well, the State could have it. Basically, the
lease of this parcel has probably been what has created value for the forward piece of
property. I do not know, but the community would like that piece back. It a known
place of burial, a known place of a lot of elements, and there has been a strident call
from the community to not have that be commercialized.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you for the clarification.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any other discussion on the
amendment? Is there anyone from the public wishing to testify on the amendment?
You will be able to testify when we get to the Resolution, but if you want to testify on
this specific amendment, you are welcome to do so.
COUNCIL MEETING 46 MAY 31, 2023
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
Council Chair Rapozo: Did you see the amendment?
SHERRI CUMMINGS: I was just paying attention to what happened
right now.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Can I please read it in its entirety.
Council Chair Rapozo: She is going to hand it out. I just want to
make sure that we are testifying...
Councilmember Kuali`i: I still would like to for the public.
Council Chair Rapozo: Go ahead.
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded
as follows:
Council Chair Kuali`i: The first WHEREAS clause is, "WHEREAS,
TMK (4)" the number "(Revocable Permit 7444) (0.842 acres) is a parcel with
hardened surfaces immediately mauka of Kuhio Highway at the intersection of
Kuamo`o Road, which could once again be appropriate for parking access to the
County of Kaua`i Wailua Beach Park, especially due to the increasing erosion at
Wailua Beach, which has completely eliminated the once-plentiful beach-adjacent
parking area." The other WHEREAS clause is, "WHEREAS, TMK" the TMK number
"(General Lease No. 4878) (14.83 acres) is a parcel that includes the longstanding
`coconut grove,' which could once again be appropriate for public access to and use of
the `coconut grove'; now, therefore."
Council Chair Rapozo: Go ahead, Ms. Cummings.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
Ms. Cummings: Sherri Cummings,just as a private individual
and a person whose family grew up at Coco Palms. First, I was blessed that Aunty
Liberta Albao walked through here because Aunty Liberta was Coco Palms. That is
number one (1). Regarding the Resolution and what you folks have here regarding
parking access and whatnot through erosion, erosion will not stop, and it is no fault
of the developer. We were privileged as Kanaloa kanaka to always use that Wailua
area. Up until day present, we used that for parking access, though limited.
Canoe—we still use that access over there. I speak more towards amendment
number two (2) of the Resolution and I kind of take offense to Councilmember
Cowden, when she says that the coconut groves were of high value and of the care.
Because the care of the coconut trees, number one, were planted in 1896. I will talk
about that resolution afterwards when we bring it up the next time. When we talk
about 1896, it is important to remember there was no war back then, so when you
write your Resolution and you talk about wars and things like that, that was not.
The only coconut trees was Holoholoku that had the prestigiousness of coconut grove.
COUNCIL MEETING 47 MAY 31, 2023
Not this. This was 1896 planted all the way to Makaiwa. When those things grew,
they were small. They were not for consumption. To talk about us not having
opportunities to be in there, you bet we were in there. Coco Palms took care of us
families. We had all our Easters there, we had our Christmases there, we had our
Thanksgivings there. Local families that grew up in Coco Palms. To say that we
never have opportunities and give it back to the people, the people had it. Where can
you go in a hotel and actually drive into the property? The zoo was where we grew
up.
Council Chair Rapozo: Sherri, we got to stick to the amendment,
please.
Ms. Cummings: This is the coconut grove. You got to pass the
coconut grove to get to the zoo that was behind there. No one stopped us. No one
stopped us. They manicured that place. I told you folks. The historical value was
when all of the people that came in there that used the place of high prestige that
planted those coconut trees in there. To talk about iwi kapuna, we got to understand
one (1) thing. We buried in our own place. You bet that was all kuleana land in there.
We will find iwi kupuna in there because that was a place where we stayed.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you.
Councilmember DeCosta: I have a clarifying question. Sherri, you
mentioned the coconut grove was 1896.
Ms. Cummings: Correct.
Councilmember DeCosta: Can you educate me on who planted those
trees?
Ms. Cummings: I will give you all of the information that you
need to know. He was a German man. He planted that. They are Samoan coconuts.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you for that. It was not planted by our
kanaka people?
Ms. Cummings: No, absolutely not.
Councilmember DeCosta: This is the last thing. You mentioned...and I
like the history. I want to be educated by people like you folks that have that kuleana
of a place you were raised or brought up. You said that they allowed you folks to
celebrate Easters...
Ms. Cummings: Of course. The Guslanders were the best to
us.
Councilmember DeCosta: This is during the time when the hotel was
operating?
COUNCIL MEETING 48 MAY 31, 2023
Ms. Cummings: Of course. We could drive in there. We could
drive all the way back. The monkeys were our friends.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay.
Ms. Cummings: We used to go in there and have all of those
opportunities.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you for that. It is good for us to know.
Council Chair Rapozo: What was the monkey's name?
Ms. Cummings: Do not tell me that. Be quiet.
Council Chair Rapozo: No, really. What was the monkey's name?
Ms. Cummings: Go figure it out.
Council Chair Rapozo: Pilikia. The monkey's name was Pilikia.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I have a clarifying question.
Council Chair Rapozo: You have another question, Sherri. Please
come up.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Because you did not really say it, but based on
your comments, you support this amendment which says, "the longstanding coconut
grove which could once again be appropriate for public access to and use of the coconut
grove"?
Ms. Cummings: To be honest with you, I would not even put
that in there because...
Councilmember Kuali`i: Do you support it or not?
Ms. Cummings: I have the privilege to say why I would not say
that, that it should be in there, because it was just the kuleana of the developer at
that time. It was something that they just did. A lot of things we are doing is we are
just adding all on these types of regulations and restrictions that should not be,
because that was the kuleana, they did that. They took care of that place
immaculately. He was right, but where the coconut had fall down on my uncle's head
was actually when they drove in because he worked for Gray Line. He stopped, he
went ahead and went off to the side. One (1) of the trees, not in the grove...I cannot
tell you when a coconut fell on someone's head. That is how immaculate they kept it.
But he was off to the side standing up, my Uncle Bernard Mahuiki. That coconut fell
on his head. He never worked a day in his life after that. They were amazing at what
they did. My mother was a head housekeeper. All of our families grew up on there.
We were local.
COUNCIL MEETING 49 MAY 31, 2023
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you, Sherri. Is there anyone else
wishing to testify on the amendment? On the amendment only.
VIVIAN DAVENPORT: Hello. Vivian Davenport. I definitely support
this amendment and I understand the reasons that it is good for both the kanaka and
all of the other people of Hawai`i to be able to access this and to not have it in control
of hotel owners in the future. I wanted to add something that may "sweeten it" for
the State, which is that land could be used for Park and Ride, which is popular all
over the mainland, especially California, for heavily trafficked areas where people
can park and take a special ride into Lihu`e, etcetera. I know we have already started
something like that in Hanalei, I believe for the tourists. But Wailua does not have
enough access and egress, or it does not have enough exits in the case of an
emergency. We all know that. That would be a place that the State could stage
evacuations, etcetera. I just think there is so many reasons for this amendment to go
through. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there anyone else wishing to
testify? Seeing none.
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any further discussion on the
amendment? Seeing none.
The motion to amend Resolution 2023-44, Draft 1, as circulated, and as shown
in the Floor Amendment, which is attached hereto as Attachment 1 was then
put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Bulosan was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: We are back to the main Resolution, as
amended. Is there anyone in the audience wishing to testify?
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Chair, we have one (1) registered speaker.
Council Chair Rapozo: We have one (1) registered speaker. Who is
the registered speaker?
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Mauna Kea Trask.
Council Chair Rapozo: Mauna Kea, do you want to come up? I am
not sure who pulled the trigger, but we received a ton of emails regarding eminent
domain. That is not on the agenda. I am not going to allow testimony on eminent
domain. We are talking about a Resolution of three (3) parcels that the State controls
that the introducers of the Resolution would like to see turned back for public use. I
am just giving you warning now. No discussion on the County's purchase of this land.
No discussions of eminent domain. We are on the Resolution and I appreciate your
consideration. Thank you. Mr. Mauna Kea.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
COUNCIL MEETING 50 MAY 31, 2023
MAUNA KEA TRASK: Aloha Chair, Councilmembers. Thank you.
Mauna Kea Trask, for the record, on behalf of Reef Capital Partners. Reef Capital
foreclosed on the controlling interest in Coco Palms and affiliated owner entities
roughly one (1) year ago, after the developer defaulted on its loan. We have listened
to the community and our elected leaders, and we have learned that much of the
opposition to restoring Coco Palms is driven by mistrust and skepticism stemming
from thirty (30) years of broken promises by previous owners. Thank you for the
opportunity today to correct some misstatements. Unlike previous owners, Reef
Capital has the financial strength and resources to complete the development of Coco
Palms responsibly and in a manner that balances the needs and concerns of the
community. We have met with many community leaders and County officials, and
we seek opportunities to work together. However, we cannot support this Resolution
because it remains historically inaccurate and paints a false picture of the actual
development and uses of the RPs. Wailua was not the site of numerous loko i'a in the
traditional sense. The fishing grounds of Wailua were abundant, and that was the
source of fish. Further, Weuweu and Kawaiiki are no longer there. All of the
archaeological studies clearly show that the fishponds were extensively modified in
the 20th century and all that remains are components of the fishponds, which form a
small part of the existing lagoon. The remaining coconut groves here and in Wailua
were not historically or culturally significant to the native Hawaiian people. This one
was planted by Mr. Lindemann, and the one by Coconut Marketplace was built by a
gentleman named Edward Broadbent. Mahunapu'uone and the heiau throughout
Wailua have nothing to do with public access to these RPs. Currently, a fifty-stall
parking lot with twenty (20) stalls dedicated to public use will be developed and
maintained by the hotel at a cost of one million one hundred forty-five thousand
dollars ($1,145,000). Thus, the hotel is the funding mechanism for public use. Also,
the hotel will develop a bathroom and comfort station for public use all at private
expense. Neither the State, County, nor any nonprofit has the financial ability to do
this. The Seashell Restaurant RP is mauka of a series of three (3) County coastal
park parcels totaling nine (9) acres that provides public access to the north bank of
Wailua River all the way to Makaiwa Resort lots, along Aleka Loop. Public access is
not affected by this RP, not will it be enhanced by canceling this RP. The approximate
cost to maintain the coconut grove is about four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000)
a year. Neither the County, State, nor any nonprofit has the financial means to take
care of this property. The current RP is for landscaping and maintenance for
aesthetic park and recreational purposes. The hotel guests and the public will be able
to access this area for their enjoyment all at the hotel's cost and with no liability to
the State or County. We kindly request the County refrain from subtly trying to
influence the outcome of what is supposed to be a fair and unbiased process that is
governed by State law and Administrative rule. Taking away these RPs will not stop
this development. It will just make these areas a public expense. Thank you.
Councilmember Cowden: Would that improvement that you are
speaking of, of the parking lot and the bathrooms, would that trigger a requirement
from the Environmental Assessment?
Mr. Trask: No, it is already in the existing County
permit. It has gone all through reviews, environmental reviews, six-year reviews
back in 2014, 2015.
COUNCIL MEETING 51 MAY 31, 2023
Councilmember Cowden: Just out of curiosity, when you are talking
about economic capacity, I have not seen...is there something that has been given, a
financial report, that shows the economic capacity of the current people wanting to
have this RP?
Council Chair Rapozo: Again...
Councilmember Cowden: Is that not a question?
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes, totally out...this is not about Coco Palms
or the developer. I understand what he said, but we are talking about three (3)
parcels of land that are owned by the State, that are managed by the Board of Land
and Natural Resources, that again, this Resolution is urging them to turn that back.
This has absolutely nothing to do with hotel operations. Nothing to do with anything
else other than three (3) parcels of land. We had the discussion on the hotel two (2)
weeks ago.
Mr. Trask: Correct, and like Ms. Cummings said, the
coconut grove has been under lease to private entities since the kingdom. We are
talking 1890s. That was before the Territory. Back then it was a commercial
endeavor. The RPs have always been attended to Coco Palms, whoever owned it,
since going back to the `50s at least. The government has always found it appropriate
for the hotel to maintain those areas for the benefit of its customers and the public at
their expense, because that is the money. Better a private company do it than the
public. That has always been the reasoning, to my understanding.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: My questions will only be targeted to the
three (3) parcels. You made a comment that these three (3) parcels will make an
impact on the developer, but you did say that you folks will still move forward with
the development even if you do not have access to these three (3) parcels. Am I
correct?
Mr. Trask: It will not affect the fee simple properties,
correct, and the current valid permits per what Planning Director Ka`aina Hull said
last week or so.
Councilmember DeCosta: Correct. If we support this Resolution and
remove these three (3) parcels, so we can provide public access uses and purposes,
which is what the Resolution states, are the County permits that you folks have to
build the resort now in effect now?
Mr. Trask: No. In fact, we would enjoy it at the public
expense. That is the thing. The Resolution, I think, inappropriately assumes that
the public will not benefit from the hotel's development and maintenance of these
areas. They absolutely will. I just want to clarify that.
COUNCIL MEETING 52 MAY 31, 2023
Councilmember DeCosta: You mentioned the comfort station and the
twenty (20) parking stalls. Currently, I work in Kapa`a, there are some bricks not
allowing anyone to use that. Tell me about that. What are you folks going to do with
that parking area. How does it benefit? You mentioned the twenty (20) stalls and
the bathroom, but tell me a little bit about the traffic that will be either rerouted
through those three (3) parcels, or do the three (3) parcels affect the traffic of that
development?
Mr. Trask: Currently, the State Department of
Transportation (DOT) has a right-of-entry (ROE) to that corner lot on Kuamo`o and
Kuhio Highway that they use as a staging area for the Kuhio Highway road
improvements. That is what it is used for. That ROE is on top of a RP that is
currently issued to Coco Palms Hui, LLC, which we currently control. Once the State
is done with that and assuming the RP stays within the control and use and
maintenance of the hotel, it will then be developed as part of the hotel at private cost
for the use of the guests and twenty (20) stalls dedicated to the public along with the
comfort station, but the comfort station is not going to be on that lot. My
understanding is it is going to be on the neighboring fee simple lot, but it will be
accessed just like the facilities at Shipwreck's Beach.
Councilmember DeCosta: That other parcel by the beach, by the
Seashell restaurant, are you folks going to take away the access of the community
that wants to access the beach that are accessing the beach now?
Mr. Trask: No. When the County, back in 2009, wanted
to install the"bike path" in that area, it acquired via Executive Order (E.O.), I believe,
a series of lots from the north bank of Wailua River all the way to Makaiwa, behind
Coconut Marketplace. A total of nine (9) acres, three (3) lots, and that is the coastal
access area. The Seashell Restaurant RP is mauka of that and so it does not benefit
or inhibit public access in that area. That is County land right now. Anyone can
walk all the way.
Councilmember DeCosta: What about the small parcel in the back? The
one that is a forty (40) by ten (10) or something. There is a small parcel in the back.
Mr. Trask: That is another RP and that is part of the
traffic plan that is extensively studied and submitted as part of the County permits
that keeps the flow going so it lessens the impact of traffic.
Councilmember DeCosta: You folks did a traffic study done on those
three (3) parcels and how it is going to affect your development?
Mr. Trask: Correct.
Councilmember DeCosta: Which means, and I am just clarifying this, if
we encourage the State to take away those three (3) parcels, it is going to impact the
traffic that you folks can still develop your resort and put into our traffic system?
Mr. Trask: Correct.
COUNCIL MEETING 53 MAY 31, 2023
Councilmember DeCosta: Last question. Did you offer some time to
work with our people?
Mr. Trask: Yes, we met and we had some discussions,
correct.
Councilmember DeCosta: I met with you, but did you meet with our
people who introduced this Resolution?
Mr. Trask: Yes, they were very pleasant meetings,
correct.
Councilmember DeCosta: I am just making sure you are doing your due
diligence.
Mr. Trask: I try, definitely.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any further questions for Mauna
Kea? Go ahead, Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: When you spoke in opposition, you said it was
because it remains historically inaccurate and you talked about fishponds. The
WHEREAS clause that is listed in the Resolution, the second WHEREAS clause, that
mentioned this fishpond says, "WHEREAS, Wailua is the site of numerous ancient
loko i'a (fishponds), including two (2) known as Weuweu and Kawaiiki estimated to
be at least six hundred (600) to eight hundred (800) years old or more, integral to a
pu'uone coastal wetland drainage system." Are you saying that this is inaccurate,
this particular statement?
Mr. Trask: Yes.
Councilmember Kuali`i: What is inaccurate?
Mr. Trask: When you say "numerous ancient loko i a,"
when that is read by the public and native Hawaiians who understand this, when I
think of numerous loko i a, I think of the southern coast of Moloka`i, where they had
small little fishponds that literally dot the whole coast. I think about Kaneohe.
Areas where there are shallow estuaries that native Hawaiians used as incubating
zones to increase the fishing resources and the fishing grounds makai of them in the
reefs. Everyone knows Wailua. If you know that beach, you know the river is too
deep and runs too fast. You do not make fishponds in the river. It is impossible. The
coast right there is windward. It is extremely rough. The sand is constantly shifting.
The sand has always shifted. Now it is mostly underneath the bridge. It does move
back. It moves back and forth. You cannot build a fishpond there and Lydgate is not
fishponds, obviously. Those are 20th century creations. There were not numerous
loko i'a in the area. But the fishing areas were extremely...before the tucanare,
tilapia, Tahitian prawn, and everything that ate it all. But the mauka lands where
the kalo was, right? That was rice patty, and before that, it was taro. `O`opu were in
there. All the fish were in there. There is mullet, everything, in the river. The ahi,
COUNCIL MEETING 54 MAY 31, 2023
the ulua holes, everything in the ocean, that is what was productive. Weuweu and
Kawaiiki, yes, they were royal fishponds. Deborah Kapule claimed them later in the
mid-19th century, but it did not dot the area, right? I think that is not a correct
statement. Then when you say integral to a pu`uone coastal wetland drainage system,
I am not a native Hawaiian drainage expert, but pu'uone is sand. The whole area is
so wet and it drains the way it does. That is what made it sacred. It was the
productivity. The amazing resource you could grow there, that is what made it
sacred. It was not magic, so it was sacred. It was productive, so it was sacred. That
is why there were heiau everywhere. That is why everyone lived there. Then when
you look at the idea Deborah Kapule's house lot was on Coco Palms, it was not.
Deborah Kapule's konohiki land were on Alani and `Ghana Street is, by Holoholoku,
more up. The maka'ainana, like me, we lived along the coast. If you read the reports,
the kuleana there were Pula, Land Commission Award 3406:2, Makaiki, LCAW
3303:2, Nawai, Kelani. These people are ignored in history. Those are the people
that lived there. Kapule is up. She had the fishponds, yes, but the maka ainana
could not use those fish. It is for ali`i.
Council Chair Rapozo: Mauna Kea, I am sorry to interrupt, but I
have a question. Weuweu and Kawaiiki are where?
Mr. Trask: They do not exist anymore, but where the
lagoon is now, was where they were. Throughout the 20th century, because
Lindemann controlled it and then Mills controlled it, and then later the Coco Palms
controlled it, it got dredged, and dug, and joined. It is a lagoon now. That thing was
extensively pumped.
Council Chair Rapozo: Those fishponds were where the lagoon is
today?
Mr. Trask: But if you read the preservation plan, it
makes it clear. We are not preserving the fishponds, we are preserving the lagoon,
which contains components of the fishpond that was extensively modified in the 20th
century, the extent to which is unknown, basically.
Council Chair Rapozo: Go ahead.
Councilmember DeCosta: I remember reading something in literature
that said they did some concrete work in the pond. Is that true?
Mr. Trask: Correct.
Councilmember DeCosta: I want to ask you, and I do not want you to
think I am badgering you, but I have to get this off my chest. I am sitting next to
two (2) individuals who are kanaka, who went to Kamehameha. You are held at a
high standard. You have a lawyer's degree. Did you folks decide to talk a little bit
prior to this Resolution, so we could make this pono, make this right like you kanaka
say? I am wondering where the collaboration took place.
Mr. Trask: When I spoke with...
COUNCIL MEETING 55 MAY 31, 2023
Councilmember Cowden: Can I ask a point of order?
Council Chair Rapozo: Go ahead.
Councilmember DeCosta: I am asking...
Council Chair Rapozo: Hold on.
Councilmember Cowden: Point of order: He is getting an incredible
amount of time. He is getting more than most people would get. These things have
been reviewed with different Hawaiian history historians who live in the area and
everything. I do not quite understand. We are talking about a parking lot, so we are
debating little nuances. We have a whole bunch of different fishponds that were in
there. This does not seem germane to the conversation. We took out a number of the
pieces that he is complaining about. I do not quite understand why we are going this
deep down this alley.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are you suggesting that I limit questions from
Councilmembers?
Councilmember Cowden: What I am just noticing is how unusual it is
that one (1) testifier gets this kind of time when he is the paid attorney for the client.
Council Chair Rapozo: He is responding to questions. The questions
are about inaccuracies that he is...I am not approving an inaccurate Resolution, so if
you want me to end it, we can end it, but I can tell you my vote will change because I
am very concerned.
Councilmember Cowden: I am just curious because we have had this
approved by Hawaiian history professors that are...
Council Chair Rapozo: I will just say our policy here is to allow
Councilmembers to ask questions.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, we will let our attorney for the client
continue.
Council Chair Rapozo: Continue.
Mr. Trask: To answer your question, first off, I did meet
with Councilmember Kuali`i. We talked about this and I have great respect for him.
Ultimately the choice he makes...he is an elected official, I am not. On the second
point, you are right. I did go to Kamehameha Schools and I have numerous aunties
and uncles, and I just want to make it clear that I work for the developer, yes, but the
reason why I get hired is to help them do the right thing. I am not a hired gun and I
do not do things, no matter what, because I am more concerned about what Aunty
Liberta, my aunties and uncles will think about me if I do the wrong thing than
getting paid. I can get paid by anyone. I just want to state that for the record.
COUNCIL MEETING 56 MAY 31, 2023
Council Chair Rapozo: He answered the question. Are there any
other questions for Mauna Kea? If not, thank you.
Mr. Trask: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: I will just say it. Bernard and I went to a
Portuguese documentary not long ago...
Councilmember Kuali`i: I went, too.
Council Chair Rapozo: And KipuKai. They said there were different
versions of history by the historian that tells the story. No one here can tell us exactly
what happened back then. No one. We rely on our stories. Hawaiian culture was all
verbal. Majority of it was oral, so I appreciate differences in recollections of our
Hawaiian history, because I do not know. You can go to the library right now and
pick two (2) different books on history and find conflicting information. That is just
the way it is. Before I say "Aye" to this Resolution, I am going to make sure the
information is accurate. It is not "just" a Resolution. I know that term gets tossed
around. It is just a Resolution, it has no weight. Well, it definitely does have an
impact on people. With that, is there anyone else in the audience wishing to testify
on the Resolution, not eminent domain or anything else?
Ms. Cummings: Sherri Cummings, lineal descendant of
Wailuanuiahoano, Wailua Kai, especially, Hauola Hikinaakala. I just want to read
one (1) thing before I get into the testimony, and I found this off of a song that speaks
about this. "I pray you will be our eyes and watch us where we go and help us to be
wise in times we do not know. Let this be our prayer when we lose our way. Lead us
to a place, guide us with your grace, to a place where we will be safe." That thing
resonated with me because who got to be safe is Hawaiians. Our culture. And you
are right, this is not just a Resolution. It has more implications than most people can
imagine. For people like us that own our kanaka, this is hurtful. It was not Mauna
Kea that went to KipuKai. It was me who went to KipuKai, me who sat down with
Mauna Kea many times and tried to find a resolution, and then this resolution I did
state that I never supported it. We can talk about going into books and finding out
history, we can be who we are today because of our history and this is my history.
This is my place, as well as other family members' place, so this is my mo`oku auhau.
This is my place, my wahi. This is wrong for many reasons. You folks already touched
on the coconut grove. You folks already touched about the heiau, and things like that.
You talked about royal residences for the ali i and their courts. There were not royal
residents. Mauna Kea said it straight. Where the ali`i live, the maka ainana got to
live. They were not sacrilegious or this is kapu area, so I am glad when I said what I
said back then had kind of temper this Resolution because it was off back then. But
where you found the ali`i, you found the maka ainana more than the ali`i because
they had to govern people. And they were only as good as their maka ainana said,
because they were the ones in control, the konohiki. When we talk about this kind of
thing, we need to be real careful. Wailua, if you look back in pictures, in history, you
would be surprised if you could swim from one (1) side of the river to the other. That
is how much water came down from that place.
COUNCIL MEETING 57 MAY 31, 2023
Council Chair Rapozo: Sherri, hang on real quick. How many others
are going to testify today? Is that it, just four (4) more?
Councilmember Kuali`i: Five (5).
Ms. Cummings: I can step back if you want.
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes, let us just go and you can come back on
your second round. Thank you, Sherri. Next speaker.
Mr. Hart: For the record, Bruce Hart. First, I did not
testify the first time this came up. Basically, my position...first, I want to say
something. I experienced Coco Palms when I first came to Kaua`i, when I first set
foot on the island, and I found it to be captivating. It was a great experience. As the
years went by, I went back and I appreciated what the hotel was doing then to honor
the Hawaiian people, the culture. I am just a haole boy from the mainland. It was a
whole new experience for me and I got to learn, I got to see some of what the history
had been. It was 1971, so I was on the short end, but I have never forgotten. I
remember I was young, I wanted to harvest coconuts. I went to see the general
manager (GM). He was such a nice guy and he talked to me about the liabilities and
he could not let me do it, but I never felt that I was not welcome. I was just a member
of the public. I was not staying there. What Sherri says, I agree with. If the developer
is willing to make every attempt to bring that back and if they are going to pay for
it...
Council Chair Rapozo: Bruce, again, we are moving into the subject
of the hotel. This is about the Resolution and three (3) parcels, so please keep your
testimony to the item on the Resolution.
Mr. Hart: Then basically, I agree with Mauna Kea and
Sherri. Thank you very much.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. I am sorry I have to do that, but
otherwise we will be...
Mr. Hart: It is okay.
FERN HOLLAND: Aloha. Fern Anuenue Holland, for the record,
on behalf of myself. Thank you very much. I support this Resolution strongly because
I support public access to this entire area strongly in a form that protects that in
perpetuity. I want to address a few things that have been said related to the
conversation about the fishponds. I am not a Hawaiian practitioner. I am not a
historian. My background is ecology. I am an ecologist, an environmental scientist
that specializes in the restoration of ecosystems and native environmental systems,
but over the last three (3) years, I have been working on this project through I Ola
Wailuanui to try to better understand the history that I learned so much about, being
born and raised on Kaua`i, born and raised on the Eastside. I have learned so much
in the last three (3) years and one (1) of the things is about the uniqueness of this
fishpond system. To Mauna Kea's point, there are places throughout Hawai`i that
COUNCIL MEETING 58 MAY 31, 2023
have different types of fishponds that you commonly think of, but that does not mean
that those are the only types of fishponds entirely that existed. This pu'unoe fishpond
is unique because of its inland structure. The fish were corralled in the ocean and
moved up Kawaiiki auwai, into the first ponds that were brackish water and then
they were moved slowly into fresh water for fattening in a really incredible system.
Those fishponds absolutely are still there. Actually, our fishpond practitioners that
we have been working with to try to do restoration work throughout the entire
Hawai`i, they say that it is restorable, that you can fix anything that was done, and
in actuality some of that system might be better preserved than any of the other
fishponds that were fixed throughout Hawaii that were very, very broken down and
decayed. I think that it is important to understand that there were modifications,
but this fishpond was utilized up until the 1930s by Alfred Hills who last stocked that
fishpond. That fishpond is absolutely still able to be restored and is very much still
there. There was concrete that was applied, there were changes that turned it into a
lagoon. All of that can be done. Our fishpond practitioners were recently denied
access by the developers and Mauna Kea to be able to go and look at the fishpond and
see what could be done to reserve it. I recently walked the State Kawaiiki auwai
which extends still to this day from the river through up the middle of the fishpond
system and it is incredibly well-structured. The rocks are still there. Even in the
part that was broken down, there are still rock structures from the original auwai. I
wanted to talk about that, but really I want to say also our group has applied for
these RPs, so I am here in support of this as a collective vision, but we are also
working to acquire these parcels and working with the Department of Land and
Natural Resources (DLNR). We have already submitted the applications for these
RPs and we want to work in conjunction with the County, with other partners, with
stakeholders across the board. I will come back.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you, Fern. Next speaker.
TERESA TICO: Good morning. It is almost afternoon. Thank
you for allowing us to testify on this very important Resolution. I had intended to
submit written testimony, but time got away from me, so I will read what I had
intended to submit. I am testifying in support of Resolution No. 20...
Councilmember Cowden: State your name.
Ms. Tico: Sorry. Teresa Tico. I am testifying in support
of Resolution No. 2023-44 urging the BLNR to consider public access uses and
purposes for State parcels at Wailua. The parcels owned by the State, which means
those parcels are owned by "we," the people, are in the Public Trust. This is what I
wanted to talk about today—the Public Trust. The Public Trust is a legal doctrine
establishing that certain natural and cultural resources are preserved for public use.
Natural resources held in trust include land, waters, ocean. The public is considered,
that is us, we are considered to be the owners of these resources and the government
is obligated to protect and maintain these resources for the public's use. We should
have access to Public Trust lands and this is all this Resolution is stating. Our State
has a long history of preserving and protecting public access through our statutory
laws, our general plan, the County Charter, and numerous, numerous Hawaii
Supreme Court decisions handed down over the years. Hawaii Revised
COUNCIL MEETING 59 MAY 31, 2023
Statutes (HRS) specifically preserve the public's right to access beaches and
shorelines. Our own updated Kaua`i County General Plan ensures access to and
along shorelines, waterways, and mountains for all. If you have not read the General
Plan lately, go back and read it. I had not read it since 2018 when it was updated. It
is a beautiful document. It is highly aspirational. I would like to read Policy #15 in
your Kaua`i County General Plan. It specifically addresses Hawaiian rights to
"perpetuate traditional Native Hawaiian rights and protect public trust resources
and cultural sites in all land use development and activities. Policy #16: Protect
access to Kaua`i's treasured places. Protect access to and customary use of shoreline
areas, trails, and places of religious and cultural observances, fishing, gathering,
hunting, and recreational activities, such as hiking and surfing." These parcels we
are addressing in the Resolution are in the public trust. We own them. We deserve
public access and this should be acknowledged by you in the Resolution that was
drafted here. It should be acknowledged by you and strongly communicated to the
BLNR. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there anyone else wishing to
testify?
RICK COOPER Good day, Councilmembers. My name is Rick
Cooper. I am testifying in favor of the Resolution you have before you. I want to
expand the conversation a little bit in that what you are proposing is to set a
precedent. These parcels under question have long been held by the owners of the
fee simple property on which the Coco Palms hotel has previously existed. That
means that your vote today will make a change to that. The owners of that property
have long had access to and control of these properties. As we have not had a hotel,
anything functioning there, for thirty (30) years, we have not had access to it any way
or the other—the public, the community. I am imploring you to think in terms of the
limitations of the access that we have not had, but also to the fact that how, and
recently we can look at the history, how those parcels have been treated by those that
have now recently been in charge of those parcels. The over disrespect of those
parcels, as we heard in the hearing recently when the Chair of the BLNR was here,
and the actions that the BLNR has had to take against the owners of that parcel is
at play as we look at, as you look at, making an unprecedented change in modern
history to take back the control of those parcels due to, in part, not only what Ms.
Tico was talking about which is the Hawaiians should have access to these important
and special places, but because the stewards have not proven themselves to be doing
something that is in the best interest of the people, nor in the guides of what is
expected of someone who has the responsibility to steward State lands. To this
gentleman over here, myself, I went to the Coco Palms as a child. I remember it
fondly. Many people do. That will never go away, but that ship has sailed. For these
parcels...
Council Chair Rapozo: I will have to stop you.
Mr. Cooper: Sure. Thank you very much.
Council Chair Rapozo: You can come back in the second round.
Thank you. Is there anyone else wishing to testify for the first time?
COUNCIL MEETING 60 MAY 31, 2023
HAUNANI ROSSI: Haunani Rossi. I live in the Wailua Houselots
and I also own property that borders Koki Road where they were doing the dumping.
I pass that every day to go to my parcel of land and I think what these developers
were doing was not right—the desecration, the dumping of rubbish. I even stopped
some of these unmarked trucks and asked these drivers what they were doing. I
understand John Gibbs was their employer and I told them that they need to stop.
You should see how it is. There are all kinds of debris back there. I am in favor of
stopping all of this because I do not think that the developer did any justice for those
parcels that are back there. I humbly ask you folks to please stop this. It is terrible
back there, what we see. Thank you,
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there anyone else wishing to
testify? Come up.
HOPE KALLAI: Good morning. Hope Kallai. I would like to
address public access and the need for this parking lot, but first, a little clarification
on fishponds. You cannot compare freshwater fishponds with open ocean fishponds
at all. It is a whole different view. A whole different set of eyeballs have to look at
them. A whole different operating set. I worked freshwater fishponds for
twenty-five (25) years and am pretty confident on what it would take to get this one
back happening. I would not put myself in an open ocean fishpond and say that. I
know how to manage freshwater fishponds. This one is totally reclaimable and I was
not there, but the people in the 1850s when they commented on their LCAs on their
kuleana, they self-described five (5) other freshwater fishponds in the Wailua Kai
area. They were all in the lower part of Wailua Kai. One (1) of them was on the
eighteen (18) acres that is currently a dumpsite. If you look at the little machine
running around, you can tell that soil was a lo`i. They have not cracked that lo`i, yet.
It is hydric soil. Just looking at it, it fits the classic definition of a wetland. That
mess needs to be cleaned up now. I do not know why we are sitting on it. There is
battery acid leaking into that wetland right now. It needs to be done. But back to
public access, it is a parking lot. We are only talking about a parking lot, not who
chopped down the Hawaiian coconut trees and planted Samoans, because there were
always coconuts there. The need for public access in that particular spot, this County
could reclaim the historic trail right there. The parking lot is on the alanui and the
ala loa. The ala boa and the alanui were together like this, coterminous, right in that
point right to the Seashell Restaurant where the ala loa cuts to the heiau. I
submitted written testimony. There are some maps in there. It is a really exciting
chance for the County to acquire these historic trails that are important not only for
beach access but mountain access also. The two (2) kuleana holders that Mauna Kea
was talking about, Pula and Makaiki, in their land quarter warrants, they described
the boundary of their pahale kuleana right there as being bordered by the alanui. We
have a historic trail, we also have a historic railroad. People talk about the cane haul
trains that were at 3:00 a.m. at Coco Palms. That was the biggest complaint about
Coco Palms—the 3:00 a.m. cane haul trains that went right through there.
Council Chair Rapozo: I need to stop you there. You can come back
for your second round.
Ms. Kallai: I will be back. Thank you.
COUNCIL MEETING 61 MAY 31, 2023
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone else wishing to testify on their
first time? If not, Mauna Kea. We will go in the order of your first testimonies.
Mr. Trask: Aloha Chair, Councilmembers. Thank you. I
just want to address some of the further misstatements that were made today. I read
the General Plan every day. Every day I read it. The General Plan, as you all know,
puts every single resort land use designation along the coast. Coco Palms is in the
General Plan right now. It is in pink. If you look at the East Kaua`i Land Use
designation map, it is in pink for a resort. To talk about public trust lands and public
trust resources, a copra farm planted in 1896 is not a public trust resource. Yes, it is
public land, but it is not a public trust resource. That is a commercial operation. You
cannot go to the Kalepa lands, onto any rancher's lease from the State and claim
public trust. That is agriculture. That is the State support. The State leases property
and has every legal right and duty and does for commercial use. This is not for
commercial use, though. This is park use and the hotel has always maintained that
park. We are not denying access. We are building a parking lot partially for the
public. We are not denying public access to the coastal lands. The coastal access is
protected in perpetuity because the County owns the coastal access along that road.
Councilmember Carvalho knows. Councilmember Kagawa knows. Council Chair
Rapozo knows. Councilmember Kuali`i knows. We were going to run the bike path
makai on that parcel to and until the local residents in the area said, "No, we want it
back along Papaloa Road." That is why the bike path is there now. These are not
public trust resources. I think it is disrespectful to say misstatements and enrage
the public for no good reason other than for self-aggrandizement. We are clearing
this area up. The truth is that if this Resolution passes, it is not accurate. To say
that we are "dirtying" the conservation lands, we were cleaning it out. I have receipts
that show we have deposited seventy-nine (79) derelict vehicles to Resource Recovery
Solutions (RRS) out here in Puhi. My client towed that all out. We disposed of it.
We had to stop, because we were the target of false allegations regarding grading and
grubbing. We were removing cars. You do not have that information. I would love
to provide it to you because obviously no one knows about it, or they refuse to
acknowledge it. Do not put your thumbs on the scale. Let this process play out before
the appropriate authority, which is the Board of Land and Natural Resources, and
let us respond to these allegations. The only thing that makes Coco Palms a viable
as a resort is the fact that it is like how it used to be. That is the only character of it.
Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: You said for the past thirty (30)years that the
resort has taken care of the coconut palm fourteen point eight three (14.83) acres,
which resort was that?
Mr. Trask: If I said thirty (30) years, I misspoke. I am
going back to 1950, so let us say eighty (80) years.
Councilmember Cowden: I am asking for the last thirty (30) years,
which resort was maintaining the coconut grove?
COUNCIL MEETING 62 MAY 31, 2023
Mr. Trask: It is hard for me to specifically say which
one, but I know that Uncle Larry Rivera was running those tours back there up until,
I think, approximately 2010 or something like that and it was maintained. I
remember it being mowed. My wife actually did the Blue Hawai`i anniversary thing.
She got her picture taken up there with them. I am not sure. I do not want to speak
inaccurately. I want to make sure I am accurate, so I am going to have to find out
that information.
Councilmember Cowden: Accuracy would be important. I think you are
meaning Bob Jasper has done those tours, not Larry Rivera. He plays, but Bob
Jasper...there has been some clearing, but to say that that is maintained...You are
suggesting that other people were not accurate, so I think it is important to look for
accuracy, because you said for the past thirty (30) years the resort has fixed it. Please
check and find that accuracy.
Mr. Trask: I one hundred percent (100%) agree on
accuracy, I apologize for making a misstatement, and I will acknowledge that.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any other questions for Mauna Kea?
Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: You talk about park maintenance. That park
under the new owner, the individual has been doing their due diligence to take care
of that park? Am I correct? Are they?
Mr. Trask: Correct.
Councilmember DeCosta: The derelict vehicles, because one of the other
testifiers mentioned battery acid, so she must agree with you folks that there were
some cars in that area. Do you folks lease that from the State? It is your kuleana to
care for that property?
Mr. Trask: No. What I believe that was being talked
about was is the private fee simple lot that is in the Conservation District that it was
alleged that we were illegally grading and grubbing in it when it had been graded
and grubbed by houseless people who were staying there and were stockpiling
numerous vehicles. My client was the only one, as Noa Mau testified to at the last
meeting, out of all the owners, the current owner is the only one that worked with
him to clean it up. He is the witness. He is not here right now. He knows. You talk
about maintenance and park maintenance, that is true. My concern is I was part of
this County when we entered the stewardship agreement with Uncle Rupert Rowe
and Uncle Billy for Kanei`olouma. Look what happens when it is not supported. After
great expense to the County, it immediately goes to weed. This is going to be even
worse because Wailua is much more wet than Koloa. If this is not maintained at
great expense by a private hotel, it is going to be maintained by you or it will not be
maintained.
Council Chair Rapozo: Let me just say it will not be done by us
because the State is going to take the land, not the County. This is a State parcel. If
COUNCIL MEETING 63 MAY 31, 2023
the BLNR decides to give that back to the public...it is their land. I share your
concern, but it is not the County. It is the State.
Councilmember DeCosta: Since we are talking about whether the State
is going to absorb this piece of property or not. The State likes to lease properties
because they cannot take care of it themselves, that is why they do that. They do not
want derelict vehicles and, I am going to say it, homeless and people trashing the
lands. The State cannot take care of their lands, so they lease it to you folks. That is
how it usually works.
Mr. Trask: Article 11, Section 1 is the public trust
doctrine, that is true. If you look at other sister sections, specifically Article 11,
Section 3, for example...
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as not present.)
Mr. Trask: You talk about agricultural leases. It also
says in the same breath, "The State shall conserve and protect agricultural lands,
promote diversified agriculture, increase agricultural self-sufficiency and ensure the
availability of agriculturally suitable lands." They say the same thing for houses.
The State is one of the largest landowners on this island. The State does lease land.
That is the whole point. We know that most ranchers have State-leased land. To
assume then that the State public trust resources are being denied, that is just a
misstatement. It is just not true. Thank you for the opportunity to correct that.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I appreciate how you have spoken that the
people who currently hold the lease have an intention moving forward to stewarding
it in the best of ways relative to the public and to be sharing with the public. I believe
both privately in our conversation, and you have said that now. Has your client that
is the leaseholder or is hopeful to be the leaseholder, I do not think their name is right
on it yet, but do they have any intention of selling or have they ever offered to sell in
the last year?
Mr. Trask: I have no idea.
Councilmember Cowden: You do not have any idea? Were you here
two (2) weeks ago when we were talking about if we had twenty-two million
dollars ($22,000,000), we could buy it?
Mr. Trask: You are referring to that?
Councilmember Cowden: Yes.
Mr. Trask: Yes, I was there. I said it.
Councilmember Cowden: You were there. You said it.
COUNCIL MEETING 64 MAY 31, 2023
Mr. Trask: But I do not think that that was a formal offer
to sale. It was just a notification to the Chair regarding the topic he brought up.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, and I believe it came up in the Planning
Commission meeting as well. I appreciate that there is good intention and maybe a
good history with the ownership of the ownership, the staff elements in there, but we
have to think about long-term if there is ever movement. Anyway, I am starting to
get into dialogue.
(Councilmember Kagawa was noted as present.)
Mr. Trask: Councilmember Cowden, on that point. You
just recently came back from the National Association of Counties (NACo) Western
Interstate Region (WIR) Conference, and that was in Utah. You saw the Black Desert
Resort project that Reef Capital is doing.
Councilmember Cowden: It is a very nice project.
Mr. Trask: You know that they spent hundreds of
millions to ensure that the environmental laws were followed and that the
environment was taken care of, especially the black lava rock in the area. You know
that.
Councilmember Cowden: You heard me bring that up to him. I brought
that up and I saw that they did a good and responsible job. I brought that up.
Mr. Trask: And so I just say that they are going to do the
same job here.
Council Chair Rapozo: I am trying to find the Black River Rock
Resort on this Resolution, but I do not see it.
Councilmember Cowden: Alright, I will stop.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you.
Mr. Trask: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any other questions for Mauna Kea
regarding the Resolution? If not, thank you, Mauna Kea. Sherri.
Ms. Cummings: Sherri Cummings. I will state not my lineal
line relative to Wailuanuiahoano. I am just going to say for you folks "no be scared,"
and I say this because there are so many laws that protect native Hawaiian rights.
When you talk about trying to create this fight for those three (3) parcels, we look at
the parcel by the restaurant. Why? Ask ourselves why, when directly on the back
side of that is where we go all the time because that was a heiau there. And the ala
loa? Hope is right. That gives us the access. That is already our God-given right and
it is not only because we are native Hawaiian, because these laws were codified in
COUNCIL MEETING 65 MAY 31, 2023
1840. True law, Hawaiian kingdom law, 1840, by the third King, brought back,
redefined, codified again, 1978 Section 12, that gives us those rights to access. For
anyone to come up here and say we want to access, we want to assure, the assurance
is there. We got to be careful when we try to place all these types of regulations on
top of us or different entities, because these are laws that are accessible to us. If we
do not talk about it and educate people on it, then we go and add something upon
something else. That is one. When we talk about the loko i a, Hope is correct. You
did have freshwater, you did have ocean. My tutu Wahinealoha Keo, who was there,
he ended up moving to Hanama`ulu, that is where we have our lands today, because
why? That railroad took us from Hauola and brought us into Hanamd'ulu. He was
written about many times. He was the Robin Hood during the days of the Great
Mahele. You will find him, Wahinealoha Keo, dividing, segregating for the right
reasons, because we knew how to steward correctly. When you talk about the loko
i a, it was only a definition of that place we use. We were experts in what we did. I
can tell you there are loko i'a up Kalepa, but do you think someone is going to believe
me? Absolutely not, but you will find mullet right in Kalepa on the mountain, that if
you do not know, our people should know, but if we do not know, then you let people
like this try to decide our culture. Do not ride on the backs of us. That is why I am
getting into the industry of film and documentary. Because it is so important for our
stories to be told to protect us when you have other people that take our stories and
make it become something for them, for betterment of themselves. We have our own
rights and it is about time people figure it out.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you, Sherri. I am sorry, hang on.
Councilmember DeCosta: I have a clarifying question. I so appreciate
your mana o. I could listen to this kind of thing all day. Tell me, Sherri, I would like
to know about your families. Are you telling me that your family was from this area
for generations? I have been hearing one generation, I have been hearing
twenty-five (25) years on the island. You are talking about your family being there.
Tell me a little bit about why you know so much.
Ms. Cummings: My mother's Hawaiian name is
Kawai`ula`iliahi. If you know the name Kawai`ula`iliahi, it comes from Makaweli.
Makaweli, he split the river. One (1) of the rivers is my mom's name, but it is pilina
to the place of Waimea. She was born in the valley of Waimea, 1934. My tutu, 1906.
My tutu before that, 1849, and then it goes on to Kapuaiki, who was the chief of
Ko`olau. We do not talk about our families much, but we know our mo oku auhau and
we know our aina.
Councilmember DeCosta: How does that tie into Wailua?
Ms. Cummings: What happened is my mother, her ohana, the
Naumu ohana, came from Wailua because my grandma, on the Taniguchi side, was
from Waimea Valley. My tutu Pia took my grandmother and brought her to the lands
of Hanamd'ulu. My mother was raised there, but she would swim and learn in
Wailua. Why? Because that was my tutu man's place. My tutu man was born in
Niulolo, but they came out and Hauola was there place and they had reason to be
there. Hauola was where my tutu man's siblings, Kaulona, Oliwa, Manu were all
COUNCIL MEETING 66 MAY 31, 2023
born. Even if my grandmother and my mom's grandparents took my tutu man back
in Hanamd'ulu, they would come Wailua because that was his place where he was
raised. That is why we pilina the place over there. That was our place and our
relationship to the mo`i is very real because that was our kuleana. Not everyone was
a fisherman, not everyone was from the other area.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you for that, Sherri. I understand now.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you, Sherri. Bruce, did you want to
come back up for a second time?
Mr. Hart: Again, for the record, Bruce Hart. Listening
to Sherri is fascinating in that I hope she can be a part of whatever happens to that
land. One of the questions I have is if it reverts back to the public, if the DLNR denies
the leases, and as you said, Chair, it will go back to the State, and as Councilmember
DeCosta said, the State does not have the money, who is going to pay for the
development there, this public access? Who is going to do this? I have not heard
anyone say who is going to do this. I still would like to see the leaseholder be held
responsible. I am not talking about, "Well, we just give it to them and just hope." I
am talking about they have to be held responsible. Someone has to be held
accountable. Then bring it back to a compromise that everyone can appreciate. I
want to see the history, I want to hear about it. Mauna Kea said that that hotel never
did have anything that would attract tourists to it except the culture. That is what I
appreciated when I went there. Just to finish this, I ate at the Seashell Restaurant.
My mom and my stepdad took me there. I am not going to forget that either, and no,
that is not a ship that passed. Thank you.
Ms. Holland: I have so much that I want to say. Fern
Holland, for the record, round two. Really quickly; I am trying to take notes here.
First of all, go ahead and read the descriptions yourselves from the letters of people
who stayed with Queen Kapule and they talk about the abundance of rocked
fishponds behind her property and the Koloa ducks and the incredible wetland that
was there. We are not just talking about the preservation of this place—put a gate
around it, call it a day. We are talking about restoring this incredibly ancient
agricultural system—fixing it, rebuilding it, restoring it—not just preserving it and
putting a fence around it. That entire area is sacred, not just because of what was
mentioned about the waterflow and the movement of water in that area. Yes, that is
a huge part of what makes Wailua important, but Wailuanuiahoano really translates
to the "Great Sacred Wailua." A lot of those heiau are not associated necessarily with
the fishponds. They are associated with the rising of the heavens and the stars and
the astronomy and the navigation that was tracked from that area from what I have
read and learned. That whole area is special and should be for the public good. It
should be, because of the importance of this entire area, a place that serves the people.
Our efforts really have been based on honoring the rich history of this place, for the
benefit of Kaua`i and the community, and particularly the advancement of Hawaiians
and Hawaiian culture. The proposed development does not even look like Coco
Palms, so people's nostalgia about his hotel will likely be hugely disappointed when
they see this much larger hotel, but the restoration of the system—the floodplain, the
special place of for the people, these RPs that we are discussing, and the restoration
COUNCIL MEETING 67 MAY 31, 2023
of that entire area for the benefit of environment and culture is something that
everyone will benefit from. The whole point of restoring this place is community use,
is collaboration, and these State lands that are being utilized as part of a private
development, if that is the goal, then yes, show your environment thing, do an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Do an Environmental Impact Assessment
on the use of these State lands which is triggered by Hawai`i Revised Statutes
Chapter 343. The vision of the restoration of this whole area is a collective vision of
the community working together to create a cultural and educational center. Imagine
something like the success of Waipa, like the success of Limahuli Gardens, like the
success of Malama Hule`ia's efforts combined into an incredible cultural center and
park that serves...like every kid, we went with David Boynton up in Koke`e to learn
about Kokee when we were young. Every child in third grade, fourth grade,
whenever it is, would go to this place and learn about the rich culture, would learn
about the amazing things that Sherri and others are sharing. This cultural
educational place for people to learn and connect is the entire point of the restoration
of this entire area. Thank you very much.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Hang on, Fern.
Councilmember DeCosta: I have some questions.
Ms. Holland: Thank you, Uncle Billy.
Councilmember DeCosta: You seem very animated to speak, so I want
to make sure you have enough time to clarify what you said. Number one, you talk
about fixing that area, that stewardship fix it, and in your first testimony mentioned
that you are part of I Ola Wailuanui. Did I say it correctly?
Ms. Holland: Correct.
Councilmember DeCosta: You are part of that nonprofit?
Ms. Holland: Yes.
Councilmember DeCosta: Would you benefit from this nonprofit
absorbance area, if not the hotel, but that State lease? Would your nonprofit benefit?
Ms. Holland: Would our nonprofit benefit? Possibly, yes.
We would be part of the facilitation of the stewardship groups, but not personally. I
am not paid. I am a volunteer board member.
Councilmember DeCosta: I am not talking about that. I am just asking
about the benefits of I Ola Wailuanui.
Ms. Holland: We applied for RPs because it is part of the
larger restoration of the vision.
Councilmember DeCosta: Since you folks are interested, do you folks
have funding available right now to take stewardship of this place?
COUNCIL MEETING 68 MAY 31, 2023
Ms. Holland: We have some funding. We have raised, I
believe, it is over two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) in pledges in just a couple
of months of reaching for small donors, but we have also been working on really large
grants in excess of millions of dollars that would be for the actual stewardship. There
are many different avenues. We have been working with legislators on all levels of
government, federal and State funding. There is a lot of support for the restoration
work. The problem has been this weird position that the properties have been in.
Councilmember DeCosta: The reason why I am saying I get it is because
I am a government leader, so I know exactly the congressional people you are talking
to and the interest, it is an interest right now, no one is clawing at the bank account
to put funding in. I remember you folks went out there to try and raise some millions
of dollars and none of that went into it. Two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000),
just to give you a reference, I think the parking lot is going to cost one million four
hundred thousand dollars ($1,400,000). Just the parking lot.
Ms. Holland: That is what they say.
Councilmember DeCosta: In reference, for you folks to understand what
it is going to take to restore this area.
Ms. Holland: Again, we have been looking at grants that
are in excess of millions of dollars for the restoration.
Councilmember DeCosta: The last thing I wanted to ask you, since you
mentioned Dave Boynton. Tell me the one thing you learned up in Koke`e. I am
interested to know. What was a big thing you learned?
Ms. Holland: I actually missed that. I was on the Big Island
that year and I missed the trip, but I was very close with his family. My mom was
very close with David.
Councilmember DeCosta: You referenced Dave Boynton and Koke`e, and
you did not even go?
Ms. Holland: I did not get to go, but I always think about
that because everyone goes at a certain age and gets that experience, and all my
friends still talk about it. I was lucky enough to know Dave personally.
Councilmember DeCosta: I am done. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any other questions for Fern? If
not, thank you, Fern. Is Teri Tico still here? Is there anyone else wishing to testify?
What is that noise? Hang on. I think I know who it is.
Mr. Cooper: Can you dance to it? That is the question.
Again, my name is Rick Cooper. What I did not make clear earlier is that I am a
homeowner in Wailuanui. I think one of the questions it comes down to is, as I was
alluding to earlier, who can be trusted. Who can be trusted with these treasured
COUNCIL MEETING 69 MAY 31, 2023
parcels that we are talking about? I think as I try to paint the picture, I do not think
the developers can be trusted. There are groups, as Fern has mentioned, that are
able to apply for the stewardship of the revocable permits and the group that I am
honored to be a part of, I Ola Wailuanui, has done such. It may be the County, it may
be a group like ours that can do that. I will say in response to what Councilmember
DeCosta was saying about budget and being able to afford parking lots and things
like that, there are partnerships that are being discussed with larger organizations.
I would think that if the County takes control of these parcels or tries to get them
into public access that there would be partnerships with that, too. The eminent
domain, which we are not discussing here, is about partnerships. That is what the
community wants, I believe, with this. I want to also just briefly mention the
maintenance issue that has come up. I think Bruce mentioned about maintenance.
Who is going to take care of that? I have been working with I Ola Wailuanui for
three (3) years now. I am honored to be a member of the Board. It is a Hawaiian-led,
majority organization, and we are doing great work. In looking at budget issues,
which we very seriously have, two (2) years ago, I reached out to my neighbor and my
friend, George Costa, and I asked him, as he had been with Coco Palms, general
manager down there for many years, I reached out to him and asked him about that
particular question. What would it take to maintain that coconut grove. He gave us
numbers and we have been working with those numbers ever since. This is not
something we take lightly, nor should any organization take it lightly. It is a
responsibility that is important. I will add finally, Chair Rapozo, in the last meeting,
your indignation with having been fooled before by the developers, I ask to quote the
old Who song, "I encourage you not to be fooled again."
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there anyone else wishing to
testify?
Ms. Davenport: Hello. Vivian Davenport. I am not sure I
made it clear the first time that I am definitely for this Resolution. I think often in
life we are given a choice between the lesser of two (2) evils, shall we say...I wish
there were three (3) choices here today. The three (3) easy choices: the royal patent
owners get it, the State gets it, or the hotel gets it, but we do not have the first choice.
We have the second two (2), the State or the hotel owners. It is, as the previous
gentleman said, a matter of trust. Kanaka have been injured, lied to, deceived by
both, but hotels have shown no trust. Really, you are going to be in the songs of your
grandchildren. Do you want to be in the one, "the beaches they sell to build their
hotels," or do you want to be in the one, "keep Hawaiian lands in Hawaiian hands"?
If we go with the State, there is still a chance for litigation, it goes on constantly
between kanaka and the State. If we go with the private hotel, the owner of the land
is encumbered. Encumbered land is far more difficult to get back for the royal
Hawaiians. I just want to bring that up because I feel there are many kanaka that
are against this, because they feel it should go back to the ancestors, that the
ancestral right should be honored. That is more likely to happen with the State than
a private hotel owner and I think we all know that. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Hang on, we have a question.
COUNCIL MEETING 70 MAY 31, 2023
Councilmember DeCosta: Since you mentioned kanaka, out of all our
speakers, I think we had two (2) kanaka speak.
Ms. Davenport: Yes.
Councilmember DeCosta: They were not supportive. How many kanaka
that spoke today were supportive of this Resolution?
Ms. Davenport: That was what I said, sir, that I realize that
these kanaka are not in support of it, but I believe the reason is because they want
the royal patents. They want the lands back in Hawaiian hands, but that is not a
choice, right? That is not a choice here today. The choice is the State or private
landowners.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you.
Ms. Davenport: I am for the State. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Ma'am, you are done. I am sorry.
Ms. Davenport: That is alright. Is there anything else not
clear?
Council Chair Rapozo: No. Next speaker, please.
Ms. Davenport: By the way, Mel, I know we are not supposed
to talk about it but thank you for the eminent domain idea. I know it was yours.
Council Chair Rapozo: Ma'am.
Ms. Davenport: I know it was yours.
Council Chair Rapozo: I do not want to go to jail for violating the
Sunshine Law.
Ms. Kallai: Chair Rapozo, thank you. Hope Kallai. I
would like to focus on the parking lot and the need for the twenty (20) stalls now.
Mauna Kea admitted that we have a public right for twenty (20)parking places there.
I do not care who holds the RP. We need those twenty (20) parking places now. Let
us open it up. If they need to fence off their part of this RP that would be for the
hotel, give us our twenty (20) places now. We need them. It has been in the Planning
Director's reports since 2014 that there are twenty (20) public parking places in a
paved parking lot. It has been occupied by trailers, by the project architect's office,
and by tiny home sales. None of these were authorized under this permit, but there
are trailers there now. There is a trailer with a big old deck on it. I do not think it
has got building permits for the deck. How did the County let this happen? We need
the twenty (20) public parking places right now, but I really want to talk about the
bathroom. The bathroom that was promised to the public was a comfort station with
COUNCIL MEETING 71 MAY 31, 2023
several toilets for each sex and a shower, a cold-water shower, so you could shower
the sand off your kids before you put them in the car. We have lost our shower over
at the beach park, it eroded into the ocean. We do not have a cold-water pipe to hose
your kids off and we need it. The public comfort station has been eliminated from the
building plans. Building plan number twenty (20) covers the bathroom. It is a
one-seater per sex. Two (2) bathrooms, two (2) toilets, total, no shower and it is now
a keycard entry. It is not public. It is right in the valet parking place. There is a
twenty-seven (27) stall valet parking planned and this bathroom is attached right to
it. The public cannot use a keycard bathroom and a one-toilet seat bathroom does not
accommodate families. It is not adequate for this beach park parking lot. We need
those twenty (20) stalls now. The parking lot is in a way better state than our parking
lot was across makai and it could be opened up right away. There is no reason for it
to be occupied by job site work trailers, especially when they have twelve (12) acres.
They could just move that trailer right over to the project site. The project site trailer
should not be on a public parking place. Whatever we can do to open up those public
parking places as soon as possible—it is only zero point eight (0.8) of an acre, I do not
think there is room for seventy (70) parking places in the first place. I do not think
the State has ever admitted that these folks can harden that much of this floodplain
area, cover the whole entire eight (8) acres.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you.
Ms. Kallai: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: When you are talking about building
twenty (20) stalls and you are describing the bathrooms, you got that from the 2015
Director's report?
Ms. Kallai: I got that from the building plans.
Councilmember Cowden: From the building plans, and do you know the
date on that? That is the building plans relating to what was permitted for the 2015
Director's report?
Ms. Kallai: Yes. I can get the plan number and send it to
you.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. I know that you have sent some
really...
Ms. Kallai: I think it was 2015 for that plan.
Councilmember Cowden: And on that plan, does it show how much of
that point eight five (0.85) acres is currently hardened or is only a portion of it
hardened?
COUNCIL MEETING 72 MAY 31, 2023
Ms. Kallai: No, because the plan is actually for the
bathroom and it is on the private property. It is not on the State land. And actually,
the bathroom is fifteen (15) feet up in the air, but the building that it is attached to,
the Shell building, is only eleven (11) feet in the air, so the people are going to be
sleeping lower than this new bathroom.
Councilmember Cowden: On the State land, the revocable permit, when
I look at it, I see part of it is paved and part of it is growth, vegetation.
Ms. Kallai: Part of it is the historic coconut grove. It is an
extension.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay, that is what it looks like from the air. I
know you do deep research. Did you notice how many stalls are on the existing
amount of hardened surface could be there?
Ms. Kallai: It looks like twenty (20) now.
Councilmember Cowden: Okay. Maybe a little more, but okay. Thank
you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Are there any other questions for
Hope? If not, thank you, Hope. Is there anyone else wishing to testify that has not
already testified? Seeing none.
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any further discussion? We have the
motion on the floor. It is to approve as amended. Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: Thank you, Chair. In my nine (9) years, I
have never introduced a resolution telling the State or Federal government what they
should do. I have trouble supporting resolutions doing the same because I feel like
there is a lot of value in working with our legislators, working with our governors,
working with the departments. As an individual Councilmember, I think passing
these types of resolutions tends to create a lot of drama here with no teeth. Who is
to say they are going to listen? I think a lot of the time they get irritated when we
send these resolutions over from the County. They would rather see us work through
Senate President Kouchi and work through the legislative chairs who oversee the
BLNR to tell them, "You should perhaps look closer at these thirty (30) years that
went by. What was the status? What happened in those thirty (30) years? Have
investigations been done? Are there pictures to show?" It is more embarrassing if
they have not even done anything and continue to do nothing about the permits or
problems with access. I feel like we do not have enough. I have problems with Mauna
Kea and Sherri opposing it as well. I think Mauna Kea has been an admirable County
Attorney for Mayor Carvalho in the past and guiding the Council. Today, when I sat
here and listened to Mauna, I tried to judge whether he is saying things to just
represent his client or is he truly telling us how he feels as a native Hawaiian, a
COUNCIL MEETING 73 MAY 31, 2023
Kaua`i resident. I feel like he has not been just speaking on behalf of his client for a
paycheck. I think he honestly has faith that some of these things that we are asking
to be done but there is progress with these folks. Yes, I wish these developers were
here in 2013 when we had Tyler and Chad who turned out to be very disappointing
in following their word. At this point I do not feel I can support this Resolution. I
just think it is the BLNR's job. It is their job. We already made it clear to the head
that she needs to look into some of the allegations being made and I think she got the
message loud and clear. I do not think we need the Resolution to tell her to look at
these parcels again because she heard loud and clear, thirty (30) years have gone by,
the public is very disappointed with what has gone on at Coco Palms, and we need to
find a solution going forward. I think they already got that message. I do not want
to continue to try and pass resolutions that will just create drama. I have not seen
resolutions be an effective way of telling the State or Federal government what to do.
I have not seen it. Thank you, Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone else? Councilmember
DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: I am going to state my point before I state my
position, but I do want to clarify something first. I appreciate the fact that we have
a young adult in our Chambers who is not an 18-year-old who could have come here
by herself or himself. I am impressed that they are learning the ways of our system.
Her father spoke and her aunty spoke, and I believe they spoke from a very historical
and ancestral informational piece. I did not say it lightly when I said I enjoyed
listening to Ms. Cummings, even though sometimes I think you and I might disagree,
but this time, this Portuguese Spaniard learned a lot today. I believe it is from the
people who came before us. All the degrees in the world, all the stewardship,
nonprofit statuses and getting the bulk of the money from different entities that can
help...remember this, people from before us came here a long time ago. My
forefathers came five (5) generations ago, but the two (2) people that spoke today,
Mauna Kea and Sherri, their families came on the canoes a thousand (1,000) years
ago. I am sitting down with two (2) people here—Councilmember Kuali`i, because
that is how we address our Council, it is Councilmember Kuali`i, Councilmember
Carvalho—their families came on those same canoes, and they came here, so when
they speak, they hold a lot more weight than we do. I am sorry. That is what I
believe. I am going to let you folks know something. I look at this nonprofit, it is...I
am going to say it correctly because I think I said it before...it is I Ola Wailuanui.
Am I saying it correctly? I heard two (2) Board members speak today. Yes, I believe
I did some homework myself and I think this nonprofit is also wanting the RPs, so
you folks have a special interest. Whether your interest is good for the community
and whether you folks are going to restore it, but you are using this platform to benefit
your own nonprofit. I did talk to one (1) of the nonprofit Board members. Actually, I
texted him this morning and he and I had a conversation. Two hundred thousand
dollars ($200,000) is what you folks have in that account, with the possibility of
interest of other congressional leaders thinking about supporting you folks. It is hard
to make a decision based on two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000). It costs a lot
more money to manage that place. Maybe that is why the State leased it out, because
the State, themselves, cannot manage those lands. I have State-leased land and I
tell you, when they put it in a lease, they put it because they cannot maintain it and
COUNCIL MEETING 74 MAY 31, 2023
they do not want trash and they do not want people accessing the property. If we do
not honor these leases, whether it is a nonprofit or the developer, those lands will be
trashed again. It happens. That is why all of the lands are locked off today. In
looking at my notes here, I am going to let you folks know that a lot of the historical
things that were talked about, names like Alfred Hills, 1930s was the fishponds, and
the coconut grove by the Russian guy...I even forgot his name because it was not
worth my time. Those are not historical ali`i family names that we talked about.
Those are Western names that were mentioned there today. In defense of Dawn
Chang, she is the big boss of the State and DLNR, who are we to tell her and her
entity what to do? We just had our budget. Do you know how many people in the
State Government would love to come and tell us in their resolution and criticize how
we did our budget? Did they? I did not see one (1) because they know better. We run
this County, let the State folks run the State and then we will see what happens. I
am not supporting this.
Council Chair Rapozo; Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you all for your testimony. I am going
to stick with the intention of the Resolution. Just to be clear, this Resolution does
not say to give it to a nonprofit. This Resolution does not say for them what they have
to do with it. This Resolution says to give consideration for the public access and
what we saw with Dawn Chang when she was here is these properties have had a
long history of not paying their taxes, not renewing their leases, not having even
currently the accurate name on the lease for the company. We do not see a legacy of
making sure there is no trash. We do not see a legacy of good stewardship. What we
and this Resolution would be asking for is basically an open time to be looking at who
does in fact get the next permit. It could easily be the developer that wants it. They
could apply. They could reapply with the correct name. At that time, that allows the
State to consider who is going to do the best job. It becomes competitive. It becomes
people being able to show their capacity to have the right stewardship. I appreciate
the mana o that has been shared, but I will also recognize when someone is a paid
representative of the developer. As that paid representative mentioned, the
developer himself, who is here...thank you so much for being in the room, does have,
at least I did see a history of a development that was responsibly done, but that is
where the State would be able to be really looking at it. That is where those
commitments could be laid out heavily because when we hear nostalgia for what
happened with the Guslanders, that is the past, that is not the present. When we see
how many properties are sold, and I even want to look at one (1) that has not been
sold, Hanalei Bay Resort, run by, we heard a reference to, George Costa. It is not his
fault, but the new board shut off fifty-plus (50+) years of beach access through it.
Shut it off, held no public hearing, and because it predates when we had rules on it,
they are just able to sit there and shut all these people out of being able to go to the
beach. You can have a new board. You could have a new owner. There are all kinds
of changes that could happen. If a permit or a lease is structured again, let us give
these people the benefit of the doubt. If it goes with the people who want to have it
from this room for commercial purpose, and they have a very great plan that goes
with the run of the land, that is up to the Board of Land and Natural Resources to
see it. The difference of having one (1) person write a letter and having a resolution
is it shows a united front. As a united group we say this is such an important area
COUNCIL MEETING 75 MAY 31, 2023
that is at the nexus of where we have heavy erosion on the beach, we have high
congestion on the highways, and we have an overwhelming amount of environmental
factors that are creating extra flooding. It was flooding fifty (50)years ago right there.
It is no longer in alignment. We could never build this now and what we have seen,
is even some of the buildings being suggested came down in Hurricane Iwa. There is
no "Iwa Ordinance" or "Iwa exemption" from the buildings. We are thirty (30) years
beyond Hurricane Iniki and we have to be sitting there thinking about how do we
make sure whoever might hold onto these State parcels has a commitment to the
public of how they will be allowed to be there. Passing this does not preclude the
current people who want it the most from being able to use it. It just might absolutely
force them and whoever else to open it up to the public. It could sell. It could sell
before it is finished. It could sell before the end of the year.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone else? Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Yes. I will just add that the Resolution is
intended to focus on public access. That there is this background, there are different
WHEREAS clauses with different statements like about the fishpond and about the
iwi kupuna. If anyone has concerns based on the varying testimony that they are not
one hundred percent (100%) sure that it is accurate, this is not important to the
Resolution. It can be taken out if we can gain your support that way. What is
important is that we are just specifying what those parcels are and asking that when
the BLNR make their decision, that they focus on our stating on behalf of our
residents who have come to us, that they should keep the public's interest at the top
of their mind. Yes, ultimately it will be BLNR's decision and even if they were to
decide private entity versus State, at least in that decision, they would hopefully put
in language, whether it is a lease or whatever, that guarantees the things that we are
talking about—the public access, the parking, the bathrooms, etcetera. It is just our
attempt to say not only as individual Councilmembers...yes, of course, we can write
our letters and make our own phone calls, but we are saying we want to be a voice on
behalf of the people who have come to us saying, "We want to make sure we have our
public access." That is all that is. If any of this, and I wonder, too, when I hear Sherri
and Mauna Kea and different people say things, because I am clearly no expert. I do
not come from the area. My ancestors go back to Waipio Valley on the Big Island and
on the Westside in Hanapepe and Waimea. I do not think I have any connection to
Wailua. I only know what we read and learn and staff has done an incredible job,
and some of the testimony as well, giving us a lot of what we feel is good information,
but that is just background. If that is the controversy to get us to the point to try and
support a resolution just about public parcels and public access, it can be removed. I
will very quickly throw an amendment forward to get rid of four (4) or five (5) of those
WHEREAS clauses if we can get our support, but I already hear where we might be,
so that is where I am.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Carvalho.
Councilmember Carvalho: I appreciate all of the discussion, from the
Resolution to hearing everyone speak and having being involved from a while back,
and then personally my grandmother and my family members working at Coco
Palms. There is all this...everything happening all at once. While I am sitting here
COUNCIL MEETING 76 MAY 31, 2023
as a Councilmember, trying to put everything together and understand the layout,
and having worked with Mauna Kea in the past, and Aunty Liberta back there, and
some of the key leaders in this area that is so important. Again, I totally appreciate
the Resolution without getting into all the specifics, but knowing the heart and soul
and the understanding of where we got to go for the next steps. It has been sitting
here for all this time and everyone has tried. I like the mana o and the healthy
discussion that is happening here today. We just got to get out into our community.
Again, having detailed conversations and in-depth conversations with everyone from
the developer's side, Mauna Kea folks, as well as the other side. For me, at this point,
the Resolution makes a good statement and that is pretty much what it is. It is well
said, but for me, I just feel like I am right at this point where right now we just need
to move forward. I appreciate all of the discussion, but I cannot support the
Resolution. We just need to move forward and I think we are at that point. I have
had healthy discussions, I appreciate all the work that has been done, but again, we
need to get to the right places, to the right people who made that final decision and
now the County is part of the process. The same goes for all of you folks. That is for
me, Chair, and that is where I am at right now based upon all of the discussions we
have had and understanding where we got to go for this particular part of the island.
I live up Kuamo`o now, so I know the process and all of that, so that is where I am at.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: I just have one more thing that I would like to
say before we close. A lot of the homework was done also prior to this meeting. We
have the abilities to reach out to you folks, to different entities and do our homework.
The little bit of homework that I did was that I know that even if the State gives back
these permits or revokes these permits, it has no standing on our County permits that
the developers have. If the State pulls these permits and they do not get those
three (3) parcels, the developer still can build their hotel. The problem with that is
that those parcels that they are going to be leasing, it will help with the traffic flow,
it will help with the maintenance of the coconut grove, it will help with the whole
ambience of the place. If we as a County do not want these folks to develop that hotel,
then we just need to pull those permits from them. When I spoke to the Planning
Director and I asked him that, he said we have no grounds to pull those permits. We
are going to end up in a lawsuit. It is easy to hear what we want us to tell you, right,
and I want to tell you what you want to hear, but we cannot because we need to
protect your tax dollars from being sued. That is my position also, which was not
stated. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone else? Go ahead.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Can I try one last time? When I made the
statement about the different WHEREAS clauses with the historical and cultural
information, would an amendment to remove the second, third, fourth, sixth
WHEREAS clause change any of the "No" votes at this point? If not...
Council Chair Rapozo: I do not know if we can poll all the members.
I think that is not legal. We can try. Let me just try to make this easier. It is no
secret, my position on this whole thing. I tried my best to divert the discussion today
COUNCIL MEETING 77 MAY 31, 2023
away from Coco Palms, but I failed miserably. Everyone talked about Coco Palms.
This Resolution was created, in my opinion and no offense to the introducers, really
to affect Coco Palms. Whatever. Is it a strategy? That is cool. I made it very clear
that I live in Wailua Houselots. I live the closest to that project right now. As it was
stated earlier, we, not just me, but others here, have been fooled and I am not here to
judge. I met with the developer or the owner yesterday for the first time. I was not
on a field trip with Councilmember Cowden, so I do not know what projects they have
in Utah, but this is not about that. When I look at this Resolution, for me it is very,
very clear. We can dispute all the issues, but you would never get to an agreement
on what this thing says. I look at Councilmember Kagawa and I just want to say
resolutions have a purpose, because in many cases, and I have been doing this so long
that a wonderful excuse that the State has for doing something that hurts our County
is saying, "Well, we never heard from you folks. You folks never testified. We did not
get anything." A resolution makes it clear to them that, "No, this is our statement."
We can all agree to disagree. It is all cool. I think there is some value. I agree,
though, we should not be telling them what to do, because we do not have that
authority, but we can urge them to do something that we would want them to do. In
this case here, the "be it resolved" to me is the most important thing. The first "be it
resolved," not the second one where it goes to all those leaders, where it says we are
urging the BLNR "to act within its power to prioritize public access, uses, and
purposes," and this is the most important part, "when considering requests for leases,
licenses, permits, or other agreements relating to the above-mentioned properties."
This, for me, and this message is out to the developer, if you folks have no problem
with public access, then you should have no problem with this Resolution. You should
not, because this is telling the BLNR, when you folks issue the permits, you make
sure whether it is them or whoever else that wants to apply for these permits. BLNR
better make sure that their priority is public access and if, in fact, the developer is
serious about public access, then he or she will have absolutely no problem putting it
in the permit or lease. This is the only mechanism we have to ensure public access
going forward. Again, do not take this personally, because I do not know the current
owners, personally, but I am not going to make that mistake again where we take
people's word and then BLNR issues a weak permit or weak lease, and the next thing
you know, whoops, there went the access. This just urges the BLNR that when you
are crafting these leases with whoever is applying, make sure you focus on public
access, perpetual public access. That is all this thing says. One of the most important
topics talked about today was about the maintenance cost. I will tell you right now,
if I am BLNR and I am reviewing everyone's applications, there is only one (1) entity
as far as I can tell today that has the resources to take care of the grove. That is the
developer. That is just the reality of life. It is not cheap. I do not know what we pay.
What is our budget for coconut trees in the County, and we just do the golf course? It
is hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars on a regular basis. The cost to build
this parking lot and maintain the parking lot is a lot of money. I am not advocating
for the developer or anything, I am just saying that we are asking BLNR to make the
right decision. When you folks issue these leases and permits—and this should be
COUNCIL MEETING 78 MAY 31, 2023
the case for all BLNR permits on public State land—make sure the lease defines the
use and the assurances that we, as a community, have the right to use those lands,
because no one should have the right. Mauna Kea made a valid point about all those
Agricultural parcels that are being leased. We, as a community, lose access to those
parcels to the commercial entity and some of them are not even farming or ranching.
I am going to support the Resolution. It puts us in a tie, and it will come back again.
Councilmember Bulosan is ill. I want to make that point. We call it "excused," but
he is actually physically sick. That is why he could not be here today. I am going to
support this and we will wait for Councilmember Bulosan to come back in two (2)
weeks and we will have the discussion again. We will have to do all this again. I
cannot stop you folks, but I think everything has been discussed and it is really just
a matter of seeing where Councilmember Bulosan is. You folks in the public all call
Councilmember Bulosan. I will give you folks his cell number. It always happens
when you miss a meeting, you get hammered. With that, roll call.
The motion for adoption of Resolution No. 2023-44, Draft 1 as amended to
Resolution No. 2023-44, Draft 2 was then put, and carried by the following
vote:
FOR ADOPTION: Cowden, Kagawa, Kuali`i, Rapozo TOTAL – 4,
AGAINST ADOPTION: Carvalho, DeCosta TOTAL– 2,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Bulosan TOTAL– 1,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL– 0.
(Note: During roll call, Councilmember Kagawa stated for the record, `lam not
going through this again. Yes.')
Council Chair Rapozo: With that, we will take a lunch break.
There being no objections, the meetings recessed at 12:45 p.m.
The meeting reconvened at 1:49 p.m., and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, Clerk.
Resolution No. 2023-45 – RESOLUTION CONFIRMING MAYORAL
APPOINTMENT TO THE BOARD OF ETHICS (Kevin P. McGinnis)
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for adoption of Resolution No. 2023-45,
seconded by Councilmember Carvalho.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
Seeing none. Roll call.
COUNCIL MEETING 79 MAY 31, 2023
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
The motion for adoption of Resolution No. 2023-45 was then put, and carried
by the following vote:
FOR ADOPTION: Carvalho, Cowden, DeCosta, Kagawa,
Kuali`i, Rapozo TOTAL— 6,
AGAINST ADOPTION: None TOTAL — 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Bulosan TOTAL — 1,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Six (6) ayes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Next item.
Resolution No. 2023-46 — RESOLUTION CONFIRMING MAYORAL
APPOINTMENT TO THE COST CONTROL COMMISSION (Tyler R. Rodighiero)
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for adoption of Resolution No. 2023-46,
seconded by Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
Seeing none. Roll call.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
The motion for adoption of Resolution No. 2023-46 was then put, and carried
by the following vote:
FOR ADOPTION: Carvalho, Cowden, DeCosta, Kagawa,
Kuali`i, Rapozo TOTAL— 6,
AGAINST ADOPTION: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Bulosan TOTAL — 1,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Six (6) ayes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please
BILL FOR FIRST READING
Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2899) —A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING
CHAPTER 8, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO
ZONING DESIGNATION IN PUHI, KAUAI (University of Hawaii Community
Colleges, Kauai Community College, Applicant) (ZA-2023-3)
COUNCIL MEETING 80 MAY 31, 2023
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2899) on
first reading, that it be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be
scheduled for June 28, 2023, and that it be referred to the Planning Committee,
seconded by Councilmember Kagawa.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
Councilmember Cowden: Are we not talking to him?
Council Chair Rapozo: If you folks want to, we will suspend the rules.
Come on in.
Councilmember Cowden: I do not see any explanation in here. Is it in
here?
Councilmember Kagawa: It is in the second packet.
Councilmember DeCosta: I move to amend as circulated.
Council Chair Rapozo: Hold on. We have a motion and a second, so
we are on the Bill. I suspended the rules, and Planning is up there. You folks have
an amendment? Who has an amendment?
Councilmember Kagawa: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: Yes, I do.
Councilmember Kuali`i: It is a housekeeping amendment.
Council Chair Rapozo: Hang on. Let me call the meeting back to
order.
Councilmember DeCosta moved to amend Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2899), as
circulated, and as shown in the Floor Amendment, which is attached hereto as
Attachment 2, seconded by Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember DeCosta: This amendment inserts language that is
consistent with our prior zoning bills and includes language for when the ordinance
will take effect. It is just housekeeping.
Council Chair Rapozo: There was a second, right?
Councilmember Kuali`i: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion on the amendment?
Councilmember Cowden: Yes. I am trying to still look at it.
COUNCIL MEETING 81 MAY 31, 2023
Council Chair Rapozo: I will suspend the rules and we can have the
Planning Department give us an overview. Ka`aina, if you would.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
KA`AINA S. HULL, Planning Director: Thank you, Chair and Members
of Council. Ka`aina Hull on behalf of the Planning Department. I have Alisha
Summers with me, who is our Lead Planner on this proposal. This was actually
initiated by the landowner, the applicant. I believe the applicant will be here for the
Committee Meeting, but of course we are here to answer any questions. If you would
like a brief summary of the proposal, Alisha can give you a brief summary.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are you the applicant?
Mr. Hull: No. Alisha Summers is our staff.
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes, because we asked him not to come today,
because we had no clue where this agenda was going. He will be here in the
Committee Meeting?
Mr. Hull: Yes, our understanding is the applicant will
be here in the Committee Meeting. We will definitely be here in the Committee
Meeting. As the reviewing agency, if you want us to answer any questions or if you
want Alisha to do a brief summary...
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes, give us a brief summary at least.
Mr. Hull: I will turn it over to Alisha.
ALISHA SUMMERS, Project Research Assistant: Hi. Alisha Summers with
the Planning Department. Basically, what this Ordinance is doing is that it is
amending the Zoning Map ZM-P400 for Puhi to change the County zoning of a portion
of the Kaua`i Community College (KCC) campus. This includes a portion,
approximately fifteen (15) acres, of Tax Map Key (TMK) No. 3-4-007:001, as well as
the entirety of the Tax Map Key parcels No. 3-4-007:002, as well as No. 3-4-007:003.
What this would do is it would change the County zoning from Agriculture District
and Open District to University District. The intent behind this zoning change to
University District is to be able to bring the KCC campus more in alignment to a
more appropriate and updated zoning category. Changing it to the University
District will allow the campus to be able to appropriately grow and expand in
accordance with the update of their long-range development plan, which is still an
ongoing process. The area is entirely situated within the University Land Use
District, that is in the Kaua`i General Plan, and both the Kaua`i General Plan as well
as the Lihu`e Community Plan support the expansion of the Kaua`i Community
College campus. That is the brief summary. I am open to any questions. Mahalo.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember DeCosta.
COUNCIL MEETING 82 MAY 31, 2023
Councilmember DeCosta: I have a question. I believe you did not state
it, but I did a little bit of the homework with the University of Hawai`i system...are
you folks going to be wanting to promote teacher housing or instructor housing? Is
that somewhat of the reason behind the different zone update and change of zone? Is
that correct?
Ms. Summers: In their long-range development plan, they do
have student housing. They have approximately nine hundred (900) something units
that could potentially go in there, but as to whether it would be allocated for staff or
students, I think the extent that is for staff versus students still needs to be
determined.
Councilmember DeCosta: If we are going to be approving this zoning, I
want something of a guarantee to know these whether these units are for student
housing or teacher housing and that we have something in the language that protects
the development to serve the students of the university system and/or teachers and
professors of the university system.
Mr. Hull: To that, Councilmember, the University
Zoning District that was adopted several years ago, outright allows for student and
teacher rental housing where they are renting it, outright is permissible under this
zoning district. If they wanted to, for example, do single-family dwelling or
multi-family dwelling that could be for sale, while this district allows it, that has to
go through a public hearing process with the Planning Commission, so it is not an
outright permissible use, but when it is for teachers or the students for rental
purposes, if this district is adopted by Council, under its own rules and regulations,
outright permissible and good to go.
Councilmember DeCosta: The question I have, Planning Director Hull,
is that I can apply at KCC and be a student for one (1) semester, flunk out, and all of
a sudden, I am renting an apartment on campus and I am no longer a student of the
university system. Where is the language that is going to protect that student, he or
she, will be evicted, because they are not a student in the student housing? Second,
a professor or teacher comes with a title, but you could be a substitute teacher and be
a teacher. You can be a teacher of a preschool and not have a degree. You can be a
teacher and quit the profession, then be a construction worker. How do we know that
these units are going to be for the targeted audience that we are amending and
providing an upgrade of permits from Agriculture to Residential or development of
the area.
Mr. Hull: There is nothing in the zoning regulations
that would require that. Through this Draft Bill, that can be put on as a condition of
approval, but to that point, Councilmember DeCosta, there is nothing in the district
that says it specifically has to be a student. Now, granted because it is for KCC,
which is part of the University of Hawai`i system, that does not have any programs
or anything that we are aware of where they are providing housing for non-students
or non-teachers, we are not aware of that to be part of the University of Hawaii (UH)
system. But, if there are safeguards that this body would like to put in place, then it
absolutely can be done through an amendment to the Draft Bill. I do not think we
COUNCIL MEETING 83 MAY 31, 2023
have any objections. I think when the applicant is here, they can address some of
those safeguards they have internally within the UH policy.
Councilmember DeCosta: Would that be done right now, or do we wait
for it to go into Committee to amend it?
Council Chair Rapozo: Committee. The applicant will be here next
week and he will be able to tell us. I am interested in what the use is for. I
understand the University District. I was here, I think, when that was passed. It
sounded like a good thing, but I also believe that we are giving the State an amazing,
valuable asset and I get frustrated when we do not get the reciprocity from the State
for their facilities here. All of that is going to vetted out in this process, because I am
not into the habit of giving the State something, like you said, who knows what they
have plans for. It is like, "Here you go, we are giving you the zoning, but when we
want to use your gym for a cheering competition, you charge us one thousand five
hundred dollars ($1,500)." No. This may come...I am curious to hear from the
applicant. At the end of the day, it falls to us on whether or not we rezone this.
Councilmember DeCosta: I am sorry for being so shrewd in my thinking
process, but I want to make sure we protect what we are going to be granting. We
are granting student housing and teacher workforce housing, not some loophole
where you can apply for college, rent the room, and quit school, or you can be a
substitute teacher without any credentials, teach for a couple of months, quit, and
you still have the rental unit. We need to be careful. Thank you for that.
Mr. Hull: Thank you.
Ms. Summers: Currently, they did outline in their long-range
development plan, though it could change, that it would be three (3) pods that would
provide ninety-six (96) beds.
Council Chair Rapozo: Like a dorm?
Ms. Summers: Yes, different pods with different units and
beds.
Council Chair Rapozo: Perfect. Are there any other questions? Go
ahead, Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: If possible, could you provide a better map? I
like maps that show, for example, the Island School soccer field in relation to this
property, and where the other landmarks are as we drive up, like the gym.
Mr. Hull: We can overlay those lines with the
pictometry maps that have the actual layout of the structures as from a satellite
imagery.
Councilmember Kagawa: Okay, thank you. This portion up here in
orange, is that an unused bare area that now they perhaps want to use?
COUNCIL MEETING 84 MAY 31, 2023
Mr. Hull: The top portion?
Councilmember Kagawa: Yes.
Mr. Hull: Correct me if I am wrong, Alisha. That is part
of KCC's land that is not part of the rezoning action. They would still keep it in
Agriculture District.
Councilmember Kagawa: The orange part will stay in Agricultural?
Mr. Hull: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: This encompasses the entire KCC complex? I
cannot tell by this map? Is it the entire campus?
Mr. Hull: There is about fifty (50) acres that are being
left in Agricultural, of the 200-acre campus. Of all the built-out campus that we
consider the campus now where you are walking, going to classes, and attending
events, it includes all of the built-in environment.
Council Chair Rapozo: That is already University zoned?
Mr. Hull: No.
Council Chair Rapozo: Nothing? We passed that University zoning
and no one ever used it?
Mr. Hull: They went for their State Land Use District
designation in 2017. They needed to get the Urban designation first because the
County passed the University Zoning District when KCC was still within the State
Land Use Agriculture District and the County Agriculture District. In 2017, they
went before the State Land Use Commission and redesignated about one hundred
forty (140) acres of their campus from State Land Use Agriculture to State Land Use
Urban. That happened in 2017 and now, five (5) years later, are here to actually get
the County designation rezoned.
Council Chair Rapozo: We created that University Zone in 2018.
Mr. Hull: I think it was before that. The University
Zone, I believe, was in 2015. We can double-check on that. It was a while and
ultimately it took a lot of nudging to the UH system to say, "The zone was created for
you folks. If you are looking at any expansion, you really need to come in and do the
zoning."
Council Chair Rapozo: I remember voting for that, but I thought it
was readied for them to do it in the near future.
Mr. Hull: That is what we had hoped, and it was some
time before they actually came with an application. Ironically, Island School came in
COUNCIL MEETING 85 MAY 31, 2023
quicker than KCC for their amendments to get the University District. Right now,
Island School enjoys University District Zoning, but they came in quicker than KCC.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: There is a charter school, I believe, on the
property. Is that school protected by this upgrade of this zoning change or would they
be forced to move?
Ms. Summers: No, they would not be forced to move. They
are within the proximity of the zoning change, but are not within it.
Mr. Hull: They are near the zoning amendment, but
they are not part of the zoning amendment.
Councilmember DeCosta: The little pods that you folks were talking
about with the developers, have you folks talked about creating that plantation type
of pods that you folks did at the historical Kaumakani camp. Would this not be
appropriate for this type of area, since Puhi was a sugar plantation camp and I believe
those tiny houses that KCC is building have that plantation look? Would that be
something we could improvise in our Committee Meeting coming up?
Mr. Hull: It is something that the Department has no
problem discussing with UH as an applicant for dormitory development. Right now,
the Department is engaged with a number of landowners to see if we can do a
historical analysis for the plantation camps, region by region to see what type of
design standards those plantation camps had, so we could look at possibly proposing
a design standard for plantation camps, region by region, because each region had
different designs for their plantation camps. All of our research right now is
currently...we finished up West Kaua`i, we are currently in Kalaheo and the South
Kaua`i and Koloa areas. Next, we are definitely open with looking at Puhi. I am
going to be honest, we are not there yet, but we definitely could.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any other questions? If not, thank
you.
Mr. Hull: Thank you.
Ms. Summers: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone in the public wishing to
testify? Seeing none.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: We are on the amendment. Does anyone have
any discussion on the amendment? If not, we will take a vote on the amendment.
The motion is to amend as circulated.
COUNCIL MEETING 86 MAY 31, 2023
The motion to amend Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2899), as circulated, and as
shown in the Floor Amendment, which is attached hereto as Attachment 2 was
then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Bulosan was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: Now, we will get to the main motion, which is
to go to public hearing. Is there any further discussion?
Councilmember Cowden: I have one (1) comment.
Council Chair Rapozo: Go ahead.
Councilmember Cowden: I really would like a very good map. This had
more to do with Puhi Industrial, where if we saw the buildings and everything, but it
sounds like the Ulu Farm and all of that is staying in Agriculture.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any other discussion? If not, again,
the motion is to approve.
The motion for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2899) as amended on first
reading, that it be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be scheduled
for June 28, 2023, and that it thereafter be referred to the Planning Committee,
was then put, and carried by the following vote:
FOR PASSAGE: Carvalho, Cowden, DeCosta, Kagawa,
Kuali`i, Rapozo TOTAL— 6,
AGAINST PASSAGE: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Bulosan TOTAL— 1,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Six (6) ayes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Next item, please.
BILLS FOR SECOND READING:
Bill No. 2896, Draft 1 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO THE
OPERATING BUDGET AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
JULY 1, 2023 TO JUNE 30, 2024 (Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Operating Budget)
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve Bill No. 2896, Draft 1 on second and
final reading, and that it be transmitted to the Mayor for his approval,
seconded by Councilmember Carvalho.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone from the public wishing to
testify? Seeing none.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
COUNCIL MEETING 87 MAY 31, 2023
Council Chair Rapozo: We will do our Budget messages on the next
item. With that, if there is no discussion, roll call.
The motion to approve Bill No. 2896, Draft 1 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, Cowden, DeCosta, Kagawa,
Kuali`i, Rapozo TOTAL – 6,
AGAINST APPROVAL: None TOTAL – 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Bulosan TOTAL– 1,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL– 0.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Six (6) ayes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. The last item.
Bill No. 2897, Draft 1 – A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL
YEAR JULY 1, 2023 TO JUNE 30, 2024 (Fiscal Year 2023-2024 CIP Budget)
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve Bill No. 2897, Draft 1 on second and
final reading, and that it be transmitted to the Mayor for his approval,
seconded by Councilmember Cowden.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone in the public wishing to
testify?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
Mr. Hart: I just want to take this opportunity to say how
much I enjoyed being part of the budgeting process this year, and I want to thank you
all for the attention you gave and questions that were asked. It showed me that you
were paying attention. Okay? Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you.
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: You folks know the drill. Ten (10) minutes
each for your closing. This is it, the last day. I want to thank you folks for your
patience. Who wants to start? Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: I just want to thank you, Chair, for running
the budget. I think we had good discussions with all the departments. I want to
thank the budget team—Reiko, Ken, our Mayor, and the Managing Director. We
were fortunate. This is a weird budget. We had a surplus of money that we did not
have before due to the Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT), General Excise
COUNCIL MEETING 88 MAY 31, 2023
Tax (GET), and more revenue coming in from property taxes. I think it was an easy
budget in the sense that we were not scrambling to get moneys for things that Council
had as priority that the Mayor did not put in. I think we were able to work with our
Mayor and get what we needed in the budget. Certainly, the budget is just the
beginning. There are always money bills that can be done through my Committee,
so if you folks have items do not think that the budget was our last chance to get it
in. If we have something important coming from the Council end or the public end,
your Councilmembers are there to help work through those oversights. Hopefully,
we will have a smooth year and have the Administration carry out their all of plans
well and continue to work with us. I think it is nice to have money, but let us make
sure that we do not waste it as well. Thank you, Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there anyone else?
Councilmember Carvalho: Okay. Again, mahalo to our Finance team for
always being here and answering all of our questions. Of course, the Mayor for being
open to a lot of discussion. We all had discussions with the Administration, having
gone through many budgets, but in this particular budget, I think we were all pretty
level-headed. Everything was paced really well. The thing now is implementation
and seeing it through. That is a big part. Just the whole process and our fellow
Councilmembers and staff here, I think we did a good job with going through the
Budget process. Not everything was perfect, but overall we got in what we had to say
and do, so for me I think it was a good opportunity to really move things forward. I
look forward to talking story and the implementation phase of our budget as we move
forward. Mahalo.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I also would like to thank the Department of
Finance and really every department for doing a good job on bringing forward what
they needed and articulating it. I really am appreciative of the Office of the Mayor
for being willing to work with us. I am glad that we were able to have a little back
and forth on the vision, but without conflict or controversy, I think it was a good give
and take. Even on things like the Reserve amount and sticking with the Mayor's
vision on that, but appreciating how we were able to roll back taxes particularly for
our most long-term committed crowd of homeowners, anyway. We were able to help
them, so I am thankful for that. I really want to extend my appreciation to our staff.
I really appreciate that Budget Comparison Report that we have in the books. It is
like a cheat sheet from our side to be able to see where there is a difference. That is
super valuable and all the efforts that were made. I think I have said a number of
things on the different days, so I am extending gratitude and I know there is always
more that is needed. I have one other thing I wanted to say. I was glad we were able
to give people raises. A lot of that is with the bargaining agreements, but I believe
everyone needs it. I think for all of us, every one of us is being confronted every time
we go to the store, the gas pump, or anywhere else. Certainly, our team needs it and
creating ways for people to be inspired and wanting to continue is important, so
mahalo.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember DeCosta.
COUNCIL MEETING 89 MAY 31, 2023
Councilmember DeCosta: This will be real short and sweet. I am going
to first off thank our staff. I think during budget, our County Clerk, the Deputy
Clerk, and the staff, you all did an exceptional job with all of our requests and
whatever we were moving forward. I am going to thank the different departments,
but it is their job. It is their job to do the budget. They have a department to run,
they better run it, and I am going to say it, they better run it efficiently. If not, this
Council will (inaudible) them on it, and that is what this Council did. We (inaudible)
a few of the department heads to make sure they are in alignment to being fiscally
responsible. I want to thank everyone who went through the budget process,
including my friend Bruce, because people like Bruce testifying keep us on our honest
behavior. We appreciate that, Bruce. You are the voice of many people out there on
Kaua`i who do not have the time to come here. I do not know how you have all the
time to come, Bruce. I am wondering what job you have that allows you to come every
Wednesday.
Mr. Hart: I am retired.
Council Chair Rapozo: I want that job. I am going to get you a new
hat, too, Bruce. I think you need a new baseball hat. With that being said, thank
you all so much and I appreciate the department heads working with us to be very
fiscally responsible. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I, too, just primarily want to express my
gratitude. Mahalo nui loa to the Administration's budget team, and of course to our
own Council Services budget team, and everyone here that assisted them as well. It
was their first budget without our former Deputy, who pretty much kept a lot of the
budget work, so I know it was tough for them, but I think they did a great job. A
special thank you to the Office of the Mayor for being willing to meet with us
individually and met with us several times throughout the course of the budget. I
think that back and forth was really helpful in ironing out some of the details that
did not come to decision-making day, but we were able to resolve them ahead of time.
I always appreciate the Vacancy Report. I appreciate that they ultimately did
nine-month funding for a lot of the positions that we questioned. I also appreciate
that we were able to do tax relief, especially for our folks in the Homestead
classification, and then also recognizing that vote between the Council and the
Administration, that we have more work to do as far as overhauling our real property
tax system. Thank you, everyone.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you to my colleagues here. This is my
fifteenth budget. I am old. But this is the first time I have actually chaired the
budget, and it was kind of stressful at first. I want to thank the Mayor, the
Administration, and the Finance team who educated me on several issues and I
definitely appreciate that. Again, our staff. I think it is incredible what they have to
go through. I cannot imagine what it would be like to have seven (7) crazy individuals
tugging at your strings all day long, pulling you in different directions. It is actually
more than seven (7) because you also have the administrative side that is calling and
emailing. I want to thank our staff for getting us through this thing. As
COUNCIL MEETING 90 MAY 31, 2023
Councilmember DeCosta said, the public, we have Bruce and others who were here,
but we also have a lot of you who sent in emails, texts, messages, Facebook messages,
phone calls and whatnot with concerns and questions. A lot of it had to do with the
real property tax issues. Again, I am expecting the Administration to send over their
property tax bill shortly, and then it is another cycle of a lot of hard work for us to
hammer that thing out. A couple of the highlights is the fact that this year...and
every time we have budget discussions, I look at former Mayor Carvalho because he
did not have the luxury of these types of revenue. We did not have the TAT. We did
not have the GET. We did not have increasing property assessments to the point
where there is influx of cash. I see his, "if I wish, I wish," but some good things were
done by the Administration. They paid down debt, and decided to purchase vehicles
instead of leasing. A lot of things that are not immediate tangible results—it is not
a product, but a mechanism to enjoy cost savings down the road, so that I appreciate.
Of course, the Administration's willingness to not only give out the property tax relief
for homeowners—Homestead and Residential, but when the Council wanted to
increase it even more, there was no opposition. In fact, he did that as well so we do
have even more property tax relief for the people that really need it. Again, I am
looking forward to the property tax reform that will really allow us to target specific
classes or categories of homeowners that actually need the relief. One (1) of the
biggest highlights was the fact the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) hired
someone to answer their phone. They created a position now, right, Reiko? Where is
she? It is the little things in life. Some people might be excited about many of the
big things we bought. To me, that is huge because so many people were impacted by
that, including myself. Reiko, thank you for helping the constituents at the DMV. I
was in line at the DMV, and everyone thinks Councilmembers can go right up to the
counter. No, we get the number and we wait. There was a lady next to me and I
asked, "How long have you been here for?" She goes, "Oh, man. I came...my
paperwork was wrong so I had to go back, and when I came back I had to take a new
number. I tried calling them, but they do not answer the phone." I said, "Still?" Then
she needed to go to the bathroom, so she went to the bathroom, I took her papers, and
then I hear, like magic, "Hey, Chair. I hope you are not waiting long." It was Reiko.
I said, "Hi, Reiko. No, I am not waiting long and it is actually a pleasant experience,
but there is a Portuguese lady that went to the bathroom that is not very happy,
because she called and no one answered the phone." Reiko took care of her and got
her serviced. I appreciate that. That to me, those little things...it is very to fill
positions nowadays. In fact, I met the person that got that job or was he lying to me,
Reiko?
Ms. Matsuyama: We have not hired anyone, yet.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay, he lied to me, but anyway...
Councilmember Kuali`i: He is feeling hopeful.
Councilmember Cowden: He is feeling hopeful.
Council Chair Rapozo: The other big thing, and with this one I really
wanted to...I am not ashamed to say that the Mayor provided us some funds for
Council Services for Council assistance. Now our Councilmembers will have an
COUNCIL MEETING 91 MAY 31, 2023
opportunity, should they choose to, to hire personal staff. I can defend that every day
of the week, because we are the only County where our Councilmembers do not have
a personal staff or a personal assistant. In fact, what you see in this room here and
some that are outside, we all share our staff. Unlike any other municipality on the
globe, we need to share staff. This was a concern that was shared with the Mayor by
myself and other Councilmembers, and he agreed that it was time that Kaua`i start
to provide Council Services the assistance that it needed. We also provided additional
funding for the training of our staff to the tune of three hundred thousand
dollars ($300,000). I think with that we are in a good position now to move this office
forward. That is all I have. I want to thank my colleagues, again. It was kind of
interesting, it was fun for the most part, and now we just need to make all of these
things happen in the next fiscal year, starting July 1. With that, thank you all. The
motion is to approve. Roll call.
The motion to approve Bill No. 2897, Draft 1 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, Cowden, DeCosta, Kagawa,
Kuali`i, Rapozo TOTAL— 6,
AGAINST APPROVAL: None TOTAL — 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Bulosan TOTAL — 1,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Six (6) ayes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Next item, please.
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
ES-1096 Pursuant to Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) Sections 92-4,
92-5(a)(4), and Kaua`i County Charter Section 3.07(E), the Office of the County
Attorney requests an Executive Session to provide a briefing on Special Counsel's
continued services to represent the County of Kaua`i in County of Kauai vs. B&D
Properties, LLC et al. (5CCCV-22-0000013). This briefing and consultation involves
consideration of the powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and/or liabilities of the
Council and the County as they relate to this agenda item.
ES-1097 Pursuant to Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) Sections 92-4,
92-5(a)(3), 92-5(a)(4), and Kaua`i County Charter Section 3.07(E), the Office of the
County Attorney, on behalf of the County Council requests an Executive Session to
deliberate on the acquisition of public property, specifically, properties identified by
tax map keys: 4-1-003-004 and 4-1-003-007. This briefing and consultation involves
consideration of the powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and/or liabilities of the
Council and the County as they relate to this agenda item.
Councilmember Kagawa moved to convene in Executive Session for ES-1096
and ES-1097, seconded by Councilmember Cowden.
COUNCIL MEETING 92 MAY 31, 2023
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
Seeing none. Roll call.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
The motion to convene in Executive Session for ES-1096 and ES-1097 was then
put, and carried by the following vote:
FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION: Carvalho, Cowden, DeCosta,
Kagawa, Kuali`i, Rapozo TOTAL— 6,
AGAINST EXECUTIVE SESSION: None TOTAL — 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Bulosan TOTAL — 1,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — 0.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Six (6) ayes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Let us reconvene in Executive Session in
five (5) minutes.
There being no objections, the meeting recessed at 2:23 p.m.
The meeting reconvened at 2:24 p.m., and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: I apologize. We had the Communication.
Clerk, if you could read the Communication that we bypassed initially.
C 2023-127 Communication (05/17/2023) from the County Attorney,
requesting authorization to expend additional funds up to $100,000.00 for Special
Counsel's continued services to represent the County of Kaua`i in general civil
litigation matters, specifically, in County of Kauai vs. B&D Properties, LLC et al.
identified as case number 5CCCV-22-0000013.
Council Chair Rapozo: We will go into Executive Session, we will
discuss the case, and we will come back into Open Session to vote on this matter.
Councilmember Kagawa: Can we just approve it? If we approve it and
it goes bad in Executive Session, then it does not have approval to move forward,
right?
Council Chair Rapozo: If you approve before the briefing...
Councilmember Kagawa: We are approving the money, but we are not
approving him, the election.
Council Chair Rapozo: The agenda item is actually approving the
authorization to spend the funds in this case.
Councilmember Kagawa: Okay.
COUNCIL MEETING 93 MAY 31, 2023
Council Chair Rapozo: I do not have an issue either way. I can tell
you how I am going to vote, because we need the funds to continue the case.
Councilmember Kagawa moved to approve C 2023-127, seconded by
Councilmember Carvalho.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion?
Councilmember DeCosta: I feel like we are jumping the gun. We should
have had our discussion. That is why we have a discussion.
Councilmember Cowden: Yes, I agree.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay.
Councilmember DeCosta: Then we come out and we make the decision.
We are making a decision now without discussing this.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Let us go into Executive Session and
then we will come back out and take the vote on this.
There being no objections, the meeting recessed at 2:26 p.m., to convene in
Executive Session.
The meeting reconvened at 3:10 p.m., and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: There is a motion to approve. Is there any
further discussion? Seeing none.
The motion to approve C 2023-127 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1
(Councilmember Bulosan was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. That concludes today's
meeting. Thank you.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:11 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
.dr- - s n1 n-Tanigawa
Counts lerk
:dmc_ss
Attachment 1
(May 31, 2023)
FLOOR AMENDMENT
Resolution No. 2023-44, DRAFT 1, RESOLUTION URGING THE STATE OF
HAWAII BOARD OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES TO CONSIDER
PUBLIC ACCESS, USES, AND PURPOSES FOR STATE PARCELS AT WAILUA
Introduced by: KIPUKAI KUALII, Councilmember
1. Amend Resolution No. 2023-44, Draft 1 in pertinent part to read as follows:
"WHEREAS, TMK (4) 4-1-003:017 (Revocable Permit 7444) (0.842 acres) is a
parcel with hardened surfaces immediately mauka of Kuhio Highway at the
intersection of Kuamo`o Road, which could [offer the public a valuable opportunity to
regain] once again be appropriate for parking access to the County of Kaua`i Wailua
Beach Park, especially due to the increasing erosion at Wailua Beach, which has
completely eliminated the once-plentiful beach-adjacent parking area; and"
2. Amend Resolution No. 2023-44, Draft 1 in pertinent part to read as follows:
"WHEREAS, TMK (4) 4-1-003:005 (General Lease No. 4878) (14.83 acres) is a
parcel that includes the longstanding "coconut grove," which [offers access to a
historical and natural resource] could once again be appropriate for public access[;]
to and use of the "coconut grove"; now, therefore,"
(Material to be deleted is bracketed, new material to be added is underscored.)
V:\AMENDMENTS\2023\Floor Amendment Resolution No 2023-44 Draft 1 Wailua KK-JA-LC.docx
Attachment 2
(May 31, 2023)
FLOOR AMENDMENT
Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2899), A Bill For An Ordinance Amending Chapter 8, Kaua`i
County Code 1987, As Amended, Relating To Zoning Designation In Puhi, Kaua`i
(University of Hawai`i Community Colleges, Kauai Community College, Applicant)
(ZA-2023-3)
Introduced by: BILL DECOSTA, Councilmember
1. Amend Proposed Draft (Bill No. 2899), in its entirety, to read as follows:
"SECTION 1. Findings and Purpose. The University
District (UNV) zoning aims to accommodate areas of land that are utilized for
university and campus-related uses and facilities. Given the vital role that the
Kaua`i Community College plays in providing Kaua`i's community with higher
education, the 2018 Kauai General Plan designated the parcels owned by the
Kaua`i Community College within the University District.
The purpose of this Ordinance is to amend the Zoning Map ZM-P400 to
change the County zoning of the Kaua`i Community College Campus (Tax Map
Key Nos. (4)-4-007:001 (Portion), (4) 3-4-007:002, and (4) 3-4-007:003) from "Open
District (0)" and "Agriculture District (A)" to "University District (UNV)."
SECTION 2. The zoning designation for that certain area in Puhi,
Kaua`i, identified as Tax Map Key Nos. (4) 3-4-007:001 (Portion), (4) 3-4-007:002,
and (4) 3-4-007:003 as shown on the Zoning Map ZM-P400 and on the map
[reflected in] attached hereto and incorporated herein as "Exhibit 1" and
incorporating herein the metes and bounds description identified in "Exhibit 2,"
is hereby amended from the County Zoned "Open District (0)" and "Agriculture
District'(A)" to "University District (UNV)."
SECTION 3. The Planning Department is directed to note the
change on the official Zoning Map on file with the Commission. All applicable
provisions of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance shall apply to the area rezoned
herein.
SECTION [3.] 4. [Severability.] If any provision of this Ordinance or
application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity
does not affect the other provisions or applications of this Ordinance that can be
given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end, the
provisions of this Ordinance are severable.
SECTION [4.] 5. Ordinance material to be repealed is bracketed. New
Ordinance material is underscored. When revising, compiling, or printing this
Ordinance for inclusion in the Kaua`i County Code 1987, as amended, the
brackets, bracketed material, and underscoring shall not be included.
SECTION 6. This Ordinance shall take effect upon its approval."
(Material to be deleted is bracketed. New material to be added is underscored.
Amended material is highlighted.)
V:\AMENDMENTS\2023\2023-291 PDB 2899 - (Kauai Community College ZA-2023-3)
BD_AAO_mn.docx