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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/26/2024 Council minutes COUNCIL MEETING JUNE 26, 2024 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, Kauai, on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, at 8:30 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 (Note: No one from the public provided oral testimony via the Zoom remote technology platform on any agenda item.) APPROVAL OF AGENDA. Councilmember Kuali`i moved for approval of the agenda, as circulated, seconded by Councilmember Carvalho. 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 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: The motion is carried. Next item, please. MINUTES of the following meetings of the Council: May 29, 2024 Council Meeting June 12, 2024 Public Hearing re: Bill No. 2921 and Bill No. 2922 June 12, 2024 Council Meeting Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve the Minutes, as circulated, seconded by Councilmember DeCosta. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there anyone wishing to testify or provide testimony?Anyone in the audience? COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 2 JUNE 26, 2024 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: Motion carries. Clerk, our next item, please. JADE K. FOUNTAIN-TANIGAWA, County Clerk: Chair, for C 2024-119, we do have an Executive Session. Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. We will come back to this item after the Executive Session. Next item, please. There being no objections, C 2024-124 was taken out of order. COMMUNICATIONS: C 2024-124 Communication (06/04/2024) from the Executive on Aging, requesting Council approval to receive and expend Federal funds, in the amount of $291,839.00, and to indemnify the State Executive Office on Aging, for the provision of Title III services of the Older Americans Act, which includes supportive services, congregate meals, home-delivered meals, preventive health programs, and the National Family Caregiver Support Program, for the Federal Fiscal Year 2024. This award is through September 30, 2026. Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve C 2024-124, seconded by Councilmember Carvalho. Councilmember Cowden: I have a simple question. Council Chair Rapozo: With that, I will suspend the rules. Kealoha. There being no objections, the rules were suspended. LUDVINA K. TAKAHASHI, Executive on Aging: Good morning. Kealoha Takahashi, Executive on Aging. Councilmember Cowden: Thank you for all the good work that you do for our seniors. I know this is a reoccurring grant and thank you for the work that happens for the home-delivered meals. Is this a greater amount than we received the last time? I know we had a lot of inflationary pressure, and I am just trying to check to see if our new federally funded amount is up to what we need or if we have people on a waitlist? Ms. Takahashi: As of today, we do not have anyone on the waitlist, but this is not an increase in federal funds. It has remained the same. Councilmember Cowden: It has remained flat. Ms. Takahashi: Yes. COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 3 JUNE 26, 2024 Councilmember Cowden: Has our cost gone up? Ms. Takahashi: Yes. Councilmember Cowden: Yes? Okay. Can you send me where that differential is, because I want to make sure that we are on top of it, because costs keep going up and it seems like we have more of an increase in this pool of people than anticipated. Ms. Takahashi: Yes, thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any further questions for Kealoha? If not, thank you. Is there anyone in the audience wishing to testify? There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: The motion to approve C 2024-124 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Bulosan was excused). Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. Next item, please. C 2024-125 Communication (06/05/2024) from the Mayor, requesting Council approval to accept all food, travel, and lodging expenses provided by the Hunt Institute's Early Learning Nation Policy Fellows for Local Elected Leaders to attend the Early Childhood Leadership Summit and Fellows Retreat on September 4-6, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada, an invitation-only learning and networking opportunity, designed to support bipartisan local elected leaders with the drive and potential to establish their communities as national leaders for children. Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve C 2024-125, seconded by Councilmember Cowden. Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony? With that, I will suspend the rules. Mr. Sykos. There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony. LONNIE SYKOS: For the record, Lonnie Sykos. Public disclosure, my mother is from North Carolina. I spent years of my life living in North Carolina visiting her and my grandparents. Governor Hunt is an extraordinary man. Twice, he had multiple terms as governor of the state, and going back to when I was in either elementary or high school, Governor Hunt took it upon himself politically to fight with the forces supporting segregation, and so during Governor Hunt's terms, the educational process in North Carolina turned around. I believe onto today, no state has seen an improvement in their scores for their students as well as tracking them into adulthood and looking at the value and their adult life of the education they received in elementary and high school that North Carolina ended up with the greatest positive change in student test scores in the history of the United States. This is an excellent program. I think it is like twenty something years old at this point. I salute the mayor for being akamai enough to even know that this exists and COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 4 JUNE 26, 2024 I fully support all of the funding to send whoever it is that we are going to send to this. This is an extraordinary opportunity for the children of Kaua`i. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there anyone else wishing to testify? Ms. Parker. ALICE PARKER: Alice Parker, for the record. Anything that can improve education and help younger children is terrific. I have seen grownups who supposedly had high school diplomas in Los Angeles (LA), here, and O`ahu who basically were illiterate; I have worked with some before there was a civil service examination, they were illiterate. We need to have literate kids and well-managed, and yes, anything we can do for the "youngesters" is terrific. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there anyone else? There being no further public testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: Council Chair Rapozo: Is there further discussion? Mr. Sykos, thank you for the commentary. The expenses are being picked up by the Hunt Institute, so this is just an acceptance of that grant, if you will. The motion to approve C 2024-125 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Bulosan was excused). Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. Next item, please. C 2024-126 Communication(06/06/2024)from the Fire Chief, requesting Council approval of the indemnification provisions for purchase of APX Next Portable Radios and related subscription services from Motorola Solutions, Inc. Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve C 2024-126, seconded by Councilmember Cowden. Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony? Councilmember Cowden: I have a quick question. Council Chair Rapozo: Okay, I will suspend the rules. Fire Chief. There being no objections, the rules were suspended. MICHAEL GIBSON, Fire Chief: Thank you. Good morning, Council Chair. Good morning, Council. Council Chair Rapozo: Good morning. Mr. Gibson: Mike Gibson, for the record. Councilmember Cowden: Is this the same as what we already have or is it anything new? COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 5 JUNE 26, 2024 Mr. Gibson: More of the same... Councilmember Cowden: Okay. Mr. Gibson: ...but this is the new technology Motorola radios that do work off of not just radio in the tower, but also WiFi and cellular signal, and these will be for Ocean Safety. Councilmember Cowden: When I saw that about the cellular (cell) signal, it does not do anything...or does it do anything to address some of the concerns that we already talked about for Ke`e area? Mr. Gibson: These will rely mostly on antenna for Ke`e. They still work, they will take the strongest of the three (3) signals: WiFi, cell, or radio tower. It is not going to fix a problem that is not there, but it will work off the existing tower. Councilmember Cowden: Okay, because what was said before is that people at Ke`e cannot communicate unless they are standing in the right place. Mr. Gibson: Correct. Councilmember Cowden: So, they are still going to not be able to communicate unless they are standing in the right place, or can they bounce off the cell tower? Mr. Gibson: These radios are going to trigger mainly off the antenna. They will pick up the radio antenna. If the cell signal is weaker than the antenna, it will not even need a cell signal. Councilmember Cowden: Because it will be able to get the antenna? Mr. Gibson: Yes. Councilmember Cowden: Is it going to work at the end of the road? Mr. Gibson: The radio will work, correct. Councilmember Cowden: The radio will work, okay, because that is what we were learning last time, we cannot help people if we do not have radios that work. Do we have radios that work? Mr. Gibson: We do. Councilmember Cowden: Now? Mr. Gibson: Yes. Councilmember Cowden: Okay, thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any further questions for the Chief? If not, thank you. Is there anyone in the audience wishing to testify? Mr. Sykos. COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 6 JUNE 26, 2024 Mr. Sykos: For the record, I probably could have called the Fire Chief and asked him this question instead of doing it here, but when I was younger, I had a career in Merchant Marine and on occasion we were requested to assist in search and rescue operations. One of the inherent problems was, in maritime we used different radio frequencies than airplanes used, and so it was primarily through very short-range radios that we were able to talk to the people in the air that were doing the searching. It was always a problem when you came into port, if there was a fire you could not talk to the fire department because everyone used different frequencies; could not talk to the police, because they used different frequencies. My question for the Fire Department is, do they still have the same issues of different entities using different frequencies and not being able to easily establish contact? As I was getting out of that industry there was a switch towards adding more frequencies to devices, but as an example, if you have people up in the air searching, does the Fire Department have the capacity to talk to them, and if they do not, what do we need to do to get them the communications equipment? If they do, then my questions a new point. Thank you. Councilmember Cowden: He is nodding his head yes, from the back of the room. Council Chair Rapozo: Oh, the Fire Chief is still present. Okay. Is there any further public testimony? Is there further discussion? There being no further public testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: The motion to approve C 2024-126 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Bulosan was excused). Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. Next item, please. C 2024-127 Communication(06/06/2024)from the Fire Chief, requesting Council approval to accept a donation from the Okinawa Lifesaving Association in the estimated amount of $12,500.00, to be used for all travel expenses, airfare, lodging, and transportation for Ocean Safety Bureau Chief Kalani Vierra to participate in the Okinawa Lifesaving Association Rescue Watercraft Training on June 15-26, 2024 and the Ocean Safety Symposium on July 22-29, 2024, in Okinawa, Japan. Councilmember Cowden moved to approve C 2024-127, seconded by Councilmember Kuali`i. Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony? I think it is appropriate to offer our condolences to Mr. Perry on O`ahu who lost his life due to a shark attack on Sunday. It is sad and tragic, but based on all the reports we are seeing, this person was an amazing waterman and just a good person. Similar to Chief Kalani Vierra, so I think when you have the Japan, Okinawa Lifesaving Association requesting his presence at their conference, seminar, or event, and offering to pay all expenses, that just says a lot about Mr.Vierra and our Ocean Safety crew. I just wanted to make that comment. Again, this is two (2) grants, if you will, on the same Council day, I do not think I have ever seen that before, to get our people to become better leaders. Much mahalo to the...and if we can send a thank-you letter to the Okinawa Lifesaving Association. Mr. Sykos. COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 7 JUNE 26, 2024 There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony. Mr. Sykos: Once again, for the record, Lonnie Sykos. As someone with roots in North Carolina, I will express the entire state's deep appreciation to the State of Hawai`i because the rescue tube concept that was developed here. I also believe that it was here in Hawai`i that was the first place to use jet skis. I believe it was the lifeguards in Hawai`i that started the use of jet skis to save people offshore. This is now being done all over the world. Same thing with the floats that we put at the beach to save people in distress. Tip of the hat to the Fire Department and the Water Safety Bureaus through the State and deep appreciation that we are being acknowledged and it will be illuminating that when Chief Vierra comes back, we hope that he will come before the Council and give us some information about the impact we have had on the rest of the world, and what we possibly will learn from their experiences using what we started. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there any further public testimony? • There being no further public testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: Councilmember Cowden: I want to acknowledge that when I read this, it looks like Chief Vierra is going be one of the trainers, right? He is teaching them. Council Chair Rapozo: Yes. Councilmember Cowden: So, we are going to attend the children's thing to learn from them, and in this case, we are going to share our expertise. Both are really great, I just want to acknowledge him for honoring Hawai`i; showing up there. It is nice to be a gift to the world and it seems like Japan is kind of our cousin, in a way. We have such a high connection with each other, so it is really great to have him there. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Are there any further comments? The motion to approve C 2024-127 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Bulosan was excused). Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. Next item, please. C 2024-128 Communication (06/12/2024) from the Chief of Police and Mark T. Ozaki, Assistant Chief of Police, requesting Council approval to receive and expend State funds, in the amount of up to $12,000.00, from the State of Hawai`i, Department of Health, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division, as reimbursement associated overtime for the enforcement of Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) Section 712-1258, prohibiting tobacco sales to minors via Memorandum of Agreement 2025-PB-002 effective September 1, 2024 through August 31, 2025. Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve C 2024-128, seconded by Councilmember DeCosta. COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 8 JUNE 26, 2024 Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony? It feels like Christmas today, honestly, with some more free money from the State. The motion to approve C 2024-128 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Bulosan was excused). Council Chair Rapozo: Next item, please. C 2024-129 Communication (06/13/2024) from the County Engineer, requesting Council approval of the indemnification provisions contained in Paragraph 13 of Hawai`i Gas's Terms of Use, which provides the fuel supply for the Waimea Levee Pump Station's emergency generators that serve as the backup power source in the event of an electric power outage. Councilmember Carvalho moved to approve C 2024-129, seconded by Councilmember DeCosta. Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony? Councilmember Kagawa. Councilmember Kagawa: I have a question. Council Chair Rapozo: I will suspend the rules. Mr. Tanigawa. There being no objections, the rules were suspended. TROY K. TANIGAWA, County Engineer: Good morning, Council Chair and Members of the County Council. Thank you for considering this item.The Waimea levee pump station has an emergency power generator capability in case the Kaua`i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) power goes down. These emergency power generators rely on propane fuel to run and so this agreement before you includes the indemnification provision that we are asking for Council's approval. When this agreement is executed, it will allow us to secure reliable sources of fuel for our emergency generators. Councilmember Kagawa: So, right now it is on electricity with a backup of propane? Mr. Tanigawa: Yes. Councilmember Kagawa: And so you are looking at making it totally reliant on propane? Mr. Tanigawa: No. That is just to keep fuel at the site in case the power goes down when the generators are needed. Councilmember Kagawa: I guess the overall question is, it took pretty long to fix the pump station, are those all fixed and working well now? Mr. Tanigawa: Yes. The project is completed. We just got the final connections for telephone, so we have emergency connection, in case the water level rises, there are electronics at that pump station that will detect that and it will COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 9 JUNE 26, 2024 inform our baseyard folks that the pump station is activated, then they can start their monitoring activities and response. Councilmember Kagawa: Now that the pump stations are completed or were completed since we had the heavy rains recently, did the heavy rains show us how well it is working or not working? Mr. Tanigawa: The pump station was not complete. The connection that I talked about was not completed at that time, so there was a lag in the pump station operations. There was flooding because the pump stations did not turn on automatically, and there was not someone there to monitor and correct the problem. It is my understanding that all of that has been resolved and the pump station should be fully operational. Today, we have training at the site. Normally, when I have something for the division, Bryson is present,but he is attending training today. Once that training is done, our employees should have the information they need to run the pump station as stated. Councilmember Kagawa: In the future when we have heavy rain, the residents in Waimea should see a difference, perhaps, in the flooding in the town? Mr. Tanigawa: I would expect that the pump station would function to prevent any future flooding. Councilmember Kagawa: Alright. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Cowden. Councilmember Cowden: Where is this pump station located? Is it right there where the valves and gates are? Mr. Tanigawa: It is off of Alawai Road. It is right near the drainage ditch that comes across... Councilmember Cowden: It is maybe a quarter mile up the road from the highway? Mr. Tanigawa: Roughly. Councilmember Cowden: Okay, and then since a lot of that flooding in the neighborhood really happens when the tide is high, the river mouth is blocked, it seems like it floods whether it is raining or not...those valves have helped already, right? It is pumping from the neighborhood into the river. Mr. Tanigawa: It is pumping from the drainage ditch that makes sure it is properly draining in the subdivisions. The reason why it did flood was because the sluice gates were not operational. They were stuck in the open position. Councilmember Cowden: Right. Mr. Tanigawa: Whenever the level in the river rose, it would back up into the drainage ditch and then eventually into the subdivision. The levee gates—the gate valves, as well as the sluice gates are all fixed. COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 10 JUNE 26, 2024 Councilmember Cowden: So, when the river mouth is closed or high tide, those sluice gates are going to keep the neighborhood from flooding, so if it is that and it is raining, the pumps are going to pull the rainwater out of the neighborhood. Mr. Tanigawa: Yes. Councilmember Cowden: Basically, it is the ditch that backs up and then it comes up through the drainage...what do you call that? That culverts, the opening in the road, and the cul-de-sac...I watched the water come up when it is not even raining. But now when it is not raining, it is not happening any longer? Mr. Tanigawa: There is a constant source of water that feeds into that drainage ditch. When it is not raining, it is a slow trickle, but when it rains the entire portion of the watershed drains into that area, so that pump station is necessary to prevent flooding. Councilmember Cowden: Have we had a flood yet? Councilmember Kagawa asked about the last flood, but do we have confidence that it is working? Mr. Tanigawa: Yes. Councilmember Cowden: Okay. It would be fun to go and watch it, because I know as long as I have been in office, it has been a stress point and that neighborhood that really was built into too low of altitude, almost below sea level. That was a loi right there, we built a neighborhood in a wetland. Mr. Tanigawa: And also maintenance by those residents that live along that drainage ditch (inaudible) what was needed to prevent flooding. Some of that has not occurred in the past, so some of the culverts were clogged up with foliage and debris that caused backing up upstream or that area... Council Chair Rapozo: I am going to stop you there because we are going into a completely different...this is about... Councilmember Cowden: The indemnification. Council Chair Rapozo: The agreement for propane as a back up source in an event we lose electricity. Councilmember Cowden: Alright. Council Chair Rapozo: That is what this is. Councilmember Cowden: That was a big issue in that neighborhood, but yes. Council Chair Rapozo: It is, but not on this item. Are there any further questions for Troy? Seeing none, thank you. Is there anyone in the audience wishing to testify? Is there any discussion? There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 11 JUNE 26, 2024 The motion to approve C 2024-129 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Bulosan was excused). Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. Next item, please C 2024-130 Communication (06/16/2024) from the Director of Economic Development, requesting Council approval of the indemnification clause and cost of litigation provisions included in the State of Hawai`i Department of Agriculture General Terms and Conditions Sections 7 and 8, administering support for the mitigation of the spread of the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (CRB).Approval to receive and expend funding in the amount of$200,000.00 was granted at the May 29, 2024 Council Meeting. Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve C 2024-130, seconded by Councilmember DeCosta. Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony? Are there any questions for the Office of Economic Development (OED)? There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as follows: The motion to approve C 2024-130 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Bulosan was excused). Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. Next item, please. C 2024-131 Communication (06/17/2024) from the County Engineer, requesting Council approval to apply for, receive, and expend State funds in the amount of $379,538.40, from the State of Hawai`i Department of Health (DOH), and to indemnify the State DOH for the Fiscal Year 2025 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. Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve C 2024-131, seconded by Councilmember DeCosta. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kagawa has a question. There being no objections, the rules were suspended. Mr. Tanigawa: Troy Tanigawa, for the record. Councilmember Kagawa: I love the HI-5 program; I love people who participate in it. I am pretty shocked to see sometimes how many bottles these collectors go into that place, it is unreal how innovative they are to get everything into a pickup truck. Where did we get this idea that we should hire two (2) recycling specialist positions with this money to support mobile redemption center operations in Kekeha and Koloa? How does that ensure that is the best use of the moneys? The other way is maybe we could use those moneys to expand operation, because when we are adding position and position, the Solid Waste Division has been a big money grab for the County for many years and money loss for many years. I want to be a little bit more COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 12 JUNE 26, 2024 accountable, now that we are adding positions to a department that has historically been a big money hole for us. Mr. Tanigawa: I can talk about it in general, and Keola is here and he can provide more details. Basically, the County has a scope of work and responsibilities to support the beverage container program. There are inspections that need to be done. There are requirements and criteria that these recyclers have to follow and so one of the tasks that these recycling specialist do is they do inspections and they verify what is being done, if things are being done properly, if there are any complaints or issues that come up, they work with the recycler to help resolve them. Councilmember Kagawa: Who was doing this job before? KEOLA AM, Solid Waste Program Development Coordinator: Keola Aki, Solid Waste Program Coordinator, for the record. This grant has been ongoing for close to twenty (20) years. If not, longer, since we have had that position. It is a long...we have these positions for a very long time. I started in that position ten (10) years ago. It is just ongoing. Councilmember Kagawa: So, it is a recurring position that has been there? Mr. Aki: Yes. Councilmember Kagawa: We had two (2) for a long time? Mr. Aki: A very long time. Councilmember Kagawa: And the two (2) have always been filled? Mr. Aki: For the most part,yes. People leave and people come, but we have always filled those positions. Councilmember Kagawa: Are we adding bodies? Mr. Aki: No. Councilmember Kagawa: Alright, thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any further questions? If not, thank you. Is there anyone in the audience wishing to testify? There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: The motion to approve C 2024-131 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Bulosan was excused). C 2024-132 Communication (06/17/2024) from the Deputy Director of Planning, requesting Council approval to receive and expend Federal/State funds for the Hawai`i Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Program in an amount up to $375,345.00, and to indemnify the State of Hawai`i in accordance with the State of COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 13 JUNE 26, 2024 Hawai`i General Conditions (AG-008 103D) for administering the program. This reoccurring pass-through grant will be utilized to continue the implementation of the CZM Program on Kaua`i commencing July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025 and will be expended on salaries/wages, travel, equipment, and supplies for the CZM Program, specifically for the implementation and enforcement of the Special Management Area Rules and Regulations of the County of Kaua`i and Shoreline Setback provisions of Chapter 8, Kaua`i County Code 1987, as amended. Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve C 2024-132, seconded by Councilmember Carvalho. Council Chair Rapozo: Again, this is like the HI-5 grant, pretty much, it funds our CZM office. Are there any further questions for the Planning Department? Councilmember Cowden: I want to confirm that this is a position that is already filled and with a regular staff position. Council Chair Rapozo: There are four (4) positions that... Councilmember Cowden: Four (4) positions. Council Chair Rapozo: Do you want to come up? There being no objections, the rules were suspended. JODI A. HIGUCHI SAYEGUSA, Deputy Director of Planning: Jodi Higuchi Sayegusa, with the Planning Department. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you for volunteering. Ms. Higuchi Sayegusa: Yes, it is for the four (4) positions. Two (2) are filled and we are currently interviewing and have conducted interviews for the CZM Planner, the CZM Account Clerk is vacant, but we are actively recruiting. Councilmember Cowden: Okay. People have a problem, someone is cutting the trees, and it is falling into where it should not be, these are the enforcement...this is who handles the complaint? Can I ask how that interfaces with the Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands (OCCL) at the state-level, because it is really confusing on who to send people to when they are complaining about shoreline? Ms. Higuchi Sayegusa: These moneys will go to the entire program, the CZM program and we regularly interface with the State, it is administered by the State. We attend statewide meetings, the Ocean Resource Management program meetings and that encompasses OCCL, in addition to other aquatic departments, federal, and there is a lot of coordination. This program funds everything from the permitting through enforcement... Councilmember Cowden: Do we have someone that goes down and looks? Ms. Higuchi Sayegusa: Yes. COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 14 JUNE 26, 2024 Councilmember Cowden: And they crossover for other positions in the Planning Department? Is it the same enforcement person? Ms. Higuchi Sayegusa: Yes, these people are primarily responsible for administering the CZM program, the Special Management Area (SMA), shoreline setback, but of course they are multifaceted, and they support the regulatory program in general and help with the enforcement, and so their duties also do regular functions of the department. Councilmember Cowden: This money pays a partial amount of their salary? Ms. Higuchi Sayegusa: It pays for their full salary. These staff also support other operations of the department. Councilmember Cowden: Okay. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Are there further questions? Thank you very much. Is there anyone in the audience wishing to testify? Is there further discussion? There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: The motion to approve C 2024-132 was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Bulosan was excused). Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. Next item, please. CLAIMS: C 2024-133 Communication (06/04/2024) from the County Clerk, transmitting a claim filed against the County of Kaua`i by MNS, LTD., dba Sueoka Store, for property damage, pursuant to Section 23.06, Charter of the County of Kaua`i. C 2024-134 Communication (06/07/2024) from the County Clerk, transmitting a claim filed against the County of Kaua`i by Ira McRoberts, for vehicle damages, pursuant to Section 23.06, Charter of the County of Kaua`i. C 2024-135 Communication (06/17/2024) from the County Clerk, transmitting a claim filed against the County of Kaua`i by Todd G. Raybuck, for reimbursement of attorney fees, pursuant to Section 23.06, Charter of the County of Kauai. Councilmember Kuali`i moved to refer C 2024-133, C 2024-134, and C 2024-135 to the Office of the County Attorney for disposition and/or report back to the Council, seconded by Councilmember DeCosta. Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony? COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 15 JUNE 26, 2024 There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as follows: The motion to refer C 2024-133, C 2024-134, and C 2024-135 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 Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. Next item, please. COMMITTEE REPORTS: COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE: A report (No. CR-COW 2024-13) submitted by the Committee of the Whole, recommending that the following be Received for the Record: "COW 2024-06 — Communication (05/02/2024) from Councilmember DeCosta, requesting the presence of Beth Amaro, Member Services and Communications Manager, Kaua`i Island Utility Cooperative, to provide a briefing relating to fire mitigation," A report (No. CR-COW 2024-14) submitted by the Committee of the Whole, recommending that the following be Received for the Record: "COW 2024-07 — Communication (06/06/2024) from Councilmember Kagawa, requesting the presence of the Director of Economic Development, the Director of Parks & Recreation, the State of Hawai`i Department of Agriculture, and the Kaua`i Invasive Species Committee to provide a briefing to discuss the effort to curb the spread of invasive species such as Little Fire Ant, Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle, and Rose Ringed Parakeet, also the damage they cause on food production," A report (No. CR-COW 2024-15) submitted by the Committee of the Whole, recommending that the following be Received for the Record: "Bill No. 2912 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE ADDING A NEW ARTICLE TO CHAPTER 6, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO FINANCE," A report (No. CR-COW 2024-16) submitted by the Committee of the Whole, recommending that the following be Approved on second and final reading: "Bill No. 2921 — AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. B-2023-891, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE OPERATING BUDGET OF THE COUNTY OF KAUAI, STATE OF HAWAII, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2023 THROUGH JUNE 30, 2024, FOR THE PURPOSES OF FUNDING EMERGENCY EXPENDITURES CAUSED BY HEAVY RAINS AND SEVERE FLOODING WHICH STARTED ON APRIL 11, 2024, BY REVISING THE AMOUNTS ESTIMATED IN THE GENERAL FUND," COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 16 JUNE 26, 2024 Councilmember Kuali`i moved for approval of the reports, seconded by Councilmember DeCosta. Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony? Councilmember Kagawa. Councilmember Kagawa: I want to say that the Committee Report on the Invasive Species is very interesting, so I hope that perhaps we can have all members here on a future update in the near future. It is such a big problem that we just have to stay on it. If we do not stay on it, we do not ensure that they are going to keep on it as hard as we want them to. Council Chair Rapozo: Mr. Sykos. There being no objections, the rules were suspended. Mr. Sykos: For the record, Lonnie Sykos. Going back to the...let me think about this...early 1990s when I was in the tropical flower business. In the early `90s, the State Department of Agriculture was identifying between three (3) and four (4) new species of invasive insects that were causing significant harm to various parts of the agriculture industry in Hawai`i. For instance, in the fifteen (15) years that I was involved with tropical flowers, I think I watched five (5) new species of things that looked like grasshoppers, they call them "leaf rollers," they are all cousins to each other. It is like every year was a new grasshopper eating something on the farm. Now, the mainstay, back in the day was the red and pink ginger. There was a virus introduced to Hawai`i and basically the ginger industry is being destroyed or has been destroyed. Although the parakeet and these things are very significant threats, but they are just the tip of the iceberg. I do not know how you can make money farming. Do you want to just raise regular field crops? You have more insects to fight than anywhere else in the world. Farmers in Hawai`i have the biggest problem with invasive insects because our climate never kills them off. We do not have a winter to slow them down, so they just come in. The state needs to put about ten times the amount of money they currently do into the Agriculture Department specifically the problem of importation of pests and the state basically shut down the office that used to help us with export. Those are two (2) critical problems that the County can address partly through our legislators is if we are serious about increasing exports, and that is the only thing that is going to affect shipping prices because shipping is not expensive because of federal law, it is expensive because every container that comes to Kaua`i leaves empty. We, the consumers, pay to ship empty containers back to where they came from. That is why shipping is so expensive. Do you want to get rid of the PUC and have a foreign carrier bring in all of our freight? Council Chair Rapozo: Hang on. Mr. Sykos: So... Council Chair Rapozo: Hang on...the testimony on committee reports is testimony pertaining to the report. Mr. Sykos: Understood. Council Chair Rapozo: Not to have the discussion all over again. COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 17 JUNE 26, 2024 Mr. Sykos: Okay, so, I just want to thank them for their focus on this and that this issue is bigger than just the items mentioned. Council Chair Rapozo: Point well-taken. I just want to make sure that on the agenda, if you have a comment on the committee report, it is about the committee report itself and not the topic. BRUCE HART: For the record, Bruce Hart. I just want to mention that in general I agree with everyone. This is a serious problem. It has been going on for a long time, just like what Mr. Sykos said. But I want to mention that I do not believe that insecticides are the solution. One of the methods that is proposed to control the rhinoceros beetle is to inject chemicals into the trees. That is costly and it is dangerous. Chemicals are serious. Even the insecticides that they use by air from drones are serious. I am not for doing what California did under Governor Brown one time and just wholesale spraying malathion across the entire area—houses, people, dogs, and cats on everything. I am not for that. My thought is that we need research to trap them, even the rhinoceros beetle, I do not see any other way to control that, but to lure it somehow into a trap. That is just my idea. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: You folks can consider today a gift, because I allowed you to testify on the topic and not the actual minutes, but going forward, when we get to Committee Reports, you come up and cite the specific report and the issue in the report that you have an issue with. Is there anyone else wishing to testify on the Committee Reports? There being no further public testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: The motion for approval of the reports was then put, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Bulosan was excused). Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. Next item. BILLS FOR SECOND READING: Bill No. 2914, Draft 2 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 7A, ARTICLE 9, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE FOR WORKFORCE HOUSING Councilmember Kuali`i moved for adoption of Bill No. 2914, Draft 2 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 any discussion? Councilmember Kuali`i. Councilmember Kuali`i: I have an amendment, we need a couple minutes to prepare. Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. While we wait for the amendment, can we move to Bill No. 2912? COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 18 JUNE 26, 2024 Bill No. 2912 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE ADDING A NEW ARTICLE TO CHAPTER 6, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO FINANCE Councilmember Kuali`i moved receive Bill No. 2912 for the record, seconded by Councilmember Carvalho. Council Chair Rapozo: The motion is the receive as recommended by the Committee of the Whole. Is there anyone on the audience wishing to testify? If not, is there discussion? There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as follows: The motion to receive Bill No. 2912 for the record was then put, and carried by the following vote: FOR RECEIPT: Carvahlo, Cowden, DeCosta, Kagawa, Kuali`i, Rapozo TOTAL — 6, AGAINST RECEIPT: None TOTAL— 0, EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Bulosan TOTAL— 1, RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — O. Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Six (6) ayes and one (1) excused. Bill No. 2921 — AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. B-2023-891, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE OPERATING BUDGET OF THE COUNTY OF KAUAI, STATE OF HAWAII, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2023 THROUGH JUNE 30, 2024, FOR THE PURPOSES OF FUNDING EMERGENCY EXPENDITURES CAUSED BY HEAVY RAINS AND SEVERE FLOODING WHICH STARTED ON APRIL 11, 2024, BY REVISING THE AMOUNTS ESTIMATED IN THE GENERAL FUND Councilmember Kuali`i moved receive Bill No. 2921 for the record, seconded by Councilmember DeCosta. Council Chair Rapozo: There was a technical issue with the Bill, it is going to be resubmitted, so the Administration has requested that it be received at this time. We will be taken this up when it gets resubmitted. Is there anyone in the audience wishing to testify? Is there further discussion? There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as follows: The motion to receive Bill No. 2921 for the record was then put, and carried by the following vote: FOR RECEIPT: Carvahlo, Cowden, DeCosta, Kagawa, Kuali`i, Rapozo TOTAL— 6, AGAINST RECEIPT: None TOTAL— 0, EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Bulosan TOTAL— 1, RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— O. COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 19 JUNE 26, 2024 Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Six (6) ayes and one (1) excused. Council Chair Rapozo: With that, let us take our caption break. There being no objections, the Council recessed at 9:14 a.m. The meeting reconvened at 9:24 a.m., and proceeded as follows: Council Chair Rapozo: We are at Bill No. 2914, Draft 2. Councilmember Kuali`i. Councilmember Kuali`i: This is our Bill to establish residential workforce housing credits and working with the Housing Agency and Housing Director, we worked on this in Committee for quite a bit. I have one (1) quick amendment dealing with one of the concerns we heard from Hawai`i Island. Their system is a little bit different from ours, but their tax credits are just piling up, if you will, and not being utilized, and so their housing agency has to track and monitor all these credits indefinitely, because there is no end to the life of these credits. This amendment is basically to give an expiration to the life of the credits. Councilmember Kuali`i moved to amend Bill No. 2914, Draft 2 as circulated, and as shown in the Floor Amendment which is attached hereto as Attachment 1, seconded by Councilmember Cowden. Councilmember Kuali`i: This amendment adds item "g" to Section 7A-9.4.1, which states, "Any credits issued under this section shall expire twenty (20) years from the date of issuance." Council Chair Rapozo: Okay, so we are on the amendment. Is there any discussion before I open it up to the public? Councilmember Cowden. Councilmember Cowden: Twenty (20)years seems like a long time. Why that long? I would have cut it in half. Councilmember Kuali`i: The Housing Director can come up and help me respond. Potentially, it could be cut in half. Often as we see how projects occur and develop, it often takes quite a bit of time, but I am totally open to making a lesser period. Council Chair Rapozo: I will suspend the rules. Adam? There being no objections, the rules were suspended. ADAM P. ROVERSI, Housing Director: Aloha, Chair. Adam Roversi, Housing Director for the County. That language that Councilmember Kuali`i read was proposed by the Housing Agency, suggested twenty (20) years thinking back to the Lima Ola project, as an example, which from property acquisition to actual groundbreaking took eleven (11) years. Just the simple process of environmental review, cultural assessment, financing, rezoning, redistricting, etcetera. Even with the County, who was using all best intentions to develop a project, can unfortunately take a lot longer than any of us would like. COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 20 JUNE 26, 2024 Councilmember Cowden: Can I make a comment on Lima Ola? That came up in the General Plan, the 1990s. In my view, it took thirty (30) years. It has been way too long. Thank you for your work, but from inception to turnkey or application, it has been thirty (30) years. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any further questions for Adam on the amendment? You might as well stay up there, unless there is anyone in the audience wishing to testify? Seeing none. Is there discussion? There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: The motion to amend Bill No. 2914, Draft 2 as circulated, and as shown in the Floor Amendment which is attached hereto as Attachment 1 was then put, and carried by the following vote: FOR AMENDMENT: Carvalho, Cowden, Kuali`i, Rapozo TOTAL— 4, AGAINST AMENDMENT: DeCosta, Kagawa TOTAL— 2, EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Bulosan TOTAL— 1, RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— O. Council Chair Rapozo: I will support the amendment, aye. Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: The amendment passes. Council Chair Rapozo: We are back to the main motion. Let me just say, I call this the "JoAnn A. Yukimura strategy"—you vote for the amendment to make it a better bill than it is, but you may not necessarily support the bill. I will just say that I am having a big problem with credits. I was watching the news last night and they are talking about the transient vacation rentals (TVR) debate on taking away TVRs and there were a lot of testimony at the Planning Commission about the financial impacts to the community. Mayor Bissen came out very clear saying, "the need for housing is now, not twenty (20) years, not ten (10) years, it is now." I believe that if a developer is going to come here to develop, that they should build their units or pay an in-lieu fee that would allow the County to put up structures. Hawai`i Island and Maui County both informed me that it has created some issues for them. One that Adam mentioned earlier was the perpetual credits that will be perpetual, and two thousand one hundred (1,200) units or so that should have been built and it was not. That is where I am at on this Bill. Councilmember Cowden: Can I ask you a question about what you are saying? Council Chair Rapozo: Yes. Councilmember Cowden: When Maui made their property tax so high, that it forces these vacation rentals to sell, because that seems like it is predatory taxation, forcing them to sell. Does their tax cross over to the new purchase? Council Chair Rapozo: I do not want to discuss the TVR taxes. The reason I used that example is the mayor's comment was that "we need housing now." Not to debate the merits of the TVR issue, his comment is why I brought it up is COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 21 JUNE 26, 2024 because he said we need housing now, and that is where I am at with this issue. We need the housing now. Councilmember Cowden: I have a question for Mr. Roversi. Council Chair Rapozo: Go ahead. Councilmember Cowden: Can you speak to that?There is a challenge of all these credits and in fact, the in-lieu fee because too me when people pay an in-lieu fee, that does not mean that is going to be built either. Can you speak of both of those opportunities, both the sale of the credit and the in-lieu fee? There being no objections, the rules were suspended. Mr. Roversi: The idea behind this credit system is to do exactly what Chair is suggested, to have...the hope or intention of having credits is exactly that, to get housing units built now by nonprofit or for-profit developers who are incentivized today by the option of receiving credits to build more housing than they otherwise would, today. The backend transfer and use of these credits with other projects is a little bit separate. Right now if a developer is going to build units, they can receive credits that would provide a financial incentive to build more right now than they otherwise would, helping them to finance their project. Five (5) years from now, ABC Corporation who has a housing obligation has an opportunity to purchase some of those credits, but they still have to build at least fifty percent (50%) of their housing obligation and/or pay in-lieu fees to the County, which we utilize to develop housing. Councilmember Cowden: If we look at a project like Kolopua or Koa`e Makana, it seems like those were built long after the requirement was in place. Is that accurate? Kolopua is Princeville, right, it was like decades late. Mr. Roversi: The Kolopua apartments, to my understanding, was long before my time as director, where it was a housing requirement for the expansion of the commercial center where Foodland was located in Princeville. Commercial expansion still has not happened yet, but it is pending. It was a condition of the zoning and subdivision of the neighboring land to allow for the expansion of the commercial center. Princeville has had other projects, the subdivision in Kilauea, for example, which should have been built far before it was based on the requirements. A lot of those old projects like that subdivision predate housing policy, so that project, a lot of the housing requirements imposed on Kukui`ula, for example, and the Marriott in Lihu`e, those were all sort of ad hoc requirements imposed on those projects before the housing policy existed. We cannot look at today's housing policy and those projects as examples of how our current system operates because those were...the impositions of housing requirements on those projects were all in different moments in time and were not guided by our current law. Councilmember Cowden: In our current law, if someone wants to build something, how quickly do they have to build their affordable housing? Mr. Roversi: At the same time or prior to building any market rate housing. An example...this is not the best example, but Coco Palms, for COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 22 JUNE 26, 2024 example, has a workforce housing obligation. The workforce housing units have to be built and occupied before they get a certificate of occupancy for their hotel. They cannot open the hotel until those workforce units are provided. That is how the housing policy works for all new projects moving forward. Councilmember Cowden: Since that is a good point, do they have a place or land located for that? Mr. Roversi: I do not know the details of how Coco Palms intend to satisfy their workforce requirements. I know they are still working through it, but they will not get their certificate of occupancy until... Council Chair Rapozo: Yes, but, Adam... Mr. Roversi: We are getting sidetracked a little bit. Council Chair Rapozo: Let us just say a nonprofit developer, and I will just say Kaua`i Habitat for Humanity because they are the biggest one here, they could in essence on their next project acquire credits. Mr. Roversi: Correct. Council Chair Rapozo: Coco Palms could purchase those credits. Mr. Roversi: Correct. Council Chair Rapozo: And the housing would all be in Habitat's project and no housing in Wailua? Mr. Roversi: The geographic restrictions in the housing policy still apply. Therefore, if Habitat builds a project in Waimea, credits are issued for that Waimea project, those credits are applicable to projects in that geographical area that is described in that housing policy. It is within five (5) miles or the same tax map zone. They cannot use those credits for a project in Princeville or in Wailua, so the geographical restrictions that are in today's housing policy still apply for the utility of these credits. Council Chair Rapozo: That would really restrict the potential purchasers of these credits. Mr. Roversi: Potentially, if you were talking about...if for example, Habitat were to build a project in Waimea and there is no commercial for-profit project in Waimea in the next twenty (20) years, those credits would effectively do nothing for the benefit of Habitat. Councilmember Kuali`i: And they can only sell it at fifty percent (50%). Mr. Roversi: The credits... Councilmember Kuali`i: They can only buy it...for fifty percent (50%) of his requirement. COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 23 JUNE 26, 2024 Mr. Roversi: Correct. They would still have to satisfy either by developing units or paying in-lieu fees to the County for fifty percent (50%) of their requirement, the remaining fifty percent (50%)could be utilized through the purchase of the credits from the prior developer, who had built more affordable housing than they otherwise would have. Council Chair Rapozo: Eighty percent (80%) and below median, they would be able to use all of it, right? Mr. Roversi: The distinction between eighty percent (80%) and below and one hundred twenty percent (120%) and below comes into play with the issuance of credits on day one to the developer. Using Habitat as an example, if their entire project where units at eighty percent (80%) or below, they would get... Council Chair Rapozo: One hundred percent (100%) of the excess. Mr. Roversi: It is credits for all of the year. If another developer was building what we still call affordable or workforce units that were one hundred twenty percent (120%) and below, they would not get one hundred percent (100%) of the credits. Council Chair Rapozo: Right, got it. Mr. Roversi: They would get a lower percentage. The goal of that is to incentivize more lower-income units, which are more expensive to build, require significantly greater subsidy to finance. Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any further questions for Adam? Go ahead. Councilmember Carvalho: Clarification on the geographical area that you mentioned. The geographical area ties into the bigger picture, correct? Mr. Roversi: Yes. The housing policy right now requires any project that has a workforce housing requirement imposed on it to, again, without even talking about credits, the current housing policy, if a developer is building right there in Lihu`e, they have four (4) options. They will have to provide some workforce housing units. They can build for-sale units at certain income levels, they can build for-rent units at certain income levels, they can write a check to the County based on the in-lieu fee that would be required for that project, or with Council's approval, and that is important, they can donate a parcel of land. The Council would have to approve that the land was of equal value to the other options that we receive, so it would be up to the Council to accept or deny the land option. If they were building units for- sale or for-rent, they would have to be built within five (5) miles of the project or...I think there are two (2) options, it is the TMK zone or five (5) miles of the project, unless there is an option that they can request a geographic waiver, but there has to be good reasons. An example of that waiver might be, and I do not know the exact... Council Chair Rapozo: I can give you an example, Kaua`i Lagoons when they did the downzoning and the housing requirement, they had to go beyond the five (5) miles to Waipouli or Wailua the Courtyards. COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 24 JUNE 26, 2024 Mr. Roversi: Right. Council Chair Rapozo: That is the one that I remember. Mr. Roversi: Something that we have had...there has not been a project like this but we thought of a few that...I do not know exactly where the five-mile barrier is, but let us say there is one on the far outskirts of Puhi and we are just over five (5) miles away from the Lihu`e Town Core and they proposed to build housing in Lihu`e, because the General Plan says Lihu`e is where we really need housing and that is where the infrastructure is, and that is where the jobs are, it might be reasonable to grant that waiver to allow the housing in Lihu`e, even though it is technically more than five (5) miles, because there are so many other reasons to have and desire housing in Lihu`e as a matter of policy. That would be a bridge to cross if it was proposed by a developer. Council Chair Rapozo: But that is in place with or without this amendment. Mr. Roversi: Yes. Council Chair Rapozo: And that is just how it is. Mr. Roversi: Yes. Council Chair Rapozo: This Bill does not change... Mr. Roversi: No. I was just trying to make the point that you can build housing... Council Chair Rapozo: Yes, I am glad you brought that up in full transparency, because the reality is in some cases there may be no available lands within that five-mile radius, in certain places of this island that obviously you cannot create land, you have to go outside of the five-mile radius. Councilmember Kuali`i: We worked on this a lot in Committee with several amendments, some of the ones you have been talking about now. We have made this credit system as best as we can and would you say that the way we have it set up, we potentially would not meet the same problems that Hawai`i Island and Maui have experienced? I do not know how much you know about their programs, but our system is pretty different from Hawai`i Island, for sure. Mr. Roversi: As laid out in the draft before you, our system has far more restrictions and controls than on Hawai`i Island. Hawai`i Island were required to issue credits to every project, tax credit projects, projects that had other subsidies. The system on Maui is much more similar, but we even have more restrictions on Maui, but Maui was more restrictive than Hawai`i Island and less liberal and just handing out buckets of credits. I think the housing director on Maui will not tell you that this has solved all of their problems, but I think they will say that it has been helpful on the margins to developing affordable housing. It is not a silver bullet, it is not going to be all rainbows and unicorns because we have affordable housing credits, but it is just one more small tool in our basket of options. We are trying to do experimental things to make a difference when we amended our COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 25 JUNE 26, 2024 housing policy back in 2019 under the prior Council, an example of that is we established some limited exemption areas to try to boost higher-density development in town cores where there was some infrastructure—Lihu`e, K5loa, and Kalaheo. We established defined exemption areas where if a developer built to the maximum density allowed on their lot, they would not have to meet a workforce housing requirement. The idea being thinking about Lihu`e Town Core, if you built twenty (20) units per acre on an R-20 lot, those units, because of their small size and their high density would presumably, in an area where you cannot have a TVR unit, they would presumably be relatively affordable. That was an attempt to sort of free the free market with less regulation in the hope that we would spur some development. We did that knowing that it was an experiment. We put a sunset date on it, it is going to expire in ten (10) years. The Council would have to come back and look at this and say, "If it is working," if, "yes," then let us renew it for another ten (10) years. If it is not working, we will cancel it, we tried something and did our best to get more affordable housing, let us see if it works. I view these credits as a similar experiment. I do not know if it is going to generate a lot of housing. I think it has helped on the margins in Maui. I do not think there is a lot of downside risk to trying it. We can look at it ten (10) years from now and make it go away if it is a failure and we do not like it. That exemption experiment for example, I would like to say that there is five hundred (500) new units because we created that exemption, but I can only point to one (1) success story. The Koloa Village residential project was originally slated for less than thirty (30) units and now they are building more than sixty (60), and they are doing that because of this exemption. Because there are more units and they are a little smaller, they are going to be a little bit more affordable., I think that is a win and proof that in that limited situation that worked. I hope that in the 10- year window that we are trying to experiment on, we see more projects that take advantage of that, providing more housing sooner. Councilmember Kuali`i: It did not help that we had COVID either. Mr. Roversi: No, that delayed things. If I could, the Committee Chair mentioned in the last meeting State Legislation that was pending Governor's signature, HB 2214. I do not know if it has been signed yet, but I know it is not on his veto list. That legislation, assuming it becomes law, and it looks like it will, is going to force us to issue affordable housing credits to State 201H affordable housing projects. We will have to issue credits in some fashion whether we like it or not, we already have to do it in the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) and the State is going to force us to do it to their projects. My sense is that having an established credit system that we can point to when the State comes to us for credits would be helpful and that it sets guidelines. The State Legislation allows us to negotiate a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the State as to how credits will be issued for these State projects. I think that if we have existing County legislation setting out that system, it gives us a leg to stand on and something to point to when the State comes to us demanding that we follow up on this new legislation. Council Chair Rapozo: Go ahead. Councilmember Cowden: How many builders do we have that typically build in excess? We have Habitat and the newly-formed Permanent Affordable Living, do we have many contributors that we think we would be able to utilize this with? COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 26 JUNE 26, 2024 Mr. Roversi: I have met with several builders who talk a good talk, but we have not seen...other than Habitat and Permanent Affordable Living, we have not seen any projects break ground, looking to build more units than otherwise required, but we have had discussions with some builders pledging to do that. I do not want to promise and put their names out there until something is in writing. Councilmember Cowden: It might be that, kind of like what we did here along Rice Street, it may or may not manifest. This is just an effort. Mr. Roversi: I think that is accurate. Councilmember Cowden: Yes. Council Chair Rapozo: Are there further questions for Adam? If not, thank you. Is there any discussion? The meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: Councilmember Kagawa: I am feeling that perhaps the better chance to get the full vote is to wait for Councilmember Bulosan, if we end up with a tie, I guess it automatically goes to the next Council Meeting. I have been against this Bill ever since we looked into the problems with Hawai`i Island. I have not heard of anyone besides Habitat, which only focuses on eighty percent (80%) and below. They do a great job by Habitat, there is no one else that does it like them with the production that comes out, but I think if you are really in touch with reality of Kaua`i, there are people, good hard-working families that are one hundred sixty percent (160%) and below that need housing. We have a serious supply and demand problem. I keep reiterating that repeatedly. You are not going to tackle the problem just focusing on the good things that Habitat does and other people do that focus on aid and building. We are going to be throwing all our eggs and only helping one (1) specific group. We need an abundant supply of market-priced homes that will bring the price down. How do we help that? We need to look at developers or large landowners who put in infrastructure and that way we can have the developers come in and do homes like D.R. Horton did in Hanama`ulu. People complain when they saw the advertisement for eight hundred thousand dollars ($800,000) to nine hundred thousand dollars ($900,000), but who ended up living there now? Local families. Take a drive around that subdivision. We need more of that. When you push affordable, push affordable through Kaua`i Housing Agency, what you have is, you are going to have twenty percent (20%) or so at a cheap rate and the rest will be subsidizing it and so the rest of the market lots will be paying for that cheaper homes. That is perhaps the hard-working families that want to remain on Kaua`i at one hundred sixty percent (160%) and below. It is not an easy task to figure out for Adam, granted you want to do all you can to help everyone, but I think our focus on Kaua`i Housing Agency, I think it needs to change. It needs to be more, "How do we spur on more market homes?" We need numbers. You have nine thousand (9,000) people waiting for affordable homes or workforce housing, and you are doing ten (10) or one hundred (100) at a time, the next year the number grows. The demand is growing more than the supply, way further. For me, these credits only helps and is only being pushed by, again, Habitat, people are doing great work, but sometimes I think when you focus on something that is successful like Habitat and you pass legislation, what you do is hurt everything else. You might let developers that will get away cheap by buying COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 27 JUNE 26, 2024 those credits and helping Habitat, but purchasing those credits. What the developer should have been doing is being...gotten away by getting away cheap for it. I am going to be voting no because I have not heard how this is going to be positive for the people of Kaua`i. It is just, "Let us try to do it," well, do you know what, when the time comes and we really need this legislation to pass, it will only take two (2) months to get it done. We can do it at that time. I have not heard a compelling reason why we need to pass this now. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone else? Councilmember Cowden. Councilmember Cowden: I appreciate what Councilmember Kagawa is saying when there is a cliff, and it creates higher prices and lower prices to subsidize that inclusionary zoning elements. We did, a few years back, move the inclusionary zoning from thirty percent (30%) to twenty percent (20%) to try and soften that. The way I see this is that is the part that creates that different cliff that you are speaking of. This is just trying to maximize that twenty percent (20%), just trying to help...it does not change that there is going to be this break, so I look at it as an "and," not a "nor" that we need to be able to create more opportunities for market rate, middle-class housing. The biggest challenge on that is the soft costs that are affiliated with the waiting time with the Land Use Commission, when we have agricultural properties because a lot of these plateaus in these areas that are really ready and probably appropriate for town expansion, there are more than fifteen (15) acres, so it might sit for five (5) years at the State before it can come back to Planning and have it rezoned. We have a complex problem where it is very difficult to build, I am in agreement with you, but I am going to support this experiment, so I will be voting yes. Basically, to try it, but I do not have a lot of faith, but even that density that we added it really add, it did not really add housing. Councilmember Kuali`i: Not yet. Councilmember Cowden: Not yet. It has not in five (5) years, so anyway, I will be supporting it. Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone else? Councilmember Kagawa. Councilmember Kagawa: I just wanted to say that I appreciate Councilmember Kuali`i. Since 2012, this has been the best positive work I have ever seen from our Housing Committee working with the Housing Agency. The Committee is trying everything, the Housing Agency is trying everything, but I think just from the Administration side, I think a change in focus needs to happen and that is all I am saying. I am not throwing "shade" on our committee and the good work we are doing with Adam. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember DeCosta. Councilmember DeCosta: I was just about to say that. I have only been here for two (2) terms, but from what I have seen with our Housing Director and Councilmember Kuali`i have done great work. I have said this before, I look at this as like when we are parents of a baseball team working the carnival, giving parents two (2) choices: one (1) pay for your child to go on a trip or two (2), you work the COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 28 JUNE 26, 2024 carnival and you get credits and your child can use that to go on the trip. You want the parents to work the carnival.You want everyone to work.You do not give someone "an out," you do not give them a chance to "buy out." We are giving developers a chance to "buy out." What worries me is our island culture of our community subdivisions is changing and when you take that Habitat, eighty percent (80%) area median income (AMI) out of the development, that five-mile is ridiculous. We need to keep them closer. I looked at Kukui`ula and seen the location of Pa'anau Village, it is totally outside of Kukui`ula. They create these high-end homes, high-end communities that the middle-class people that we all advocate for, will not buy those homes. Those houses, without the eighty percent (80%) AMI in that subdivision becomes an attractive Kukui`ula. Now, those homes will sell for one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) instead of the eight hundred thousand dollars ($800,000), like we have here in Hanama`ulu. Those people who live there have a different culture that the people we are trying to build communities for. I think we are going in the wrong direction. We are giving developers a chance to buy out. We have to hold them accountable. I am telling you folks that this is not the plan. There are better ways to attack this. We talked about the in-lieu fees that cannot even build a garage. There are other ways of doing this. This is not the way to do it. I support housing, but I am not going to support this. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kuali`i. Councilmember Kuali`i: I think Director Roversi said it best when he said this is just one (1) more small tool in our basket of tools. We talked about it for a long time—all hands on deck, and not just for affordable housing, but just housing, including workforce housing and the middle gap housing is our top priority and we have try to do whatever we can. I do not even know necessarily who all will come forward, he said he has talked to some of the developers he talked to, but we know for sure Habitat for Humanity. We know for sure PAL Kauai. There will be others. This is another tool of supporting housing being built not by the County. The County gets involved and the eighty percent (80%) and lower with nonprofits like Ahe Group and others to do that type of housing, but we need housing so critically of all types, so why would we not try to put as many tools in our basket to do that? We worked on this. We made amendments to make this Bill the best bill it can be, and I was willing to continue deferring it if anyone had other particular concerns that could be addressed by an additional amendment. We should not try because Hawai`i Island or Maui County who are not having the most success. By all accounts, I guess it is not working for Hawai`i Island because the credits are not moving, it has been sitting for so long, but it is working in Maui County. It is not the solution to everything, but it is another tool that they are using that is helping. I absolutely feel we should try, because we know housing is the number one issue for us. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Carvalho. Councilmember Carvalho: Having been involved in numerous housing projects, every opportunity we have, we must jump on it. There are resources available, there are opportunities right now at the table and working with our Housing Agency, and there are always different time limits and opportunities that will come, but we must jump on it. To me, this is one step forward. Other opportunities will come, and we will just have to be ready. We have to work closely with the Administration to ensure that they have the resources. We have to reach out for the Federal, State, and County levels, but for this particular time and what is COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 29 JUNE 26, 2024 being presented is very important that we jump on it and take it to the next level. With this particular program and project, it will tie into the bigger picture, and then with the workforce housing, senior housing, etcetera...I am going to support this and let us move on it. It is the right direction to take right now as we continue to move forward for housing. Council Chair Rapozo: My position has not changed from the Committee Meeting when I shared I would much prefer we right-size the in-lieu fee, bring that up to a point where we can actually do something with it, and if a developer wants to pay an in-lieu fee, it should be an amount that the County could leverage to get a unit up. That is just my position. We maintain control, there are no credits floating around, you either build or you pay. If you pay, the County retains the funds, the County partners with Habitat or PAL and we dictate how those funds will be used, rather than having credits sit for twenty (20) years. To me that just baffles me. The analogy of your sports team, Councilmember DeCosta, is spot on. In Pop Warner, you have a choice of either working at all the fundraisers or you can write a check. If you write a check, you are exempt from fundraising. When you see the malasada booth at the fair, the people who cannot afford to write the check are out there working and then the ones who have the resources are not. That is not good. Likewise, here, the developer who has the money will buy credits and they will never have to build a unit that is required. What is the net gain to the County? If you use Habitat as an example, if they build one hundred (100) units, they have a requirement for twenty (20) affordable units, but they build all affordable, they are always going to build affordable. In essence, we lost eighty (80) units. For a 100-unit project, they are required to build twenty percent (20%) affordable, so twenty (20) units. Those units will not be built, in addition to what they were already going to build. Yes, they are going to get funds, yes, they are going to be able to expand their operation with the funds they get from the sale of the credits, but they could have the same result if the County partnered with them with the funds that was generated through the in-lieu fee, but the County controls that process and not the developers. We are dealing with smart developers nowadays and they are finding loopholes. I read Section 7A-2.5 and I find it hard to believe that we would be able to deny waivers to someone that basically can come in and give a valid reason why they cannot build within five (5) miles of the project. That language in that statute is very clear regarding the areas that the jobs are at. In essence, you can pretty much say Lihu`e or Kapa`a, regardless of where that nonprofit project was. If it is on the Westside, I would bet that they would get a waiver to build somewhere else. I do not like giving up control. What Hawaii Island experienced, and I think it was one thousand two hundred (1,200) units or credits that are floating. That is one thousand two hundred (1,200) units that should have been built. That is one thousand two hundred (1,200) families that should have been in homes, but because of credits...and that is why I supported the twenty-year expiration. I would like to see it less, but that makes the Bill a better bill, but again, I do not want to relinquish the control of this County and the Housing Agency to developers. That is just my position. I will not be supporting this. Councilmember DeCosta: I wanted to chime in. You sparked the lightbulb in my head. You spoke about this five-mile radius—that worries me. Our island is small. I am speaking for both sides of our island. I am speaking on behalf of North Shore and I am speaking on behalf of our Hanapepe, `Ele`ele, Kalaheo. The demographics within that five (5) miles, you go `E1e`ele, Hanapepe, and Kalaheo, get "mean" cultural demographics. If you visit Anahola, Kilauea, Princeville, "mean" COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 30 JUNE 26, 2024 cultural demographics. We are giving this developer a chance to put those homes or maybe outside of the area where they want to put their high-end homes, we need communities that live cohesively. It is proven across the United States that when you mix and mingle the different AMIs, the kids grow up socially better. The communities are socially stronger. We cannot be a diversified island. I am worried with a North Shore development going on, and they can do those credits, buy themselves out, and they can put that affordable housing in a different district, and they are going to create high-end priced homes. Thank you for bringing that up. Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone else? Councilmember Kuali`i. Councilmember Kuali`i: I would just say that we can count on organizations like Habitat for Humanity to deliver affordable housing. If this system brings more resources to them, then it means they bring more housing to us. The County has to trust in others, in nonprofits, in developers and incentivize them helping us solve the problem, because we cannot do it ourselves. We have been doing our best and we have been doing good, but you need five thousand (5,000) housing units and we can build one hundred (100) a year or two hundred (200) a year, we will never get there. The whole idea of the overall housing policy is to encourage more private development, more nonprofit development. This credit system is infusing investment into that outside of the County's moneys. Why not trust the nonprofit developer who is an expert at building affordable and workforce housing to do that in place of the developer who when they are trying to pencil out their project, because of this requirement, ends up not building any housing. They might not just do it at all. Or if they do develop, they are going to find a nice property on the North Shore and build mansions, sell less of them, to outsiders, and this is just not helping us. It is not our solution. I feel like we just must try. All hands on deck, every tool in our basket. We have been saying it for many years. We made this Bill the best that it can with all the amendments we worked on for the last couple of months now and I really hope people can support it. Council Chair Rapozo: I know I asked early on before we did the amendment if there were people wishing to testify, but since the amendment, is there anyone in the audience wishing to testify? There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony. Mr. Sykos: For the record, Lonnie Sykos. There is great value in all of the positions presented today. I lived on Maui for twenty-five (25) years. At the end of that time was also the end of the second Lingle Administration. It took Linda five (5) years to get the Council to fund an audit of housing and what she pointed out to the public was that under their policies at the time, they had built tens of thousands of investor units and with the exception of three (3) of the developers, they had built none of the affordable housing all because of how the rules were. The rules have changed, you cannot get occupancy permits for the high-end stuff until you have occupancy in the low-end housing. There have been all these problems through the decades about the systems used by the counties. I agree with Council Chair that we do not want credits laying around for twenty (20)years unused, but on the other hand if the credits will spur building housing now, that is the flipside of it, but what the Council never discusses in housing is that fact that the Council, the County government can do nothing about the market price of real estate, cement, wood, roof material, or even the labor. Given that those are costs out of our control COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 31 JUNE 26, 2024 just like real estate price is out of our control, the thing that is in our control and the deficiency is not the expense of the property, it is the income of the people that we are trying to provide housing for. We read in the newspaper constantly, "record hotel room rates, record that..."—we are talking record profits for the corporations that pay poverty-level wages. I encourage the Council to focus perhaps in the backroom because this could have political repercussions. The visitor industry is the one responsible for the fact that they get record profits, record room rates, and record poverty amongst the labor force, and you are asking everyone else to make up for poverty level wages in our primary industry. Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there anyone else? There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: Council Chair Rapozo: Mr. Sykos brought up a very good point about the market price and how it has increased significantly over the last ten (10) to twenty (20) years and yet our in-lieu fee has not. If it is costing us more money to build a unit, then it should cost more money in place of building the unit in our in-lieu fee. That just makes sense, right? Either way, whether you buy a credit or you pay the in-lieu fee, you are getting a bargain because you are not having to build a physical structure, the physical unit. We really need to look at the in-lieu fee and do an analysis and figure out what that value is and what is the fair or cost of that in-lieu fee, and I plan to be doing that as well. Councilmember Cowden. Councilmember Cowden: Inflation is the gravity that we are arguing against. The inflationary pressure is just so much stronger than what we can put on wages. When they say we do not have the political will to fix the problem, well the problem is national and global with how our economic system is being held. I one hundred percent (100%) am in agreement, and you have asked on the floor a handful of times about that in-lieu fee is separate from this credit, so I would say to do both and if someone is sitting on twenty (20) housing credits, that means someone built twenty (20) affordable housing units that no one else bought. It is not like those units are not out there and have been bought unless they are bought, and that thing is built. If they are floating...at least that is my understanding of it. My big worry is the stability of these developments that are just one hundred percent (100%) affordable when they are in such a swift economic current. How will they be able stay that if they are not able to sell their credits, that is not going to be in the end hurting anyone because those housing units have already been built. I just see this as being said by Councilmember Kuali`i, this is just one more tool. Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone else? Councilmember Kuali`i: I am more than happy to work with you and work in our Committee with the Housing Director and the Administration on the in-lieu fee bill—to relook at it. Are there any further comments? The motion for adoption of Bill No. 2914, Draft 2, as amended to Bill No. 2914, Draft 3 on second and final reading, and that it be transmitted to the Mayor for his approval was then put, and failed by the following vote: COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 32 JUNE 26, 2024 FOR ADOPTION: Carvalho, Cowden, Kuali`i TOTAL — 3, AGAINST ADOPTION: DeCosta, Kagawa, Rapozo TOTAL — 3, EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: Bulosan TOTAL — 1, RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— O. Council Chair Rapozo: This matter will be deferred to the next Council Meeting. It will be the first item, correct? Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Yes, Special Order of the Day. Council Chair Rapozo: With that, we will take a recess and reconvene in Executive Session. Councilmember Kagawa: Do we need to read into it? Council Chair Rapozo: Oh, yes. (Councilmember DeCosta was noted as not present.) EXECUTIVE SESSION: ES-1130 Pursuant to Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) Sections 92-4 and 92-5(a)(4), and Kaua`i County Charter Section 3.07(E), the Office of the County Attorney requests an Executive Session to provide a briefing on the retention of Special Counsel to represent the County of Kaua`i in enforcement of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance as it relates to transient accommodations. The briefing and consultation involves consideration of the powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and/or liabilities of the Council and the County as they relate to this agenda item. Councilmember Kagawa moved to convene in Executive Session for ES-1130, seconded by Councilmember Kuali`i. Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone in the audience wishing to testify? There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as follows: Councilmember Kagawa: In a nutshell, can the County Attorney tell the public what this item relates to? Council Chair Rapozo: I will suspend the rules. Councilmember Kagawa: Especially, because of the Maui thing, a lot of hoopla about transient accommodation. Whatever you can share with the public. There being no objections, the rules were suspended. COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 33 JUNE 26, 2024 MATTHEW M. BRAKCEN, County Attorney: Matt Bracken, County Attorney. In 2022, the County Council amended the code in relation to vacation rental renewal fees. Someone who has a vacation rental comes in for a renewal, they pay a fee. When you all amended that code, you allowed that fee to be used for attorneys fees, in regards to litigation, and so we always have some sort of litigation with our transient vacation rental owner operators. We have about fifteen (15) active cases currently. With the amendment we can actually hire outside counsel to handle those cases, so that request would be for handle outside counsel to handle some of these cases. Not the current cases, my plan is to continue to use our attorney for current cases, but for future cases. Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Cowden. Councilmember Cowden: You are just saying we have that money special for this, it is not like we are anticipating a big backlash for State and County policy? Mr. Bracken: No. The contract would have to be specific to our current operation, the program that we currently have, so, no, it is not anticipated with anything new. Council Chair Rapozo: Is this briefing about specific cases? Mr. Bracken: It is not. We do not actually have any cases that I plan on assigning this to. We do have fifteen (15) open active cases that are being handled by attorneys, but I do not expect to assign any of those cases to this new contract. It would be for future cases. Council Chair Rapozo: Do we need to go into Executive Session? Mr. Bracken: We really do not. Council Chair Rapozo: If it is not going to be of any matter of confidentiality if there is no cases, then I do not see the need to go into Executive Session. Mr. Bracken: No. There really is not much more to say beyond what I already said. The funds are available. The upside to it is the program becomes self-sufficient, so currently we are subsidizing it by attorneys' time, I have fifteen (15) cases that my office is handling by opening this contract, then all of the disputes in regards to the current program will be handled by all the fees collected by that program. Council Chair Rapozo: Go ahead. COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 34 JUNE 26, 2024 Councilmember Cowden: So, when the procurement office determines who those attorneys are or do we already know who it is going to? Mr. Bracken: No, we will have to go through the normal procurement process. Every year we solicit for attorneys, for law firms that want to do business with the County, so if you all approve the use of the funds, then we set up a committee and then the committee selects attorneys based on the resumes submitted. Council Chair Rapozo: They have a professional services list that includes a whole array of professional services that apply, so it is not like procurement where you go out for three (3) bids. These folks have already been vetted, they sit on this list, and then you make your phone calls, as long as they are on that certified vendor list, then you can pick based on that without going through the normal procurement process, correct? Mr. Bracken: Yes. It is professional service, so we will get to pull from that list. Council Chair Rapozo: Correct. Mr. Bracken: And then the selection committee, which I cannot sit on as a department head, but the selection committee is usually made up of attorneys in my office and they go through and review the resumes and make selections. Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Mr. Bracken: And negotiate the contract afterwards. Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any further questions? If not, thank you. Is there anyone in the audience wishing to testify? There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: Councilmember Kagawa withdrew the motion to convene in Executive Session for ES-1130. Councilmember Kuali`i withdrew the second. Councilmember Kagawa moved to receive ES-1130 for the record in open session, seconded by Councilmember Kuali`i, and carried by vote of 6:0:1 (Pursuant to Rule No. 5(b) of the Rules of the Council of the County of Kauai, Councilmember DeCosta was noted as silent (not present), but shall be recorded as an affirmative for the motion; Councilmember Bulosan was excused). Council Chair Rapozo: Motion carried. COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA 35 JUNE 26, 2024 C 2024-119 Communication (05/31/2024) from the County Attorney, requesting authorization to expend funds up to $150,000.00 to retain Special Counsel to represent the County of Kaua`i in enforcement of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance as it relates to transient accommodations. Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve C 2024-119, seconded by Councilmember Cowden. 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 approve C 2024-119 was then put, and carried by vote of 6:0:1 (Pursuant to Rule No. 5(b) of the Rules of the Council of the County of Kauai, Councilmember DeCosta was noted as silent (not present), but shall be recorded as an affirmative for the motion; Councilmember Bulosan was excused). Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you very much. With that, this meeting is adjourned. ADJOURNMENT. There being no further business, the Council Meeting adjourned at 10:21 a.m. Res.ectfully submitted, Me) JADE FO NTAIN-TANIGAWA County k :dmc Attachment 1 (June 26, 2024) FLOOR AMENDMENT Bill No. 2914, Draft 2, A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 7A, ARTICLE 9, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE FOR WORKFORCE HOUSING Introduced by: KIPUKAI KUALII, Councilmember Amend Bill No. 2914, Draft 1, SECTION 2, in part, by amending Chapter 7A, Section 7A-9.4.1(a), to read as follows: "Sec. 7A-9.4.1 Residential Workforce Housing Credits. (a) The Housing Agency may issue credits, upon request by a developer, provided that: (1) The developer is obliged, by charter, bylaws, or contractual agreement, to use all proceeds generated from the sale of credits to construct or rehabilitate affordable or workforce housing. (2) Each workforce unit constructed in the subject development shall be encumbered by a recorded deed restriction that meets the requirements of this Chapter. (3) Each residential workforce unit shall be sold or rented to an income qualified individual. (4) Credits may only be issued for each residential workforce housing unit sold or rented to an income eligible individual in the appropriate income group, that is in excess of the residential workforce housing otherwise required in this Chapter. (5) For units sold or rented to income eligible individuals earning one hundred twenty percent(120%)or less of Kaua`i Median Area Income, only fifty percent (50%) of the excess workforce units sold or rented shall be eligible for credits. (6) For projects sold or rented to income eligible individuals earning eighty percent (80%) or less of Kaua`i Median Area Income, all of the excess workforce units sold or rented shall be eligible for credits. (b) A credit may satisfy the requirement for any type of unit constructed for any income group in accordance with the requirements of Article 2. (c) The number of credits issued shall be set forth in a workforce housing agreement. (d) Credits may be transferred to other developers to satisfy up to fifty percent (50%)of the workforce housing requirements imposed on them,provided that the developer receiving the credits may only utilize the credits subject to the geographic requirements set out in Section 7A-2.5. (e) The original recipient or holder of housing credits shall be required to report the transfer of credits to any other developer or project. (f) If the project applying for the excess credits was developed with a direct subsidy from the federal, state, or county governments, the Director shall either: (1) discount the excess credits earned by the value of the subsidy, or (2) require that the Agency or other public entity subsidizing the project share equitably in the proceeds from the transfer of the excess credits. (g) Any credits issued under this section shall expire twenty(20)years from the date of issuance." (Material to be deleted is bracketed. New material to be added is underscored. Amendment material is highlighted.) V:\AMENDMENTS\2024\Bill No. 2914 Draft 2 (KK)AAO_ss.doc 2 of 2