HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/14/2024 Council minutes COUNCIL MEETING
AUGUST 14, 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, Kaua`i, on Wednesday,August 14, 2024, at 8:52 a.m., after which the following
Members answered the call of the roll:
Honorable Addison Bulosan
Honorable Bernard P. Carvalho, Jr.
Honorable Felicia Cowden (present at 8:58 a.m.)
Honorable Bill DeCosta
Honorable Ross Kagawa
Honorable KipuKai Kuali`i
Honorable Mel Rapozo
(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 DeCosta.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
Seeing none.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
The motion for approval of the agenda, as circulated, was then put, and carried
by a vote of 6:0:1 (Councilmember Cowden was excused).
Council Chair Rapozo: The motion carries. Next item, please.
SPECIAL ORDER OF THE DAY:
Bill No. 2914, Draft 3 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING
CHAPTER 7A, ARTICLE 9, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED,
RELATING TO GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE FOR WORKFORCE HOUSING
Council Chair Rapozo: Before we take the motion, I will allow
Councilmember Kuali`i a few minutes to share your comments.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Chair, I was going to ask for a motion to
receive for the record today. At our last meeting, I asked for a deferral and the Council
was kind enough to grant that. My request for the deferral was to get an ethics
COUNCIL MEETING 2 AUGUST 14, 2024
opinion. I have been unable to get that as of yet. The Board of Ethics is not meeting
in August, they will meet in September. It could potentially take two (2) months for
that to happen, so I do not think it is a good thing for me to ask for another deferral
today and for two (2) months, which is such a long time. My motion will be to receive
for the record and potentially, in the new term, the Bill could be reworked and come
back again. It depends on working with the Administration.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is that your motion?
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to receive Bill No. 2914, Draft 3 for the record,
seconded by Councilmember Bulosan.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion before we open up the
floor? Are there any registered speakers?
JADE K. FOUNTAIN-TANIGAWA, County Clerk: Chair, we have one (1)
registered speaker: Kanani Kagawa.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
Council Chair Rapozo: Ms. Kagawa.
KANANI KAGAWA: Hello, good morning. Just for clarification,
with the motion to receive, where does it go next?
Council Chair Rapozo: It dies. In order for it to be revived, it would
need to be reintroduced, go to first reading, a public hearing, and all of that again.
Ms. Kagawa: Okay. Thank you. Kanani Kagawa, for the
record. As drafted, I am in opposition of Bill No. 2914, Draft 3 for various reasons.
Primarily and particularly, it had to do with the unresolved questions about housing
credits—what they are worth, how many the County has, the inventory of credit.
Before we pass bills that will issue out millions of dollars to developers, we should
know what our inventory is. That was my primary reason. I had many more, but since
it looks like the Bill is going in a favorable direction for me, I have nothing further.
Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Are there any other registered
speakers? Is there anyone else in the audience wishing to speak? Ms. Hammerquist.
BRIDGET HAMMERQUIST: Good morning. Thank you, Councilmembers.
My name is Bridget Hammerquist. I am from Koloa, and I am glad the Bill is being
received and will need to go back to the drawing board. One of the thoughts I would
like to share is that as the Bill is written, it potentially creates a "red line" type
violation of community development. Its set up seems to encourage builders to find
areas of the island less desirable, put up housing for the people who fit into the eighty
percent (80%) to one hundred twenty percent (120%) median income bracket and then
obtain credits allowing them to build luxury homes in the more attractive areas of
the island while obviating the need to build workforce housing because of their
credits. This is serving the economically deprived and the very wealthy, but once
COUNCIL MEETING 3 AUGUST 14, 2024
again, the workforce is left out. I really feel strongly that while politicians talk about
workforce housing, it is not being built on this island, and it could be and it should
be, just as the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands' (DHHL) homes should be a
priority. Hawaiians should get off the list and their homes should be built first. They
should not be used, either, to give developers credits. Thank you for listening and I
appreciate your time. I really do. I know what you are doing is hard, but the long-term
consequence really needs to be studied. 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: Is there any further discussion? I passed out
the June...this is really for the Housing Agency. The Bill was sent across from the
Administration, so really it is a Bill that was requested. This article came out on
July 29, 2024, so it is very recent, and it was from the Big Island's newspaper.
(Councilmember Cowden was noted as present.)
Council Chair Rapozo: I know one of the thoughts and discussions
that we had was this was an attempt to try to do something that could help affordable
housing on Kaua`i. One of the nice things about living in Hawai`i is we have four (4)
counties here that pretty much struggle with the same issues and others have tried
this method. I just want to read some quotes out of the article that I really want the
Housing Agency to look at and explore to see if it applies to Kaua`i. I believe it does.
This report was done by David Doezema, who is with the advisory firm Keyser
Marston Associates. He presented this report to the Hawaii Island County Council.
It says, "In particular, Doezema focused on the county's affordable housing credit
system, which was introduced in 2005," so they have had a long run with this. "Under
the credit system, developers who build more than the minimum number of affordable
housing units in a development can earn affordable housing credits that can be sold
to other developers, who can use those purchased credits to satisfy their own
affordable housing requirements," which is basically what our Bill was trying to do.
He had several recommendations, but, "Among [Doezema's] recommendations for
improving the county's affordable housing policy was a simple one: end the credit
system entirely. 'We do not see the credits as being an effective tool for encouraging
affordable housing right now,' [Doezema] said, `noting that while the system could
work on paper, in reality the abundance of credits in circulation reduces the incentive
for developers to build affordable housing, and that they function as a de facto
effective at generating housing,' Doezema said. In a feasibility analysis of different
housing types in different Big Island districts, the report found that it simply is not
financially viable to build housing in some districts with the incentive being offered."
I would ask the Housing Agency as well as other Members of the Council to look at
the Big Island and make sure we understand what this will do or will not do if, in
fact, this Bill comes back to the Council. Is there any further discussion?
Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: This was a difficult issue for me, because I
deeply appreciate some of the providers that the County has, like Permanent
COUNCIL MEETING 4 AUGUST 14, 2024
Affordable Living and Habitat for Humanity. They do amazing things and I want to
do everything I can to support them. I have looked at some of the stuff with the Big
Island, and we have heard how this would be a little different. For me, when we pass
something like this ahead of changing that in-lieu fee, it is incredibly uncomfortable,
because the in-lieu fee is just so profoundly low, I do not know why any developer
would not do an in-lieu fee, because even in fairness to the developers, it is
unmanageably unaffordable to build affordable housing. They cannot even seemingly
find the properties to put them on. I think that this would be choice "A"...is to buy
these things out for the in-lieu fee, so it is not easy for me to vote against an
opportunity to help Habitat for Humanity, which does amazing things, but I feel one
of the most critical things we have going on right now is the need for housing, so the
cost of doing business is providing for employees. We need to have the employees
here, so I am very uncomfortable with this. Thank you for letting me go greet our
silver medalist. Yay. It is a big deal across the street. I hope that this is something
we can defer for a while and fix other elements.
Councilmember Kuali`i: The motion is to receive for the record.
Councilmember Cowden: Is the motion to receive for the record? Okay.
Thank you. I am sorry.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Chair, I have one last comment.
Council Chair Rapozo: Go ahead.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I just wanted to say that I think this is an
important Bill, we will work further with the Housing Agency, and as we have heard
through several meetings now, we will also work on the in-lieu fees. The report from
the Big Island has just come out. We will see a full analysis of that. The differences
between our set up of what we are proposing and what they had and the problems
they came up with that we would not necessarily come up with...all of that. That is
for the future. I will just say that I appreciate all the work that has been done and
hopefully, we can do further work to make this a good Bill that people can support in
the future. One thing I did want to correct is one of the testifiers talked about the
"red lining" concern about how a builder might build affordable housing in a poor
neighborhood, get the credits, and apply them in another neighborhood, so the
disparity between the neighborhoods...the credits...there is language in there that
has a geographic requirement, so where the credit is earned is where the credit will
have to be used. That is all, Chair. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: I will be quick. I am not going to ponder
anymore on this. I was not a supporter of this. I supported what Ms. Bridget
Hammerquist stated, which is that middle-class housing is where we should be
focusing most of our attention. I will tell you folks why. There are middle-class people
in a lot of those habitat housing that has been built. They quit their job, they do not
get married, or they take a leave of absence to qualify for a lower income, so they can
get into those houses. It does not take a rocket scientist. It is simple, folks. We have
a new tax bracket, we will earn revenue through the County, we will purchase land,
COUNCIL MEETING 5 AUGUST 14, 2024
the County is going to be in charge of the development, and we need to have water in
the areas of our development. Right now, no matter what project the County has
moving forward, from `Ele`ele and Waimea to Kilauea, we do not have water to build
out any more homes, except for the ones that are slated on the County's plan, so let
us get water going and let us build the homes for those hotel workers, teachers, police
officers, the County workers, the State workers, and the person bartending at the
restaurant. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone else? I will close by saying
there are multiple ways to get to the same objective and I think the credit system, as
the intent of this Bill was, can be accomplished simply by adjusting the in-lieu fee,
getting a more realistic in-lieu fee, and then the County would direct those funds that
they receive from the in-lieu fees to the nonprofit organizations that are providing
the services, then the County maintains one hundred percent (100%) control of where
those funds go. I think that is a better alternative, as opposed to just...right now, on
the Big Island, the value of their credits is upwards of sixty million
dollars ($60,000,000) of unused credits, and the County is actually contemplating
purchasing those credits to basically start all over, so they can get developers to build
affordable housing. That is my fear. If we just put a more realistic in-lieu fee in there,
collect the revenues from the developers, and then the County directs the housing
where it needs to go is, I think, a much better way to get to where we need to be.
The motion to receive Bill No. 2914, Draft 3 for the record was then put, and
carried by the following vote:
FOR RECEIPT: Bulosan, Carvalho, Cowden, DeCosta,
Kagawa, Kualici, Rapozo TOTAL— 7,
AGAINST RECEIPT: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL — O.
Council Chair Rapozo: The motion carries. Next item, please.
CONSENT CALENDAR:
C 2024-158 Communication (07/18/2024) from the Director of Finance,
transmitting for Council information, the following reports:
a. County of Kaua`i Bond Summary of General Long-Term Debt:
Rollforward for Fiscal Year 2024;
b. County of Kaua`i Bond Supplemental Summary of General Long-Term
Debt Amount Outstanding as of June 30, 2024; and
c. Excluded County of Kaua`i Bond Supplemental Summary of
Long-Term Debt Amount Outstanding as of June 30, 2024: CFD No.
2008-1 (Kukui`ula Development Project) Special Tax Bonds, Series
2019, and Series 2022.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: An updated schedule was circulated (See
Attachment). There was a payment made to the CFD bonds.
COUNCIL MEETING 6 AUGUST 14, 2024
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to receive the updated schedule for C 2024-158
for the record, which is attached hereto and incorporated herein as
Attachment, seconded by Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
Seeing none.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
The motion to receive the updated schedule for C 2024-158 for the record, which
is attached hereto and incorporated herein as Attachment, was then put, and
unanimously carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: The motion carries. Clerk, could you read the
next item?
COMMUNICATIONS:
C 2024-159 Communication (07/22/2024) from the County Attorney,
requesting Council approval to dispose of various records, pursuant to Hawaii
Revised Statutes (HRS) Section 46-43 and Resolution No. 2021-48 (2021), which have
been kept for over seven (7) years and are no longer of use or value, and have been
kept for over two (2) years and the original verified to be on file with the Judiciary of
the State of Hawai`i and the Courts of the United States.
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve C 2024-159, 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 to approve C 2024-159 was then put, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: The motion carries. Next item, please.
C 2024-160 Communication (08/01/2024) from the Director of Economic
Development, requesting Council approval to apply for, receive, and expend United
States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration Charging and
Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program (CFI Program) funds, in the
amount of$400,000.00, and to accept matching funds from the Hawai`i State Energy
Office and the Ulupono Initiative, to be used for the installation of up to eleven (11)
Level 2 public charging stations at the Lihu`e Civic Center.
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to approve C 2024-160, seconded by
Councilmember DeCosta.
COUNCIL MEETING 7 AUGUST 14, 2024
Council Chair Rapozo: I was just looking. There is no one here from
the Administration. I did have some questions as well.
Councilmember Cowden: She is just right outside.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is she?
Councilmember Cowden: Would it be Ms. Michelle Lizama or would it
be the Office of Economic Development (OED)?
Council Chair Rapozo: OED. The Communication came over from
Ms. Nalani Kaauwai Brun.
Councilmember Cowden: Alright. I think everyone is over at the event.
It is a big event across the street. I have a comment.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Is anyone here? I would ask that we
send this over to the Committee, because I have some questions. I want to know what
the status is of the current contracts, how these things are being maintained...I have
a lot...I know it is four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000) of grant money, but I
want to know what the County's plan is, unless someone knows and can help me with
this.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Can we hold this until the end of the meeting?
Council Chair Rapozo: Go ahead, Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I have looked at it somewhat.
Council Chair Rapozo: Let us move this. Go ahead.
Councilmember Cowden: Can I state my concerns, but we will move it?
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Cowden: This is five hundred fifty thousand
dollars ($550,000), so I tried to look at that. It is half ('A) of one million
dollars ($1,000,000), granted that it is grant funds, but it is still money that comes
from other things for eleven (11) charging stations, so it is a little short distance, so
any time I see these things, I get really nervous because of...for example, the cost per
charging station, I feel if we could just buy cars or something...do you know what I
mean, with how much it costs? What I am really concerned about is how long these
charging stations last. While I appreciate electric vehicles (EVs), I do not appreciate
their environmental impact, and I did also ask if there is any sort of way for collecting
when people charge on it. Obviously, the County is going to charge its own cars, but
I do not...I watch charging stations. People go in and charge it, and they leave, so the
County basically gives people free transportation and the County invests
tremendously in this. My instinct is we are going to have to move to hydrogen cars or
some other thing in some other way. I appreciate all the money coming forward from
the Ulupono Initiative (Ulupono). Great. Hello. She is here from OED.
COUNCIL MEETING 8 AUGUST 14, 2024
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay, perfect.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
CHRISTINA KASER, Economic Development Specialist IV: Hello.
Council Chair Rapozo: Would you like some time to catch your
breath?
Ms. Kaser: It is okay. It is good for my half marathon
training. Christina Kaser, Energy Coordinator, for the record.
Council Chair Rapozo: Could you give us an overview, then I will
open it up for some questions?
Ms. Kaser: Sure. An overview of the grant?
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes. The grant is for four hundred thousand
dollars ($400,000), but there is also a County match, but the grant on the agenda is
for four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000), and it is for up to eleven (11) charging
stations.
Ms. Kaser: Yes. Eleven (11) Level 2 charging stations.
Council Chair Rapozo: I just want to understand. Are you replacing
existing ones, or adding more?
Ms. Kaser: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay.
Ms. Kaser: It will be eleven (11) new Level 2 chargers.
They will be adjacent to the Kaua`i Museum, and this will allow us to transition some
of the current public chargers next to the fleet chargers to be fleet chargers, and then
we can still have a lot of public Level 2 chargers.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: The County does not charge the public to
charge their batteries. Is that correct?
Ms. Kaser: Yes, not currently.
Councilmember Cowden: Does the County have any intention to do
that?
Ms. Kaser: We do. We have a draft charging revenue
ordinance. It is with the Administration right now, it will be reviewed by the
attorneys, then come over to your team.
COUNCIL MEETING 9 AUGUST 14, 2024
Councilmember Cowden: I just ran over, too, so I get it. Is the majority
of the five hundred fifty thousand dollars ($550,000)...acknowledging Ulupono and
the County match...is the majority of that trenching to put the electric wires in, or is
it for the purchase of the chargers?
Ms. Kaser: The majority would go to construction costs.
Councilmember Cowden: How often do they fail and what do they cost?
Ms. Kaser: The cost of the unit varies from the ability of
the charger and how many plugs it has, but they can go from about seven hundred
dollars ($700) per unit to five thousand dollars ($5,000) per unit. It just depends on
what charger is chosen for the project.
Councilmember Cowden: It is rather cheap. It used to be thirty
thousand dollars ($30,000) for a charger.
Ms. Kaser: The Level 2 chargers are affordable. It is
when you get to the faster chargers that they start to be a minimum of thirty-five
thousand dollars ($35,000) or forty thousand dollars ($40,000).
Councilmember Cowden: If they burn out, the County just spends
another five thousand dollars ($5,000) to put a new charger in. It is not like the
County is putting forty thousand dollars ($40,000) into...
Ms. Kaser: Internally, we have been talking about how
we want to maintain these things moving forward. You can either maintain them
in-house, go with an outside maintenance contract, or you can just replace them. At
least for this level, we have found it is probably cheaper to just swap out some of these
units. When we start to get to the more expensive units, we would want to pay for a
yearly maintenance plan, because those will be a lot more expensive to just swap out.
Councilmember Cowden: I have one last question. This bay that the
County has across the street that is mostly for County vehicles, I think...it is right in
the middle of the parking lot near the skating area. How many of those have failed?
Do you have a failure rate of that?
Ms. Kaser: Councilmember Cowden is talking about the
line of chargers that is half (1/2) fleet and half (1/2) public. Currently, it is an unusual
situation, because of the temporary staging happening from the old Big Save
renovation, but basically, what was once half (1/2) fleet and half (1/2) public, the fleet
has needed to take a lot of the public chargers, or else they are not going to be able to
have a charge for County staff using them in the morning. I know there is one (1)
fleet charger that is broken, and on the public side, there are a few that have failed,
and the Department of Parks & Recreation put in their budget this year to actually
replace some of those units as well. They have been going. They did the Tesla ones
this past round. Those are eight hundred dollars ($800) per unit, so that would be
rather affordable to get those swapped out.
Councilmember Cowden: Thank you.
COUNCIL MEETING 10 AUGUST 14, 2024
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember DeCosta is next, but I have a
quick question. I want clarification. How many units do we currently have in the
County?
Ms. Kaser: There are eight (8) fleet units and fifteen (15)
public units.
Council Chair Rapozo: That is twenty-three (23) units in total across
the street?
Ms. Kaser: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: How many are down?
Ms. Kaser: I know at least one (1) fleet unit is down and
one (1) or two (2) public units are down.
Council Chair Rapozo: Three (3) are down?
Ms. Kaser: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Does the County monitor the use rate?
Ms. Kaser: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: What is the percentage of use on these?
Ms. Kaser: I believe the chargers that were installed as a
result of the Rice Street Grant were not metered separately, so I cannot see the
electricity usage from the Kaua`i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) bill that I look at
every month, but I can see it for the Rice Street side, so we monitor those. For this
project, we would meter it separately so we could monitor the electricity usage. For
the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant row of
chargers, the fleet side are considered "dumb chargers," so they do not have software
where we are checking the data of usage on the backend. Basically, they will just
charge at one (1) rate and then you use a key to turn it on to charge, whereas with
the public chargers, you are able to access their usage on the backend—see when a
car is plugged in, see when it is idle, see when it is fully charged, and get the data
from there. However, in the past year, we have had some difficulties with the
customer service from them and this is what sort of started our want to transition
and to swap out those units, because we have had much better success with the Tesla
support team, and then obviously going forward with this new project, we would not
go with the same charging unit that we have had trouble with. Long story short, you
can check the usage granularly.
Council Chair Rapozo: I am just trying to figure out if the County's
meters are being used.
Ms. Kaser: Yes.
COUNCIL MEETING 11 AUGUST 14, 2024
Council Chair Rapozo: That is intent of the question I am asking.
Will these meters be used?
Ms. Kaser: I see. Once we started having trouble looking
at usage data, we were sort of relying on people going out and count usage. For
example, two (2) weeks before the staging happened for the old Big Save renovation,
we were trying to count how many fleet cars were plugged in and how many public
cars were plugged in to see if we were going to start designating a certain number
just for fleet or just for the public, but we decided to not move forward and leave them.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you. I am not a big fan of EVs and
moving in that direction, but I will save that for my closing argument. What I am
concerned about is that you mentioned a lack of monitoring electricity. I noticed that
these chargers are public and County, right? You said some of it is public. Does
"public" mean a tourist can come, drop their car off, plug it in, and do the museum
tour, have lunch in Lihu`e, and come back and grab their car? Is that a possibility, or
does "public" mean...I want to finish my question...or does "public" mean the County
worker who parks their car there and needs to go to work, or the restaurant worker
across the street at the coffee shop needs to plug their car in? What does "public"
mean to the County?
Ms. Kaser: "Public" is any member of the public, such as
a visitor or a resident. It is someone charging their personal vehicle.
Councilmember DeCosta: Right now, KIUC holds the brunt of that
electricity, because the County does not pay per stall to charge the car. In the
Mainland United States (U.S.), there is a smartphone application (app) where you
touch the app from the barcode on your phone, and it automatically turns on the
charger, your car only has two (2) hours, and it turns it off. They have that system
where that person is charged, but the County is giving away free electricity over here,
with which KIUC is owned by us, as a cooperative (co-op), so we are paying for the
tourists and the public to charge their car for free. Am I correct?
Ms. Kaser: Yes. Currently, the County is subsidizing the
electric costs of all the chargers.
Councilmember DeCosta: I got it. Thank you. Can you use these
chargers at night? Is it a 24-hour charging system?
Ms. Kaser: Previously, we limited the public chargers
from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. However, once we started having issues with the customer
service, I lost control of the ability to adjust the limits of the charging and the time
limit, which did allow them to go overnight, but now, I have control back and can
limit the time to daytime, if needed. However, since I know a lot of the fleet cars are
using public chargers overnight, I would not do that, because I know they need to
charge.
COUNCIL MEETING 12 AUGUST 14, 2024
Councilmember DeCosta: My concern is, is it a possibility that when you
did not have control, the Turo industry can bring their cars here at 8:00 p.m. or
9:00 p.m., drop off a couple of cars, get them charged up, then pick them up with the
tourist and Turo person coming and picking up the car from our lot where the County
has the chargers, because sometimes they have the address of where to pick up the
Turo car, so they go there. Was that going on? Is it a possibility of what is going on?
Ms. Kaser: It is a possibility, but I was not monitoring if
Turo cars were using the public chargers.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: What is the County's portion of match?
Ms. Kaser: We are matching with thirty thousand
dollars ($30,000).
Councilmember Kagawa: Will it just cost the County thirty thousand
dollars ($30,000) for the eleven (11) units?
Ms. Kaser: Yes. The Hawai`i State Energy Office (HSEO)
and Ulupono have made it possible for us to participate, because HSEO is giving a
fifty-thousand-dollar match and Ulupono is giving twenty thousand dollars ($20,000).
Councilmember Kagawa: How many public and fleet stalls does the
County have right now?
Ms. Kaser: I think it is sixteen (16) stalls across, so
thirty-two (32) in total.
Councilmember Kagawa: The County has thirty-two (32)?
Ms. Kaser: That is on the Eiwa Street side. The Rice
Street side has five (5) stalls.
Councilmember Kagawa: Thirty-two (32) stalls plus five (5) stalls?
Ms. Kaser: Yes.
Councilmember Kagawa: Thirty-seven (37) stalls?
Council Chair Rapozo: Hold on, Councilmember Kagawa. I just
asked, and you said there were twenty-three (23).
Ms. Kaser: He said "stalls." There are twenty-three (23)
chargers.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are you asking for stalls or chargers?
COUNCIL MEETING 13 AUGUST 14, 2024
Councilmember Kagawa: Chargers. Charging stalls for the public and
the fleet. Is that thirty-seven (37)?
Ms. Kaser: Yes, there are thirty-seven (37). The charger
is in the middle and it can be accessed by both sides, at least for that row.
Councilmember Cowden: Only one (1) car can access it or can two (2)
the same charger at the same time?
Ms. Kaser: All of them only have one (1) plug, so only
one (1) car can access it at any time.
Councilmember Cowden: It is only one (1) car, so it is the smaller
number.
Councilmember Kagawa: How many cars can be charged at any given
time?
Council Chair Rapozo: Twenty-three (23).
Ms. Kaser: Twenty-three (23).
Councilmember Kagawa: Twenty-three (23). How many are broken
right now?
Ms. Kaser: Three (3).
Councilmember Kagawa: Three (3) are broken out of the
twenty-three (23)?
Ms. Kaser: Yes, when I last checked.
Councilmember Kagawa: How many are designated for public-use?
Ms. Kaser: There are fifteen (15).
Councilmember Kagawa: There are fifteen (15), but do you divide that
by two (2)? How does it work? How many of those charging stations are designated
for public-use? Is it fifteen (15)?
Ms. Kaser: Fifteen (15).
Councilmember Kagawa: Fifteen (15) out of twenty-three (23), so only
eight (8) are for the County?
Ms. Kaser: Yes.
Councilmember Kagawa: If the County needs more, why does it not take
down some on the public's side?
COUNCIL MEETING 14 AUGUST 14, 2024
Ms. Kaser: That is exactly our intent with these grants.
We can build out more public stalls, and therefore, transition some of the public stalls
that are next to the fleet stalls to be designated for the fleet, because we expanded
our fleets of EVs faster than we expanded our fleet charging stations. We did not have
enough chargers to meet the fleet needs, so we had a temporary policy allowing fleet
chargers to use public chargers while we are trying to catch up.
Councilmember Kagawa: It would totally make sense, because we
would need our inspectors and what have you who use these cars every day to ensure
they can do their job. In this case, the public would be secondary, right?
Ms. Kaser: Yes. We know that we are providing a public
service, but ultimately, we need to keep our employees driving.
Councilmember Kagawa: It is a balance, right? There may be County
employees who use EVs, but the County needs to make sure that those are designated
so the County employees have priority, so the individuals who are park rangers or
whatever, if they are going to have the excuse, "My car does not work, so I will not do
my job,"...we cannot have that right?
Ms. Kaser: We had already talked about expanding fleet
charging stations, and this funding opportunity came up. It was a very quick timeline.
This is a creative way to solve both problems with the fleet charging stations and to
also continue to provide this public service, knowing that we eventually want to
charge for usage.
Councilmember Kagawa: If the County fixes the three (3) and they are
going to add eleven more?
Ms. Kaser: Yes.
Councilmember Kagawa: If the County fixes the three (3) and the
eleven (11) are put in, how many will the public have after that point?
Ms. Kaser: I think we will work that out with the
Department of Public Works and the Department of Parks & Recreation to see the
needs.
Councilmember Kagawa: Will it stay the same or will it increase?
Ms. Kaser: The fleet charging stations would increase.
Councilmember Kagawa: For the public. The ones for the public will go
up a little bit, right, with the eleven (11)?
Ms. Kaser: It would likely, yes.
Councilmember Kagawa: It is not funny, but the thing I heard was that
someone from Mililani was grumbling to the government that he bought this car, and
all of these charging stations that were supposed to be and are not used, so he is
COUNCIL MEETING 15 AUGUST 14, 2024
asking, "Why did I buy the car," but I would be thinking, "Why would you buy the car
before the charging stations are there," because now he has trouble getting his car
charged to go back home. I am hoping that the County will be transparent to the
public, so they know approximately when they will have...because the public is also
the County workers, right?
Ms. Kaser: Yes.
Councilmember Kagawa: If this thing starts going, let them know the
dates and whatnot, because I do not know if there are people who...are there people
who call you and say they are having trouble getting their car charged to go back
home?
Ms. Kaser: I have only had one (1) call with someone who
needed a plug-in at her friend's place in Kalaheo, but everyone is usually okay.
Councilmember Kagawa: Alright. So far, Kaua`i is not too bad. I think
Honolulu is quite bad.
Ms. Kaser: Honolulu has definitely stated that they have
way too many electric vehicles per charging station.
Councilmember Kagawa: We are not at that point, yet?
Ms. Kaser: I do not think so.
Councilmember Kagawa: Okay.
Ms. Kaser: We just want to say, "Let us grab the Federal
money while it is available. We do not know what will happen in the future, so let us
try to put our foot in and get some funds while we can."
Councilmember Kagawa: Those stalls by the museum are the County's
stalls?
Ms. Kaser: Yes, they are the publicly available stalls.
Councilmember Kagawa: If the County expands to having a daycare or
whatever, giving those stalls to EVs would not affect the overall parking plan? Is the
County confident that the eleven (11) stalls they are giving up is going to be okay to
not hamper the future needs of the County, its employees, and the customers?
Ms. Kaser: I know that several departments are looking
at parking management strategies and whatnot. We know this is the way the
industry is moving, so we want to help the transition as much as possible, since we
know that by 2035, California will stop selling gas-powered cars and it sort of sets the
market.
Councilmember Kagawa: Thank you.
COUNCIL MEETING 16 AUGUST 14, 2024
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I might be missing the obvious, but in going
after this grant, the grant itself requires the County to make so many stations
available to the public?
Ms. Kaser: Yes, I think at least four (4) per site is what
the grant requirement is.
Councilmember Kuali`i: The County is looking at one (1) site, or
multiple sites?
Ms. Kaser: One (1) site.
Councilmember Kuali`i: You spoke earlier about charging the public
and that there is a bill being reviewed by the County Attorney. What is the
timeframe? Six (6) months? Nine (9) months? It is coming relatively soon?
Ms. Kaser: I would say, "Sooner rather than later." We
want to have it ready to go by the time we deploy the fast chargers, which is coming
next year.
Councilmember Kuali`i: If it seems like the County is doing more
stations than needed, is it not because the County is trying to invest in the future,
and incentivize and encourage the use, so you sort of have to put it in place, right?
Ms. Kaser: Yes. We know that there are not enough fleet
chargers for the fleet, and we know we are going to need to expand fleet charging
anyway, so we can use these funds to serve the public and help ease that transition.
Councilmember Kuali`i: As far as competition goes, are the other
counties in Hawai`i trying to do the same? Are we in competition with them for this?
Ms. Kaser: No. This whole application is through a
statewide network called Drive Electric Hawai`i. Basically, how it came about is
Hawaiian Electric (HECO) partnered with the Hawai`i State libraries and the
Hawai`i Department of Transportation to install Hawaiian Electric-owned and
operated chargers at all the libraries in the Hawaiian Electric territory. Kaua`i is not
part of that territory. They applied for that last year, were denied, and are reapplying.
We are trying to figure out a way to include Kauai this time. No one stepped forward
to apply on behalf of libraries here, so we put in our name to give us a chance. That
is why this has been a quick timeline and we came up with this site rather quickly.
Councilmember Kuali`i: You mentioned HECO, but in your letter, you
also say that you are working with KIUC, and they have committed support with
technical assistance and operations.
Ms. Kaser: We looked at the utility pole, and you just see
a pole that is holding the conduit, so we got some rough estimates, we will be working
COUNCIL MEETING 17 AUGUST 14, 2024
with them throughout the project on the electrical side of things, and they also
committed to supporting outreach.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Thank you. Thank you for leading the way
and taking advantage of this opportunity.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: My question is rather simple. Why did you
mention California not selling gas cars? How will that affect Hawaii? Why would you
even bring that up?
Ms. Kaser: California has the largest market for cars in
the country, so a lot of manufacturers cater what they produce to fit with California's
standards.
Councilmember DeCosta: California does not manufacture cars.
Ms. Kaser: But they have banned the sale of gas-powered
cars by 2035.
Councilmember DeCosta: Hawaii used car and new car dealerships can
pick up vehicles from Washington, Oregon, and other areas with ports. Why is Kaua`i
getting excited about another state discontinuing gas vehicles when we have not
committed to that? Is there something going on with our County, our governor, and
our State that the public does not know...that we are going to be committed like
California to run only EVs?
Ms. Kaser: Not that I know of.
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay.
Ms. Kaser: Of course, we know that in 2035, it will not
only be EVs on the road. Of course, there will still be the used car market and many
people will not be able to buy a new car. It is just that knowing new cars will be
electric.
Councilmember DeCosta: Lihu`e is our biggest city and Kapaca might be
the second biggest. Is the County moving towards having all EV charger stalls
throughout the shopping area and that if you do not have an EV, you do not have a
place to park, you do not have a restaurant area to eat at, you cannot shop for
groceries at the store? Is that where we are headed as a County, or is the County still
going to make sure that people who have gas and diesel vehicles have parking stalls
in areas where they can access restaurants, shopping, and the city?
Council Chair Rapozo: She just answered that. She said that
regardless of what happens, there will still be gas cars on the road.
Councilmember DeCosta: But she did not answer if there will be parking
stalls for gas cars. That is what I am asking.
COUNCIL MEETING 18 AUGUST 14, 2024
Ms. Kaser: The State of Hawai`i passed a law requiring
for that for every one hundred (100) stalls in a parking lot, there needs to be one (1)
EV charger. That is a State law, and a few years ago, the Council of the County of
Kaua`i passed a law requiring that the same rule and the number increases per every
one hundred (100) stalls. That is a County Council initiative.
Councilmember DeCosta: The County is not going to take away the
public stalls for gas and diesel cars, right? The County is going to add the EV stalls.
The County is not going to convert over the current stalls that are for gas and diesel
vehicles into EVs, right? The County is adding on new stalls.
Ms. Kaser: Yes, we are adding stalls to the Civic Center
parking lot. We are adding EV chargers to the Civic Center.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone else? Councilmember
Carvalho.
Councilmember Carvalho: I have follow-up. The amount of the grant is
four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000), right?
Ms. Kaser: Yes.
Councilmember Carvalho: How much is the match?
Ms. Kaser: The match is one hundred thousand
dollars ($100,000).
Councilmember Carvalho: Thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) would come
from the County?
Ms. Kaser: Yes.
Councilmember Carvalho: I know there is a statewide effort to look at all
the islands, right?Like you said, the County is sort of at the end result, so the County
is trying to move forward with EVs. I just wanted to clarify that so I understand that
we have the funding and the opportunity to get it, right?
Ms. Kaser: Yes.
Councilmember Carvalho: Okay.
Ms. Kaser: It came together quicky, but we have all the
funding committed should we be awarded.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any other questions? I have a couple
more. With these charging stations that the County is purchasing, will the County be
able to use that to collect fees from the public?
COUNCIL MEETING 19 AUGUST 14, 2024
Ms. Kaser: Yes, for usage.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is this going to be a one-for-one swap?In other
words, I get more complaints about non-EV public parking at the County building,
than...I have never received a complaint about EV parking at the County building.
Are we losing stalls for the public non-EV vehicles with this addition or are we
swapping out eleven (11) of the old ones?
Ms. Kaser: Yes, we would. It would be designated as
EV-only stalls.
Council Chair Rapozo: How many stalls is the County giving up with
this, because you said the County is replacing some?
Ms. Kaser: No. It will be eleven (11) stalls.
Council Chair Rapozo: The County is going to lose eleven (11)? Is it
eleven (11) or twenty-two (22), because you were saying two (2) stalls per charger?
Ms. Kaser: That was only with the chargers right by the
old Big Save. These would only be one (1) stall per charger, so eleven (11) stalls,
eleven (11) chargers.
Council Chair Rapozo: The County is going to be losing eleven (11)
stalls more?
Ms. Kaser: Yes, down the line.
Council Chair Rapozo: It sounds like you are having some customer
service issues or issues in general with the existing chargers the County has. Are
those not going to be replaced? Are you going to keep the old ones?
Ms. Kaser: The Department of Parks & Recreation plans
to swap out those units.
Council Chair Rapozo: Why is the Department of Parks & Recreation
maintaining parking chargers? Is it because they are in charge of facilities?
Ms. Kaser: Yes.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are those chargers adaptable to be able to
accept fees from the public?
Ms. Kaser: They are, but we do not want to go there with
that company.
Council Chair Rapozo: This is my concern, unless you use all of those
stalls for County vehicles only and you lock it so no one...I did not even think about
the Turo scenario that Councilmember DeCosta brought up...because once this law
is passed, and now you need to pay to charge, they are going to find the old ones and
COUNCIL MEETING 20 AUGUST 14, 2024
use...because if the County is unable to connect them to the system of charging, then
it will be a problem.
Ms. Kaser: In this fiscal year, the Department of Parks &
Recreation budgeted to swap out those units.
Council Chair Rapozo: That will be able to charge?
Ms. Kaser: Yes, that will be able to charge the public for
usage.
Council Chair Rapozo: Does anyone know what the County's
electrical bill is for the charging stations? I am hoping that the system you are talking
about with the monitoring will be able to tell us how much. Obviously, the County
will need to pay for the County's fleet. How much subsidy does the public sector get
for charging their EVs?
Ms. Kaser: The chargers by Rice Street are metered
separately, so we can track that electric usage. I have not seen an electricity bill just
for the ones that are part of the TIGER street row, so I think it is just part of the
Pi`ikoi bill. I do not know why they were not metered separately in design, but I have
never seen a bill for them, but on the backend, I could track usage and calculate a bill
from there.
Council Chair Rapozo: I am interested in knowing how much it costs
the County for a 2-hour charge on a public vehicle.
Ms. Kaser: We can definitely get the most accurate
numbers from the Rice Street side and go down from there.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. I see Ms. Kaauwai Brun writing on her
notebook, so if you could just shoot me that information later.
Ms. Kaser: I think these are on schedule "G," so it is
something like thirty-six cents ($0.36) or thirty-seven cents ($0.37) per kilowatt. I
think it is thirty-six cents ($0.36). Then you would see how many kilowatts the car
gets and go from there.
Council Chair Rapozo: I have no clue how many kilowatts it takes to
charge an EV. Typically, does it take two (2) hours to charge a car?
Ms. Kaser: It depends. To get a full charge for a Level 2,
it would be closer to four (4) hours, but people are not necessarily fully charging them.
They are getting just a little bit. Honestly, with the TIGER grant side, we had limits
on the charging, so they were not going as fast as they could and they were only
charging a certain amount of kilowatts, because we knew it was a free service, we did
not want them all going at one hundred percent (100%).
COUNCIL MEETING 21 AUGUST 14, 2024
Council Chair Rapozo: It should not be a free service. I do not think
the County should be subsidizing the electric charging. They can at least help to pay
for it.
Ms. Kaser: I think we are all on the same page with that.
We want to start charging for usage.
Council Chair Rapozo: Are there any other questions? If not, thank
you.
Ms. Kaser: I am sorry for being late.
Council Chair Rapozo: Do not worry.
Ms. Kaser: I was listening and thinking, "Oh my God,
they are going." Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you for running across. Is there anyone
in the audience wishing to testify? Mr. Hart.
Councilmember Kagawa: Ms. Parker had her hand up. She would like
to go after.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay.
BRUCE HART: For the record, Bruce Hart. I am not a fan of
EVs. You are talking about the cost. You are talking about the cost of actually
charging a vehicle. I mean nothing disparaging to this employee of the County and
the Administration, but we need to pay her for this, we need to pay to maintain it,
and we need to pay to design it. We need to pay all these different costs. As a member
of public, I would like to know the total cost, not just the cost of the kilowatt hours. I
want to know the total cost to the people. We say this is money from a grant. How
many subsidies from the Federal government are we going to take and become
dependent upon, because someone is paying for it? The money is coming from
somewhere, and it has got to come from the people. I think that if the EVs are going
to make or break, it ought to be a private enterprise, a private business. I know that
you have spoken in regard to the County and the County needs priority. Why? It is
still costing the people, wherever this money is coming from than to subsidize the
County vehicles, so it is still like a tax. It is like a tax now. We are going to subsidize
all the County vehicles. The cost becomes enormous. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Ms. Parker.
ALICE PARKER: Alice Parker, for the record. I think we should
put up toll meter or have it where you pay to park in public places or other places for
a gas car. This is for EVs, too, but make it more expensive to park an EV at the
charger, because that is more costly to the County or more costly to run it. We have
got to get our funds back. Thank.you.
COUNCIL MEETING 22 AUGUST 14, 2024
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there anyone else?
Mr. Richardson? I thought you were coming to testify. Councilmember Kagawa.
There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and
proceeded as follows:
Councilmember Kagawa: I want to thank Ms. Kaser for her good work,
Ms. Kaauwai Brun, and Ms. Kaauwai Brun's leadership. It is a
five-hundred-thousand-dollar-project and the County is paying thirty thousand
dollars ($30,000) to support EVs, whose mandates seems to be coming in the future.
Things can change. I just want to give some personal history on my stance. My
nephew bought a nice, beautiful looking secondhand EV and it hardly had miles,
because it was owned by an elderly lady, so he got a good deal on it. I test drove it
and thought it was rather cool. The power was not bad. It was a small car. A couple
months later, the battery died. He needed to order a new one. It was about six
thousand dollars ($6,000). Luckily, his good friend is a mechanic who just graduated
from Kaua`i Community College (KCC) and has some experience with working in a
private shop—Kaua`i Vehicle Service Center. He installed it for my nephew, and they
worked really hard putting it in. They said it was very heavy. The battery lasted
about six (6) months before breaking again, so he put in another battery and sold it.
I do not know how long that battery is lasting with the new owner. We have not
followed up. This is just showing that what may seem great may end up being a lot
more costly. Having the government give support through these grants to put these
stations for something that has not been proven over the long haul, because the
lithium batteries are dangerous to get rid of. There is no true environmentally safe
way to dispose of these lithium batteries when they are done, so it is a scary thought
that if we push too fast and the technology is not really proven, whether they are
going to have the numbers that they want, or if you will have people like
Councilmember DeCosta and myself, who continue to fix our older gas vehicles,
because we do not trust putting our money into this new movement, but perhaps that
will change and technology will improve, but I say, "Seeing is believing." I read
another article where an individual was filling up her gas and one of the people at
the station said, "Why are you putting in gas when your car is an EV?" She said, "No,
I need to fill up the generator, so I can charge up the battery." These stories that you
hear where the stations are not there and car dealerships are encouraging buying it,
but you as a vehicle purchaser need to know these things beforehand. When you are
going to buy this, whether you are going to have available charging stations where
you work so you can get home, and those types of things. You cannot buy the car, then
ask the government where the stations are. No. Make sure they are in place first,
because it will take time for the County to put these in. It is going to take balancing
to where we know what our County's needs are and what will be available to the
public. Like I said, I know the County went in this direction awhile back, and they
need to make sure the employees can get to their jobs, so I think the County
employees who are working with County vehicles to do their duties, like home
inspections or whatnot, always need to get their cars charged and to make sure there
are no people from the public taking those stalls leaving County workers without
transportation to do their jobs. Those are my thoughts on that, but thank you, folks.
You are doing exactly what you need to do as an Energy Coordinator, which is to find
great deals for the County to move in this direction and to meet the needs of the future
and climate change issues as well. Thank you, Chair.
COUNCIL MEETING 23 AUGUST 14, 2024
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember DeCosta.
Councilmember DeCosta: Well said, Councilmember Kagawa. I ditto
everything you said, especially the thank you to Ms. Kaser and Ms. Kaauwai Brun.
My passion is definitely not trying to deter you from doing an excellent job with going
green. I am just not a person who believes that "going green" is a real thing, and I
will tell you why. Do you know that with those vehicles that charge from 7:00 p.m.
until the next morning when the County has those stations available, there is no sun.
There is no solar power. That power comes from KIUC and that it is from turbines
which are run by diesel fuel that provide power throughout the night. If it is the
battery backup system, those batteries are lithium batteries which are very toxic to
the environment when lithium is harvested. What scares me a little is we tend to be
politically aligned with California. California is not a strong Democratic state. It is
actually a strong Republican state. I want to send this as a message to you folks,
because I am worried that our stalls will be eliminated for gas and diesel vehicles to
come and enjoy Lihu`e or different towns and it will all be for EVs. I wanted to express
to your folks that if you replace a stall, do not replace a parking stall that has room
for a gas or diesel vehicle. You can add a new stall for the EV charger, but please do
not take away stalls from our people who want to come to Lihu`e if they need to go to
the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), if they need to go to lunch with their wife,
or go shopping. When we move towards these types of things, it makes me a little
worried that we do not have control over charging. With the new app situation, you
can charge someone right on their phone for the usage. I want to encourage you folks
to get those EV chargers that have the app built in, in case you want to charge tourists
who have a Turo car or a rental car from our rental agencies. Do you know that people
need to return the car with a full tank of gas. What if they make the recommendation
where you return the car with a full charge? Then you will have every tourist with a
car trying to find a parking stall with a County EV charger to charge it for free. I am
appalled that when I bought my new truck, I did not receive a gas card with an
unlimited amount of gas or diesel. It seems as though when you buy an EV, they are
saying, "You have free power to charge your car anywhere on Kaua`i. Just go plug it
in wherever there is a public EV charger." Our taxpayers pay for that.You, Ms. Kaser,
you, Ms. Kaauwai Brun, me, Councilmember Kagawa, Council Chair Rapozo, KIUC.
We own KIUC. Did you know we did not get our rebate check this year? It is because
the profits were not high enough, because they are putting the profits back into the
chargers so people can get free electricity for the vehicles, because it is a "Go Green"
initiative. It scares me. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I want to start by saying that obviously, I am
going to support this grant request. I consider it an additional pilot project, and I
want to thank you, Ms. Kasen and Ms. Kaauwai Brun, for resolving the County's
larger challenge of having more EVs than they have charging stations, and the
County needs to do this. This is all the fits and starts of trying to adjust to new ways
of doing things. Everyone has said a lot of what I feel. I do want to recognize Bruce
Hart for raising the larger context of the EV transition. It is really quite expensive. I
believe that the longer direction of EVs is going to shift to hydrogen, because EVs
sounded like a great idea, but we have problems with the batteries that we never
knew, like how explosive there are, how hard they are to put out...as I have heard
COUNCIL MEETING 24 AUGUST 14, 2024
before, ships sinking in the ocean from all the cars catching on fire and then they
could not put it out. It is damaging to the environment. Their overall environmental
damage is higher than gas cars with creating and disposing of the batteries. These
vehicles tend to be expensive. I have known for a long time that you never buy a used
EV, because you sell the vehicle when the batteries are going bad. Even if she did not
use it very long, there is also time spent sitting and not being used. Largely supports
the economically comfortable, but I routinely get complaints as a Councilmember
from people who do not have the capacity to have their own charging station when
there is a broken charger in the shopping center. The people do not come to the
shopping center near my house to shop, they just park their car and leave for five (5)
hours. I have watched them get picked up by someone, then the next person who
wants to use the charger cannot. It can become an entitlement mindset, and
sometimes it is galling to me when people think they are being environmentally
friendly when I know they are basically charging on diesel, right? It is diesel that
they are charging on. It is going on at Kapaia or `Ele`ele. On the island, we do not
have the energy capacity for the 2035 initiative to have everything go electric. I went
to the KIUC annual meeting, which was great. KIUC does a wonderful job. I do not
know why, but we are seeing our electric consumption is up, so we are not as green,
but when we dedicate so much Agricultural (Ag) land to solar farms, having had a
solar business, I know what could happen if we have a big, huge, strong wind...God
forbid, a hurricane...we will have ripped everything down. "Yay" for what you have
done. Good job, especially because the County has invested in all these vehicles, the
County needs to charge the vehicles that they have invested in. I heard Council Chair
make a comment. I am sort of on his page. I seriously doubt that the County will
have...that this 2035 deadline will actually manifest, because there are too many
challenges between here and now, and I recognize that if California is a major
consumer of cars, it is going to drive how cars are built and what they are done, just
like textbooks. Texas drives how textbooks are determined. Big markets drive what
the choice is, but I do share Councilmember DeCosta's concern that we are not
California and we are a long way from anywhere, and to even have someone fix our
cars is very difficult. To the best of my knowledge, Teslas are shipped to O`ahu to get
fixed or you need to fly someone here, but I think they need to go into their garages
there. It is for the haves, not the have nots. Thank you. "Yay" for doing a good job
getting the County more chargers for its own cars. Other than that, I think we need
to look at hydrogen. I have certainly pushed different possibilities, and where there
is poop, there is power. We have that here. I think that is the direction we need to
look at rather than lithium batteries. I support the idea that we need to move away
from so many big gas and diesel vehicles, but these big trucks need that torque, they
need that engine power, so I do not think we are ever going to not need big trucks.
Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: I will try to be more positive. First and
foremost, I want to say, "Mahalo nui loa," to Ms. Kaser, Ms. Kaauwai Brun, everyone
in the Administration, and to our Mayor for being future thinking and seeing the
opportunity and investing in the future, which is actually now, right? Our future is
now. What is happening with EVs is a transformational shift for our nation. EVs
could make up half of global car sales by 2035. That is just ten (10) years away. It is
moving in that direction. There is an article by an individual from Goldman Sachs
COUNCIL MEETING 25 AUGUST 14, 2024
titled, The Future Of Four Wheels. In it he says, "The car is being completely
rethought and re-engineered, to incorporate cutting-edge battery chemistry,
microchips, and software." We see it, it is happening. It is important that we have
infrastructure in place to support that. Surely, we are not California, but we are a
part of this great nation that is moving forward and that where this last Federal
administration had put together things, like the Infrastructure Bill and the
Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, and where the are billions of dollars
available for investing in our future. That is what we need to do, this is just a small
part of it, it is the beginning, and it is very exciting. Thank you for all your work.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Carvalho.
Councilmember Carvalho: Ms. Kaauwai Brun and Ms. Kaser, I
appreciate the work that you folks are doing. We had numerous discussions and it is
all about balance and offering opportunities, in general...I mean, EVs, in general. My
problem is that I cannot fit in those vehicles, but that is okay. At the same time, I
think it is an opportunity...it is the truth.
Councilmember Kuali`i: A Ford truck.
Councilmember Carvalho: Even that is something I cannot fit in...but
the bottom line is just having that balance. We have had numerous discussions on
this in the past. I think we are not alone. We are the whole State of Hawai`i, and we
have opportunities to share and think, but at the same time, we are Kaua`i. We have
to look at opportunities and options that offer people the chance, but the County needs
to be able to monitor it and assure that the funding and the resources are available.
Like I said, there are numerous grant opportunities to play some role...that whole
transition thinking. Again, I think that it is important that the County offers options
and opportunities, learns, and brings the resources, as much as possible, and offers
that. I am on that page right now.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Bulosan.
Councilmember Bulosan: Thank you so much for applying for this grant
and making this possible. It is one of those things where if you folks did not do the
work, the County would be left out again, and that is never appropriate for our
community, especially with the needs that are being asked for. For this topic, I did
not realize I would be so opposite from the majority of my Councilmembers, but I will
just say that mostly everything that was mentioned on the other side, I am on the
opposite side, mainly because I am an EV owner. I drive an EV, I have had an EV for
the last four (4) years, and when I think about the impact it has had on my family, it
is part of the reason why I still cannot afford to live here. If you think about the cost
of living here, transportation is in the top four (4). If you look at the gas prices right
now and you are hoping it is going to go down, you are trying to solve your
budget...the reality is that most people my age do not consider buying a gas car. They
only consider public transportation, maybe an EV, or an old gas beater car, because
that is what is available. The reason why they are thinking that way is because,
collectively, when we look at systems of transportation, when we can couple the
challenges together, it makes it more affordable for the regular person to live here. If
we keep encouraging a society that does not participate in a collective system...and
COUNCIL MEETING 26 AUGUST 14, 2024
it is hard for us to afford. Yes, if your car is hooked up at home and you do not have
solar and battery, you will be using a diesel, but a diesel is much more affordable and
efficient than a diesel car that you are driving. It is one of those things where you
think, "One hundred twenty (120) years ago, we started driving cars." It was a new
invention, and you just think about the efficiency there. Only recently, in the last
twenty (20) or thirty (30) years, EVs have become what they are. Yes, going into
future, we do not know what it will be. It could be hydrogen, it could be all EVs, it
could be water-based, or whatever. I think the most important thing for us to know
in this situation, and especially with this grant, is that we are not left behind. Again,
thank you, folks, for making this possible.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone else? I am not going to buy an
EV. When I travel, I use Uber or Lyft, and there are a lot of Uber drivers and Lyft
drivers now that are going electric. It is rather cool, actually. I ask them how the car
is. Some of the cars are really nice. Some of them are really big, Councilmember
Carvalho, so you can fit. Former Councilmember Mason Chock has a Ford F-154
Lightning...oh my Lord. They are fast. It is crazy. Obviously, there are a lot more
charging stations in the Mainland U.S., so they can actually do that.You had a hybrid
whose battery went out. How much was your battery?
Councilmember Carvalho: It was thirty dollars ($30).
Council Chair Rapozo: How much was it?
Councilmember Carvalho: It was thirty dollars ($30).
Council Chair Rapozo: No, I mean your car battery.
Councilmember Carvalho: I am just joking. It was a lot
Council Chair Rapozo: It was twelve thousand dollars ($12,000) or
something.
Councilmember Carvalho: It was about twelve thousand
dollars ($12,000), because it is a whole hybrid...I had a hybrid.
Council Chair Rapozo: Like Councilmember Kagawa said, it is
anywhere from six thousand dollars ($6,000). That was on the low end, but it goes up
to twenty thousand dollars ($20,000). A lot of what I have written was already said.
The production and disposal of lithium is quite concerning. It is very concerning. I do
not understand why the environmentalists and the activists are quiet about that. It
is like when people said, "Ship your trash to Honolulu, so they can burn it," but it is
the same environment. Whether we burn it here or there, it is the same environment.
The impact the production of lithium batteries have on the environment, whether it
is made in a foreign country or in the U.S., it is the same environment. It is the same
place. That is very scary. The other thing that was interesting, and I will need to
follow up on later, is how did the County get to the point where it has more EVs than
chargers?Why would the County buy more cars than chargers? That makes no sense.
It just does not. Staff, could we send something over? I am curious in knowing what
the ratio is. How many cars does the County have that do not have chargers, or do we
COUNCIL MEETING 27 AUGUST 14, 2024
not have enough chargers? One of the bigger problems with EVs is not using them,
when you let them sit. That was the issue I had when we talked about purchasing
EVs year ago. The Administration came back and said some of the drivers do not want
to drive EVs. Have them go work somewhere else. That is their car. You use what the
County provides, but if the cars are not being used, the chances are that the
maintenance costs are going to increase. The cars must be used. I am curious to see
what the usage is of the vehicles, how many chargers the County has, and how many
more vehicles the County has than chargers. EVs do not pay fuel tax, so the fuel tax
revenue—the gas tax—is decreasing the more EVs there are, so that is another
subsidy that the taxpayers are paying for EV users. We really need to look at that.
Another thing, which Councilmember Kualici talked about, is the increase in car sales
and what they expect by 2035. Right now, the Federal government gives you seven
thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500) if you buy an EV. Do you know what would
happen if the Federal government gave seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500)
for any vehicle? I would argue that the numbers of EV sales would significantly drop
over gas vehicles. People are making a financial decision to buy an EV when they
show up at the dealership and the salesperson sways the customer over to an EV
saying, "Seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500)..." I sold cars. It is typically on
a monthly payment, twenty dollars ($20) per one thousand dollars ($1,000) of loan,
so you are looking at a one-hundred-fifty-dollar-difference in your monthly payment
for a car. That is enough to change my mind to go with an EV. I think it was
Councilmember Kagawa who said that a lot of people buy these cars not
understanding the reality of where these chargers are on the island. It sucks to run
out of electricity. What do you do? Having said all of that, I really appreciate the
attempt. I think this is where we are headed. This is the trend. This is where we are
going. A lot has been said about California. I did not hear you say that we should be
like California. I did not hear that at all. What I heard you say is California is the
trend that we will all see going forward.
(Councilmember DeCosta was noted as not present.)
Council Chair Rapozo: It is not that we are following California. I
would agree that it is not the state that we would want to follow, but they are a good
state to watch to see how things will develop, because a lot of the things they do will
occur in other places. I appreciate the work. That is good work. All the people who
chase grants, like the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, Kaua`i Police Department,
and all the other departments that get grants, should get a bonus. You should receive
a percentage of what you get for the County, because every dollar you save or you get
from the Federal government...Mr. Hart is correct. It is still tax money. It is still our
money, but it is an initiative that this County accepted and adopted, so let us get it.
Finally, the other thing is...and it may upset some of the EV owners, but with the
fact that they do not need to pay for gas tax, that is a subsidy that they should expect
and willingly accept the fact that they be paying for the charge, because it is not free.
(Councilmember DeCosta was noted as present.)
Council Chair Rapozo: When I plug my vehicle in...as
Councilmember DeCosta said, his truck did not come with a free gas card from a gas
station and was told, "By the way, when you need gas, go to this gas station.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not work, but if it is open and it is working,
COUNCIL MEETING 28 AUGUST 14, 2024
you can use this gas card to get free gas." That is actually an analogy that makes
sense. With that, thank you.
The motion to approve C 2024-160 was then put, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: The motion carries. Next item, please.
C 2024-161 Communication (08/07/2024) from the County Clerk,
transmitting for Council consideration, A Bill For An Ordinance Amending
Ordinance No. B-2024-896, As Amended, Relating To The Operating Budget Of The
County Of Kaua`i, State Of Hawai`i, For The Fiscal Year July 1, 2024 Through
June 30, 2025, By Revising The Amounts Estimated In The General Fund.
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to receive C 2024-161 for the record, seconded
by Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Rapozo: This is the Communication, the Bill will come
up later. Is there any public testimony? Seeing none. Is there any discussion? Seeing
none.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
The motion to receive C 2024-161 for the record was then put, and unanimously
carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: The motion carries. Next item, please.
CLAIM:
C 2024-162 Communication (07/29/2024) from the County Clerk,
transmitting a claim filed against the County of Kaua`i by Dallas McCurley, for
property damage, pursuant to Section 23.06, Charter of the County of Kaua`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to refer C 2024-162 to the Office of the County
Attorney for disposition and/or report back to the Council, seconded by
Councilmember Cowden.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony.
Seeing none.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
The motion to refer C 2024-162 to the Office of the County Attorney for
disposition and/or report back to the Council was then put, and unanimously
carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: The motion carries. Next item, please.
COUNCIL MEETING 29 AUGUST 14, 2024
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
PUBLIC WORKS & VETERANS SERVICES COMMITTEE:
A report (No. CR-PWVS 2024-07) submitted by the Public Works & Veterans
Services Committee, recommending that the following be Received for the Record:
"PWVS 2024-06 — Communication (07/12/2024) from Council Chair
Rapozo, requesting the presence of the County Engineer and the
Environmental Services Manager, to provide a briefing regarding the landfill
and Request for Proposals (RFPs) for waste-to-energy,"
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for approval of the report, seconded by
Councilmember Carvalho.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
Seeing none.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
The motion for approval of the report was then put, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: The motion carries. Next item, please.
FINANCE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE:
A report (No. CR-FED 2024-02) submitted by the Finance & Economic
Development Committee, recommending that the following be Received for the
Record:
"FED 2024-02 — Communication (06/06/2024) from Councilmember
Bulosan, requesting the presence of the Director of Economic Development and
Steven Bond-Smith, Assistant Professor with the Economic Research
Organization at the University of Hawai`i (UHERO), to provide a briefing
regarding the annual Kaua`i Economic Outlook Summary for 2024,"
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for approval of the report, seconded by
Councilmember DeCosta.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
Seeing none.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
The motion for approval of the report was then put, and unanimously carried.
Council Chair Rapozo: The motion carries. Next item, please.
COUNCIL MEETING 30 AUGUST 14, 2024
BILL FOR FIRST READING:
Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2930) —A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING
ORDINANCE NO. B-2024-896, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE OPERATING
BUDGET OF THE COUNTY OF KAUAI, STATE OF HAWAII, FOR THE FISCAL
YEAR JULY 1, 2024 THROUGH JUNE 30, 2025, BY REVISING THE AMOUNTS
ESTIMATED IN THE GENERAL FUND (Additional Costs For Fiscal Year 2023
ACFR— $70,000.00)
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2930) on
first reading, that is be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be
scheduled for September 11, 2024, and that it thereafter be referred to the
Committee of the Whole, seconded by Carvalho.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: I have a question. Our audited County
financial reports...so do we just need a little more to finish...the bill came up higher
than was anticipated? I am curious. Usually, we get that before the budget.
Council Chair Rapozo: Yes.
Councilmember Cowden: That is when I like to get it. It is one of the
most important documents that I read. Have we gotten an explanation of why we are
months after, and is it already done, so when we pay the seventy thousand
dollars ($70,000), are we going to get it, or is it not finished yet?
Council Chair Rapozo: Let me share what I know. It is finished. It is
not reliant on the seventy thousand dollars ($70,000). It is what we owe. It is under
review and we should be getting it shortly. You are correct. We should be getting this
before we go into the budget session, so I am not happy about it. There was transition
at the Department of Finance. They lost some employees.
Councilmember Kagawa: They lost many employees who left at one
time.
Council Chair Rapozo: It is unfortunate. The Annual Comprehensive
Financial Report (ACFR) is basically the County's financial audit. It is our annual
financial audit with the entire...it is a good opportunity to share with the community
that the seventy thousand dollars ($70,000) is simply transferring the money from
our Council Services office to the Office of the County Auditor's Consultant Services
line so we can pay for the completion of this audit or the cost. Yes, and I am not happy
about it.
Councilmember Cowden: If the Department of Finance was in here, I
would ask what we can do to have it on time, because I actually read those big books
COUNCIL MEETING 31 AUGUST 14, 2024
from start to finish, and they make a big difference for me. I really like executive
summary that is at the front, and it shapes how I approach the budget.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: It is no secret that a bunch of Accounting
employees abruptly left for...mostly at the Department of Water.
Councilmember Cowden: I think it was six (6).
Councilmember Kagawa: The Department of Water benefitted with a
lot of experience in filling some of their gaps, but I believe that they are still making
their legal deadlines, and it should be before the Council, but I do not think it is
something that frequently happens where we lose six (6) people in one (1) division at
once. As you said, hopefully we will get back to being timely after this year. As the
Finance & Economic Development Committee Chair, I have been abreasted by
Managing Director Matsuyama from the transition time that this could be one of the
things that could happen, and it did happen, but you would rather have them go
through the audit having all the information and having everything accurate, rather
than trying to push something forward and having the audit reveal that things were
not in place as the audit was being completed. You could get an unsatisfactory
opinion, but you would rather have a clean audit opinion on the County's financials,
right?
Councilmember Cowden: That is correct, so I want to say thank you to
the County's new accounting team. I did not mean to slam it. I just meant to say it
was an important document and wanted to encourage the new accounting team to
look at the previous few years of executive summary and that we get something like
that, because I have found it to be a really important tool, and I definitely used it for
my personal staff. I had them read it, so that they could understand how the County
works, because if you go in one place, that audit and that executive summary is
important. I want to acknowledge that the County has won a few national
recognition...the County did a great job with what it has had, so I want to make sure
the County continues with that and are able to be responsible in doing our budget by
having it early. Thank you to the new team. I know they started after the fact.
Council Chair Rapozo: The transition really was a difficult one, so I
have been assured that the policies, the practices, the spreadsheets, and everything
that has been created since the transition will be the template going forward for
future employees who come in. Yes, it is sort of like today's Council meeting with the
car accident. It is not something that happens every year. Otherwise, I can honestly
tell you that the Department of Finance would have been up here at this Council
meeting explaining themselves back in March, April, May, and so forth. It is what it
is. We cannot control things where that many employees leave at one time. I know
Councilmember Kagawa will probably be upset by my saying this, but
Councilmember Kagawa's daughter got hired as one of the specialists in the
Department of Finance, and she came from a firm that does audits.
(Councilmember Carvalho was noted as not present.)
COUNCIL MEETING 32 AUGUST 14, 2024
Council Chair Rapozo: The expertise that she brought really helped
move this thing along more quickly, so inahalo to your daughter. Yes, it is late. The
only thing that I am concerned about is when we do get the final audit and the
numbers are finalized, we relied on estimates when we did the budget. We relied on
best guess estimates as we plugged numbers into the budget. Those numbers could
be different once we get the actuals back. When we get actuals and replug in the
numbers, I anticipate this body having to do some money bills to move funds to
balance the budget properly. I think that is the down side and it is not a good way to
do budgeting when you do not have the budget in front of you, but as Councilmember
Kagawa said, and I agree, it is probably a one-time deal.
Councilmember Cowden: I have a final comment.
Council Chair Rapozo: Go ahead.
(Councilmember Carvalho was noted as present.)
Councilmember Cowden: I want to say that as someone who attends the
Board of Water Supply meetings, they have made a big difference over there, so our
Department of Water was absolutely in economic disarray and it has been difficult
for them, so when the weight was shifted, a different department needed
improvements.
Councilmember Kagawa: Let us not put it all on the Department of
Finance. Taking in all the financial things from the entire County and, again, just
the experience factor and knowing what to prepare and how to delegate staff. When
you lose six (6) our of nine (9) employees to help gather this information from all the
departments, that is the task. It is not about one (1) person. Thank you, Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: With that, roll call.
The motion for passage of Proposed Draft Bill (No. 2930) on first reading, that
it be ordered to print, that a public hearing thereon be schedule for
September 11, 2024, and that it thereafter be referred to the Committee of the
Whole was then put, and carried by the following vote:
FOR PASSAGE: Bulosan, Carvalho, Cowden, DeCosta, Kagawa,
Kuali`i, Rapozo TOTAL — 7,
AGAINST PASSAGE: None TOTAL — 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— O.
Ms. Foutain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes.
COUNCIL MEETING 33 AUGUST 14, 2024
Council Chair Rapozo: With that, can we have the Executive
Session (ES) item read, please?
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
ES-1133 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 with the Council, to provide Council with a
briefing and request authority for a possible settlement proposal in a claim filed by
Allstate Insurance Company a/s/o Jeffrey Aguinaldo and related matters. The
briefing and consultation involves consideration of the powers, duties, privileges,
immunities, and/or liabilities of the Council and the County as they relate to this
agenda item.
Councilmember Kuali`i moved to convene in Executive Session for ES-1133,
seconded by Councilmember Bulosan.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion? Councilmember
Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: I just wanted a moment of personal privilege.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is it regarding this?
Councilmember Kagawa: After this.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Is there any discussion or public
testimony on the ES item? Seeing none. Roll call.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
The motion to convene in Executive Session for ES-1133 was then put, and
carried by the following vote:
FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION: Bulosan, Carvalho, Cowden, DeCosta,
Kagawa, Kualici, Rapozo TOTAL— 7,
AGAINST EXECUTIVE SESSION: None TOTAL— 0,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL— O.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Seven (7) ayes.
Council Chair Rapozo: With that, Councilmember Kagawa.
Councilmember Kagawa: Unfortunately, the Mayor has his schedule
and scheduled the celebration for Tatiana Weston-Webb, silver medalist of the
Olympics for surfing. It puts an exclamation point on our women on Kaua`i in surfing.
There is Brianna Cope and Maluhia Kinimaka putting us on the map. Having taught
at Kapa'a High School back then, these girls were legends from before that. Everyone
COUNCIL MEETING 34 AUGUST 14, 2024
knew that these women were unbelievable, like Ms. Weston-Webb, and she proved
that by being a silver medalist in the Olympics. Congratulations and I am sorry we
could not be there, but we had our Council meeting. Thank you, Chair.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you.
Councilmember Cowden: Could I add to that? Thank you for bringing
her up. I am so proud of Ms. Weston-Webb for doing well. I have known her since she
was in diapers. I am honored to have her be on our surf team, Hanalei School. She is
extraordinary and is such a kind and humble person, so it is really an honor to have
our silver medalist be from our hometown on the North Shore. Yay. Good job. She
brought us home proud.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you for that. Is there any other
discussion? With that, we will go into Executive Session, then we will come out in
perhaps ten (10) minutes to fifteen (15) minutes to wrap up the day.
There being no objections, the Council recessed at 10:20 a.m., to convene in
Executive Session.
The meeting reconvened at 10:33 a.m., and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: Mr. Bracken.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
MATTHEW M. BRACKEN, County Attorney: Executive Session,
ES-1133 was held regarding a pending claim. The discussion needs to remain
confidential at this time, so there is nothing to disclose.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back
to order, and proceeded as follows:
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you so much. With that, this meeting
is adjourned.
ADJOURNMENT.
There being no further business, the Council Meeting adjourned at 10:33 a.m.
Res ectfully submitted,
JADE K. UNTAIN-TANIGAWA
County Clerk
:ss
1
COUNTY OF KAUAI
SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMARY OF LONG-TERM DEBT
June 30,2024
Bonds Issued Bonds Matured Bonds Refunded
July 1,2023 July 1,2023 July 1,2023
Outstanding to to to Outstanding
COUNTY BONDS Original issue July 1,2023 June 30,2024 June 30,2024 June 30,2024 June 30,2024
General Obligation Bonds Series 2010A BABs 47,835,000 30,460,000 - 2,180,000 - 28,280,000
General Obligation Bonds Series 2010A RZEDBs 12,165,000 12,165,000 - - - 12,165,000
General Obligation Bonds Series 2017 24,015,000 20,965,000 - 690,000 - 20,275,000
General Obligation Bonds Series 2021A 6,040,000 4,640,000 - _ 1,472,000 - 3,168,000
General Obligation Bonds Series 2021B 19,329,200 19,329,200 - 2,686,400 - 16,642,800
General Obligation Bonds Series 2010A BABs(Water Portion) 60,000,000 38,185,000 - 2,730,000 - 35,455,000
General Obligation Bonds Series 2021A(Water Portion) 1,510,000 1,160,000 - 368,000 - 792,000
General Obligation Bonds Series 2021E(Water Portion) 1,680,800 1,680,800 - 233,600 - 1,447,200
TOTAL COUNTY BONDS $ 172,575,000 $ 128,585,000 $ - $ 10,360,000 $ - $ 118,225,000
EXCLUDED COUNTY BONDS
Special Tax Revenue Bonds Series 2019(CFD No.2008-1) 20,320,000 20,320,000 - - - 20,320,000
Special Tax Revenue Bonds Series 2022(CFD No.2008-1) 30,810,000 30,590,000 - 280,000 - 30,310,000
The above Summary of General Long-Term Debt was prepared from the records of the Department of Finance in accordance with Sections 47-C-2 and 47-C-3,Hawaii Revised Statutes.
44Pgi--
Chelsie Sakai
Concurred By Deputy Director of Finance
Matthew Bracken Mel Rapozo
County Attorney Chair County Council
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2
TOTAL INDEBTEDNESS OF THE COUNTY OF KAUAI
June 30,2024
COUNTY BONDS Coupon Due Date Principal
General Obligation Bonds Series 2010A BABs:
5.056% August 1,2024 2,290,000
5.293% August 1,2025 2,410,000
5.393% August 1,2026 2,545,000
5 513% August 1,2027 2,685,000
5.613% August 1,2028 2,840,000
5.663% August 1,2029 3,005,000
5.693% August 1,2030 3,180,000
5.723% August 1,2031 3,370,000
5.743% August 1,2032 3,570,000
5.763% August 1,2033 2,385,000
$ 28,280,000
General Obligation Bonds Series 2010A RZEDBs:
5.863% August 1,2033 $ 3,140,000
5 913% August 1,2034 9,025,000
$ 12,165,000
General Obligation Bonds Series 2017
3 000% August 1,2024 715,000
5.000% August 1,2025 745,000
5.000% August 1,2026 785,000
5 000% August 1,2027 825,000
5.000% August 1,2028 865,000
2.500% August 1,2029 900,000
5.000% August 1,2030 935,000
5.000% August 1,2031 980,000
4.000% August 1,2032 1,025,000
4.000% August 1,2033 1,070,000
3.000% August 1,2034 1,105,000
3.000% August 1,2035 1,140,000
3.000% August 1,2036 1,175,000
5.000% August 1,2037 1,225,000
3.000% August 1,2038 1,275,000
3.000% August 1,2039 1,310,000
3.125% August 1,2040 1,350,000
3.125% August 1,2041 1,395,000
5 000% August 1,2042 1,455,000
$ 20,275,000
General Obligation Bonds Series 2021A.
5 000% August 1,2024 1,544,000
5.000% August 1,2025 1,624,000
$ 3,168,000
General Obligation Bonds Series 2021 B:
0.520% August 1,2024 2,695,600
3
0.875% August 1,2025 2,718,600
1 180% August 1,2026 2,746,200
1 500% August 1,2027 2,783,000
1 600% August 1,2028 2,824,400
1 875% August 1,2029 2,875,000
$ 16,642,800
General Obligation Bonds Series 2010A BABs(Water Portion):
5.056% August 1,2024 2,870,000
5.293% August 1,2025 3,025,000
5.393% August 1,2026 3,190,000
5.513% August 1,2027 3,370,000
5.613% August 1,2028 3,560,000
5.663% August 1,2029 3,770,000
5.693% August 1,2030 3,990,000
5.723% August 1,2031 4,220,000
5.743% August 1,2032 4,470,000
5.763% August 1,2033 2,990,000
$ 35,455,000
General Obligation Bonds Series 2021A(Water Portion):
5.000% August 1,2024 386,000
5.000% August 1,2025 406,000
$ 792,000
General Obligation Bonds Series 2021 B(Water Portion):
0.520% August 1,2024 234,400
0.875% August 1,2025 236,400
1 180% August 1,2026 238,800
1.500% August 1,2027 242,000
1.600% August 1,2028 245,600
1.875% August 1,2029 250,000
$ 1,447,200
Total General Obligation Indebtedness Outstanding as of June 30,2024: 118,225,000
4
EXCLUDED COUNTY BONDS
Special Tax Revenue Bonds Series 2019(CFD No.2008-1):
4.000% May 15,2025 $ 15,000
4.000% May 15,2026 30,000
4.000% May 15,2027 50,000
4 000% May 15,2028 70,000
5.000% May 15,2029 95,000
5.000% May 15,2030 125,000
5 000% May 15,2031 150,000
5 000% May 15,2032 180,000
3.000% May 15,2033 210,000
3.000% May 15,2034 240,000
3.000% May 15,2035 275,000
3.250% May 15,2036 300,000
3.250% May 15,2037 335,000
3.250% May 15,2038 375,000
3.250% May 15,2039 410,000
5.000% May 15,2040 450,000
5.000% May 15,2041 500,000
5.000% May 15,2042 550,000
5.000% May 15,2043 1,810,000
5 000% May 15,2044 1,950,000
5.000% May 15,2045 2,105,000
5.000% May 15,2046 2,260,000
5 000% May 15,2047 2,430,000
5.000% May 15,2048 2,610,000
5.000% May 15,2049 2,795,000
$ 20,320,000
Special Tax Revenue Bonds Series 2022(CFD No.2008-1):
4 000% May 1,2025 325,000
4.000% May 1,2026 380,000
4.000% May 1,2027 430,000
4.000% May 1,2028 485,000
4.000% May 1,2029 540,000
4.000% May 1,2030 595,000
5.000% May 1,2031 660,000
5.000% May 1,2032 730,000
4 000% May 1,2033 805,000
4.000% May 1,2034 875,000
4.375% May 1,2035 950,000
4.375% May 1,2036 1,035,000
4.375% May 1,2037 1,125,000
4.375% May 1,2038 1,210,000
4 375% May 1,2039 1,310,000
4 375% May 1,2040 1,415,000
4 375% May 1,2041 1,520,000
5
4 375% May 1,2042 1,635,000
5.000% May 1,2043 630,000
5.000% May 1,2044 690,000
5.000% May 1,2045 750,000
5.000% May 1,2046 820,000
5.000% May 1,2047 885,000
5.000% May 1,2048 955,000
5.000% May 1,2049 1,035,000
5.000% May 1,2050 4,110,000
5.000% May 1,2051 4,410,000
$ 30,310,000
The above Summary of General Long-Term Debt was prepared from the records of the Department of Finance in accordance with Sections 47-C-2 and 47-C-3,Hawaii Revised Statutes.
Chelsie Sakai
Concurred By Deputy Director of Finance
Matthew Bracken Mel Rapozo
County Attorney Chair County Council