16 Water Resources Committee - Regular Meeting

Aloha kakaiaka kākou and welcome to the What's Up Committee meeting of Monday, June 29th, 2026. It is now 9.01. I'm Shane Sinensi, your committee chair. Mahalo everyone for attending this meeting. Just a reminder for members of the public to please silence your cell phones or any noise making devices. Members, in accordance with the Sunshine Law, if you're not in the council chamber, please identify by name who, if anyone, is in the room, vehicle, or workspace with you today, and minors do not need to be identified. Also, please see the last page of the agenda for information on meaning connectivity. Joining us this morning, we have committee members, Vice Chair Gabe Johnson. Aloha and good morning. You're muted. Can we unmute, member, committee, Vice Chair Johnson? Or are we at one of those Monday morning? Okay, members. We'll recess for two minutes until we can figure this out again. Welcome back to the Wasop Committee meeting of Monday, June 29th, 2026. It is now 9.05. Mahalo for that quick break. Continuing on with the introductions of our committee members, we have Committee Vice Chair Johnson. Aloha and good morning.

morning chair council members community members i hope you all can hear me now there's no testifiers at the london e district office i'm alone on my side of the office enjoying some delicious cookies from hannah that council members nancy brought over when he joined us at the pineapple festival this weekend we had a real good time and thank you all for coming who could make it thank you chair yes marlo for hosting i did have some chocolate meat last night

Also joining us in the council chambers, we have Council Member Batangan. Aloha and good morning. Aloha kakahiaka kakou. Also joining us from the South Maui District Office, we have Council Member Tom Cook. Aloha and good morning.

Aloha, good morning, Chair. There's nobody here. Well, my EA is in the office, but I'm alone in my office here in South Kihei. It's good to be back in the offices open and we currently have no testifiers.

Thanks for joining us. Also joining us online is Chair Lee with her Popoki Jill. Aloha and good morning.

Yeah, she's the only one, but she's not gonna testify today. Aloha and Xin chào in case you're going to Vietnam. And I'm glad to hear that Tom is back in his office, but I hope all of you got the email. Be on alert for other people. Thank you.

Thanks, Shirley. Also joining us in the chambers is Council Member Tamara Poulton. Aloha and good morning.

Aloha kakāyaka kākou. Streaming live and direct from the Council Chambers. Thank you.

Thanks for being here. Do we see Council Member Rollins-Fernandez yet? I'm sure she'll jump on in a little bit.

Aloha kakāyaka, Chair. Oh, she is. I will have my video on in just a second.

In reality, they don't really have a lot of enforcement.

I am at my present.

And some of that comes back, you know, about a policy decision.

I think we have somebody online, if they can mute. Okay, go ahead now.

I think that might be me, hold on. You can go to the next one.

Oh, sorry, you're in another meeting, okay. Also joining us here in the chambers is Councilmember Yuceli Sugimura. Aloha and good morning.

Good morning, Chair. And I also would like to thank, as we were talking about the Pineapple Festival, Member Uhuhajens, your Makawa Parade was awesome too. So thank you, everybody. The community was definitely alive this weekend.

Oh, great. Glad everyone survived the weekend. Also joining us online and en route to the council chambers is Council Member Nohe Uhuhajens. Aloha and good morning.

Aloha chairs and ciao everyone. Yes, I'm on my way. I will be there in maybe 15-17 minutes. It's just me in the car right now. We did have a good time at the Makwa Rodeo Parade and it starts off like a week-long fest in Makwa. So if you guys are available, come check it out. It ends with the rodeo on Sunday, so... But thank you, and I'll be there in person, Chair. If you don't mind, I'm also going to turn off my camera as I drive and I'll listen. Thank you.

Okay, thank you for that. From the administration, we have Director Maggie Willis, the Department of Human Concerns. Hello and good morning.

Aloha, everybody. Good morning. Thank you for having me.

Also joining us, Lane, we have Ms. Naomi Crozier, the Homeless Coordinator, Office of the Mayor. I know she is... online and probably calling in from Molokai. Good morning.

Good morning.

Also, we've sent invitations to different departments for their comments. We have Director of OEV Resources, Director Molitao. We invited Deputy Director Robinson. Aloha and good morning.

Aloha. Good morning to you all.

Mahalo for being here or online. Um, also we've sent, uh, invitations to the department of public works as well as the police department and the department of fire and public safety. Captain 30 Oh, um, fire department. I have kept in Purdy on my notes, but if, if there are other representatives, uh, welcome to the meeting. Um, also joining us is Miss, uh, Yukari Murakami from the corporation council. Aloha and good morning.

Good morning. Chair.

Thank you for being here. Without objections, members, I'll designate the administration personnel mentioned to serve as resource personnel to the committee under Rule 18A of the Rules of the Council because of their familiarity with and their expertise in departmental matters related to today's agenda item, members.

No objection.

No objections. Also joining us is our What's Up Committee staff. Aloha and good morning. Okay, members, we have one item on today's agenda, the pilot project using county parking lots for human habitation update, WSAP 1, parent 2. Since this is the only item on today's item, I'll take testimony after receiving opening comments from the administration resources. And then just as a reminder, well, we'll remind the testifiers as we move along. Today's agenda, what's up one pairing two members on April 2022, the council voted to add 200,000, excuse me, in the fiscal year 2023 budget to the Department of Housing and Human Concerns to establish a safe zone or sleeping space for the houseless. Then in June 2022, ordinance 5419 became effective, amending chapter 10.76 of the Maui County Code to add a new section 10.76.076. This new section authorized, excuse me, an anticipated pilot project to allow people experiencing houselessness to temporarily use their vehicles for purposes of human habitation during specified hours and subject to other restrictions at certain parking lots to be designated and managed by the county. The ordinance's purpose was to establish a safe sleeping space for people using their cars for shelter. Absent this legislation, using vehicles for human habitation between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. while the vehicle is parked on any roadway, street, highway, or other public property is prohibited by Section 291C-112 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes. And members, this statute is on Granicus as number five. On February 25th, 2025, this committee received an update on this pilot project. A request for proposals in the spring of 2025 resulted in a contract related to the Safe Parking Program being awarded. We understood a contract had been executed to use a portion of the Maui Economic Opportunity Punene property for the pilot project. And today we will be receiving another update on the pilot project from the Department of Humane Concerns Director Willis. and Ms. Naomi Crozier, the Homeless Coordinator for the Office of the Mayor. We've also invited representatives of the Departments of OUV Resources and Public Works, police and fire representatives to comment if they like, and to answer any questions from this body. We're happy to have a director, newly elected director of human concerns, Ms. Willis, and I know she's kind of taken on this project, and so we're happy that she could come today and give us an update. So with that, I'll turn it over to Director Willis.

Thank you so much, Chair Sinensi. Thank you committee members for the invitation to come and provide an update on where we're at with the safe parking pilot. Before we do that, I just want to thank this committee for your focus on finding appropriate living situations for people experiencing houselessness. It gives me great hope for the future and I know the last meeting, which I wasn't at, I missed all that fun was focused on funding for the housing for our homeless community. And today now we're talking about safe parking. So I want to begin this conversation today emphasizing that safe parking is one of a variety of efforts underway at the direction of and with the full support of the mayor. So while we'll be talking today about some of the barriers and unexpected issues that have delayed this one piece, this is not the only thing we are doing and have been doing to address unsheltered homelessness. So while we've been working with the contractor to find solutions and keep this project moving, I have spent my first almost 90 days here on the job talking story with the community, talking to other departments, service providers, and people living in the encampments. And I cannot tell you how eager people are to be part of the solution. So there are so many great ideas coming out of these conversations and so much willingness to dig in and partner with the county. People are not just coming with their hands out looking for resources, they're bringing resources. They're saying, how can we use our existing capacity to be a force multiplier in the effort to address unsheltered homelessness and people living in our encampments? I've been taking all of this in and really starting to co-design some ways to repurpose or expand what we have now, as well as to create new programs that people will actually want. And so I recognize that this agenda today is limited to safe parking, so I don't want to go too far off the path. I just ask that you please keep in mind that this administration is working on several other low barrier alternatives that we hope to be able to share out soon. I know the community is frustrated and wants to see something done right now, and I want that too. And I can promise you that the people living in their cars and in these encampments want that too. The people I've spoken to are eager to partner with us. And although I'm playing a little catch up here, I just feel like there's a great deal of momentum right now. And so I ask that you please don't give up yet. Please hold that hope. I want to also emphasize that the delays with this project are tied to the site that was identified, not the operator. AGON is ready to implement. They have their operations on standby while we try to sort out some of these challenges with the site. The delays really center on site readiness, largely due to the unforeseen issues caused by the Kona lows. So I invited Melvin Johnson, the principal of Agion, the contractor selected to do this work, to provide testimony this morning after I give you guys kind of the update here. So let me walk you through sort of the timeline of where we're at and how we got here. Council Member Sinensi mentioned the RFP that was released in March, closed in May. We reviewed the available proposals. In August, a recommendation was made to award this project to Agion. They proposed the site at 21 Hanson Road, which is private property. As mentioned, it is not county land. And then between August and December, there were some subcontractor changes. And so we were able to execute that agreement in December. And a notice to proceed was issued December 11th, 2025. As Chair Sinensi mentioned, there was a proposal to add $162,500 to the project budget in order to meet some emerging needs as the contractor started to dig into that site. That budget amendment was approved by council, but that contract was not amended. The Department of Human Concerns made an intentional decision to not amend the contract until there was forward movement on the project. So that $162,500 will be going back into unspent funds. At this point, we did not feel like we needed to appropriate those and encumber those extra funds given the delays in the project. So we are six and a half months into a 12-month agreement. Since the agreement was executed, MEO and AGON did complete their letter of agreement for the land use. Again, this is an example of the generosity of our community that a private entity is donating their land and giving permission. to use their property with no cost to the county to be able to do this project. So thank you to MEO for that generosity. The ROE for the use of old Punanee Avenue is ready to go, it's on hold. We haven't issued it until we have worked out the issues with this site, but we are ready to move on that once we do. In February, there were some other contracting changes, some changes with the primary construction subcontract, which Mr. Johnson can speak about further. And then, of course, we had the Kona lows. There was... an incredible amount of flooding that happened at the site this is the site right behind the target and i think everyone saw what happened to the target all of that mud and water flew right over this property uh uh into that area and so it made us sort of take a step back and and reevaluate that site we needed to be super super clear and make sure that there would be appropriate um exit opportunities for people should there be additional flooding. And so we're reevaluating what we would need to do with old Puʻunini Avenue to make that site safe and accessible. Even the secondary exit via Hanson was severely impacted by the flooding. So we just want to make sure that site is safe. So where we are now in reassessing that property, is we're looking at approximately, based on what AGN is sharing with us, approximately four weeks for topographic mapping of the site to be completed for being able to appropriately plan for the fencing and the driveway, which will be necessary. at the end of Old Bunene Avenue to connect it to the site. And then after that topographic mapping is done, the engineer needs a couple weeks to actually develop the plan. And then we're looking on the long end of maybe three or four weeks for permitting to do the work and completing the ROE. We might be able to accelerate that a little at the county, but we're still estimating three to four weeks. And then an additional potential 60 days to do the work of grading and and putting in a simple driveway to connect the the site to old avenue so we're looking at right now a total of about five months for that site for site readiness So again, during this time, we've been having conversations with Corporation, Council, and Finance about how much flexibility there is in the award while still honoring the original solicitation. Mr. Johnson will talk a little bit more about the site options that he's tried to get commitments for to potentially pivot this site. And we are also looking at potential ways to perhaps fold safe parking into a larger initiative, such as a safe sleeping site, to be able to leverage infrastructure and leverage staffing and things to do a bigger project than just safe parking in order to provide the variety of housing opportunities and living situations that would maybe be more attractive to our folks that are unsheltered right now. And so again, while the contractor is ready to go operationally, we are working to remove barriers to this site and prep this site. We're looking at other options. We're conferring with AG on about how we might be able to move this forward faster while we are concurrently working on other options like safe sleeping and other things. We are, you know, keep in mind we have a lot of other initiatives happening. We are working with Andrew Martin and his Partners in Healing initiative to develop diversion programs for people who are justice involved. So we're looking at ways that we can expand access to substance use treatment and behavioral health beds to support that. We are looking at other ways that we can create and expand on places for people to sleep, like safe sleeping. We are looking at other things in terms of even preventing people from becoming homelessness. So looking at ways that we can expand and leverage state funding that will be coming down for things like rural medical respite expansions. We're looking at opioid settlement funds and how those could be used to perhaps head off people in addiction and prevent them from ever becoming homeless. And we want to look at resources to support our kupuna because caregiving allows people to age in place and prevents them from entering institutional settings or being forced out of their homes. And so we really want to look at how we can add appropriate housing for people who are low income here to prevent them from ever becoming homeless. So there's a multi-pronged approach in play. And while we're talking about safe parking today, please keep in mind that we are not putting all our eggs in this one basket. Thank you.

Mahalo, Director Willis. Chair wanted to recognize Member Rollins-Fernandez.

Aloha again, Chair. Aloha again, Kako. I'm at my private residence alone in the room I'm in. My two minor children may be walking around, as well as my adult husband, Makena Fernandez. And there are no testifiers at the Molokai District Office. Mahalo, Chair.

Mahalo for joining us. Before I go on to... Homeless Coordinator Crozier. I think she just jumped on the plane. So maybe I'll go next to Deputy Director Robinson for any opening comments.

I aloha, good morning, Chair, good morning, council members. Mahalo nui for this opportunity to come before you this morning. I want to also mahalo Director Willis. She has been involving the Department of OIV Resources in these conversations about solutions for our houseless. The Department of OIV Resources has been able to share with Director Willis some of our thoughts some indigenous perspectives, some Native Hawaiian perspectives on how we malama kanaka, how we malama aina, and malama kekahi kekahi, how we take care of each other. You know, our biggest opportunity here is to help in these programs guide that indigenous perspective towards caring for people, for aloha kekahi kekahi, and for building pilina, or a closeness between kanaka and the land that they live in. From here on out, our department has been committed to providing Director Willis and other departments within the administration our support and our guidance when it's possible. And I know folks think that OEV resources, or they may think that, what does OEV resources have to do with homelessness or houselessness in our county. But know that in our hearts and in our na'au, we are very much tied to this as kanaka oiwi, as some people call the hosts. But really, our environment, it leaves instructions for us on how to take care of each other and how to live in harmony within our environment. And I don't mean to make it sound romantic because I know that there are a lot of issues that are facing our people. but i appreciate that we get this opportunity to present our perspective to present you know to to uplift and support um the care of our kanaka which is oev part of the oev resources so mahalo new chair mahalo director willis thank you council members uh aloha

Model Deputy Director Robinson. Next, we'll go to Captain Angel of the Police Department. Is he on?

Yes, good morning, Chair and Council Members. Can you folks hear me?

Morning. Morning. Yes, we can hear you.

Thank you very much for allowing me to testify. Some of the concerns that we have as far as law enforcement issues are that and I'll try to go through these as quickly as possible. So one of our main concerns is that not all the parks are equipped with restrooms. uh and that's a that's obviously a sanitation issue on public health issue as well um i'm not sure if we keep the restrooms open overnight or not through that period of time where those folks are allowed to actually park there um but again it's just one of the concerns as far as sanitary conditions obviously is uh is our primary our primary concern as far as uh the bathrooms being um also who as far as enforcing time as far as uh having uh these folks exit uh when they're supposed to is that going to be a parks uh parks enforcement issue or is that going to be an mpd issue we're concerned a little bit about that um Overnight occupancy of the park were our opinion is that there's a chance there's going to be increased calls for service at these parks, possibility of more drinking, even though, of course, we know we can't do that or drug use or whatnot. So our main concern over there is that we may be actually called at an increased level to come to respond to situations down there. um increases in disturbances uh noise complaints um anything like that obviously we're going to be probably dispatched down there to at least assist if not enforce what we need to enforce Vehicles that are uninsured in the parks, inoperable, we're worried about who's gonna be, is that gonna be a county issue as far as having those vehicles towed? Is it gonna fall on us? And then obviously any vehicles that are left unattended, they're gonna have to be moved every morning as we move forward with this. Also, ownership coordinating towing services. Again, just part of the bigger picture, which is if we do run into situations where we have abandoned vehicles down there or that is this going to be costing the county more money to have these vehicles towed because they have to be cleared out of the parks. Lastly, just overall enforcement concerns for us. um are we is like i said earlier just you know what what is our what what is we know what our role is obviously in all this but at the same time is we're more worried about increased calls for service down there um uh and we know that the park rangers can handle most of it but we're also just we're there to help them if need be But if anything else, we want to make sure that if we can limit our calls for service down there in any way, yeah, obviously that's something that would work out for us, obviously. And yeah, in a nutshell, that's all I had. And I really appreciate the opportunity for me to testify. Thank you.

Mahalo captain angel for that. And, and if you can just hang around with us as members might have some questions for you later. Um, thank you. Uh, next we have captain Purdy for the fire department for opening comments.

Good morning chair and council members. Um, We didn't get really a chance to take a look at this plan. So I guess the one things that we're mainly concerned about is access to the area and then also whether or not we've got some water supply close by. And then how many vehicles are we looking at on this property and then whether or not there's a plan to allow us to get onto this property and be able to maneuver our vehicles be able to put out any type of fires that might occur on this property and whether or not we've got um areas that where we can uh protect those occupants in case there is a fire on those vacant lands um that's about all that we've got concerns about right now until we see the plan uh for sure but thank you for allowing me to speak hello captain purdy um

Were there, staff, were there any other departments that wanted to provide some opening comments?

Chair, I don't know if Ms. Crozier is available from the mayor's office.

Yeah, I did get a text that she was just boarding the plane, but we can come back to her maybe after testimony. Okay, thank you.

We did invite Public Works, but they were unable to attend.

Okay.

Did you invite parks?

We did not.

Okay.

And I think only because this was on private property and the pilot project was on private property and not on a county park.

So police didn't, police doesn't know what the plan is?

I did hear that they mentioned county rangers. Director Willis?

So we think the confusion is the agenda item as it was written, because the agenda item specifically says county parks or county land. Um, but the pilot program that was, um, solicited and asked for people to bring their own site. And so this pilot that we're talking about today is on private property. Thank you for the clarification.

Is that sufficient? Um, this work call me. Okay, thank you. All right, members, before we begin our discussion, let's take testimony for what's up one parent to staff. Do we have any testifiers signed up? yes chair we okay um let's start public testimony or testimony via phone or video conference will be accepted testifiers wanting to provide video audio testimony should sign up in the chamber join the online meeting via the teams link or call into the phone number noted on today's agenda for individuals wishing to testify via teams please raise your hand by clicking on the raise hand button For those calling in, please follow the prompts via phone, star five to raise and lower your hand, and star six to mute and unmute. Staff will add names to the testifier list in the order testifiers sign up or raise their hands in. For those on team, staff will lower your hand once your name is added. Staff will then enable your microphone and video and call the name you're logged in under or the last four digits of your phone number when it's time to testify. Written testimonies encouraged and can be submitted via the e-comment link at maoecounty.us slash agendas. Oral testimony is limited to three minutes per item. If you're still testifying beyond that time, I'll kindly ask you to complete your testimony. Please ensure your name appears in Microsoft Teams as the name you prefer to be referred to or anonymous if you wish to testify anonymously. If you're in person, please notify staff that you'd like to testify anonymously. Otherwise, please state your name for the record at the beginning of your testimony. Once you're done testifying, or if you do not wish to testify, you can view the meeting on Akaku Channel 53, Facebook Live, or MauiCounty.us slash agendas. Again, mahalo for your cooperation in advance. Committee members, I'll now proceed with oral testimony, and we'll do our very best to take up everyone in an orderly fashion.

Chair, the first individual signed up to testify is Tim Ordon, to be followed by Melvin Johnson.

Good morning, Ms. Ordon.

Good morning.

Mr. Ordon, sorry.

Aloha. It's wonderful that people have this opportunity issue on their minds and in their hearts and in their behavior. I do want to say a few things about urgency. It seems that from my point of view, I've seen a lot of bureaucratic barriers come up. And maybe people aren't really thinking about just what it would be like if they were trying to sleep in their car with all the related problems of doing so to uh to be in your car and not feel safe to have traffic and loud noises and scary things happening you don't even know what they are. You're just trying to get some sleep so that maybe you can get a leg up in the morning if you have a job, and many do, and try to get it together. We need to start feeling more about what it feels like so that there's a bigger sense of urgency about making this happen. keep it in your mind please that these are people like your neighbors we see that happening all the time now people are losing their homes they the the rents are going up they don't have money to get another place and they just find that they have to go and get in their car put their stuff in a storage space and just hope that they can get it together and you know what this is going to continue to happen in our community It's not going away. It's not going to even out. It's going to get worse. Let's be aware of that and start behaving accordingly. It's going to get worse. Now, if the optics of it are a problem, the optics are going to get worse too. That means everybody in a position of the administration on one form or another or in our charitable organizations it's gonna look like everybody's failing. We have to double up and start assuming that there's going to be this avalanche of homelessness, houselessness. Please, let's really get serious about this, try to bust through some of this bureaucracy, and make this happen. I thank you very much for your time, and you all be well.

Mr. Hardin, for your testimony this morning, let me check if there's any questions for you. Members, any questions for Mr. Hardin? Seeing none, thank you for being here. Okay, thank you, guys. Staff?

You got a question?

Chair, the next testifier is Melvin Johnson to be followed by Lisa Darcy.

Chair would also like to welcome Member Uuhajins to the chambers, welcome.

Aloha, Chair.

Good morning, council members. I prepared kind of a basis and a baseline in this testimony, but since Director Willis has pretty much given that, I'll try to condense it down, and I would like to offer myself to become a resource for the council if necessary for any further clarification or information needed. I'm willing to do that as well. But thank you for this opportunity to come forth and give some clarification and more information on my testimony this morning. I'm Melvin Johnson, principal for AGEON, a locally based and operated company, which was awarded on December 11, 2025, our notice to proceed as a vendor for the Safe Parking Pilot Program. Ajian's proposal outlined the Safe Parking Program to be set up and implemented at the property of Maui Economic Opportunity, their base yard at 43 Hanson Road, Kahului. MUO graciously has agreed to sponsor the implementation of the program on their property. But that being said, Although initial permission was granted, the proper documentation and legal foundation had to be set in this agreement, and once it was awarded and drafted up, that took some time barriers. Once we obtained that, AJN sought to engage site creation for the program from our sub-vendor, at which time we unfortunately found that our sub-vendor's readiness and cooperation was inadequate in moving the project forward. Fortunately, Adrian was able to pivot to another subcontractor, a local subcontractor, but this did create additional delays in submitting the adjustment and request for amendment to the county as well as revisiting the budget so that it aligns with what we had initially submitted, if not better. Uh, while waiting for this and other steps in the creation of the site agent did try to cut down delays and bring the program online to meet the community's dire need for solutions in our homeless populace by looking at other readily available sites that had the necessary infrastructure in place already. Um, Although he John did engage several inquiries with several property owners and managers for potential sites that could fulfill the pivoting to another location unfortunately ultimately all in our process of looking were unwilling expressing NIMBY ideations at the heart of denying a request for usage there are there was also the matter of waiting for the county to actually provide the answer if we were able to pivot and in, in seeking, um, I guess guidance from court counsel and um, also mitigating the timeline where the newly appointed Director Willis had to be approved and brought in in this process. However, as Director Willis pointed out, our biggest setback was in the site creation when we were hit with a two-corner lows on Maui, highlighting the danger of extreme flooding through the area, causing not only damage to the MEO property, but to the neighboring property, as she mentioned, Target. This led to the additional process of engaging an engineer for assessment and approval towards the actual viability of the site. Wrap it up on safe creation of the entry and all due to this information we just received. I would like to express that AGEON has not been idle in this process to bring this program to the community, a necessary part of a multi-tiered approach that, as Director Willis outlined, is needed for the solutions for Maui's homeless populace. AGEON is ready with all policies, procedures, experienced personnel, and collaborative partnerships, as well as assets in place for any safe and stable operations and management of sites. AJN seeks to be transparent in all aspects of our mission to bring solutions to our county. And again, I just wanted to say that we're willing to become a resource for any further clarifications and information. Thank you guys for your time and your focus on this issue.

Hello, Mr. Johnson. We have a couple questions for you from Member Palten and Member Sugimura.

Thank you, Chair. I would like them as a resource, but I can ask them clarifying questions now or wait as well.

Okay, members, any objections to making Mr. Johnson a resource?

No objections.

Okay. No objections. Thank you, members. Staff?

Member Johnson, please stand.

Member Johnson has a question. Committee Vice Chair Johnson, go ahead.

I have no objections with him being a resource. I just have a clarifying question, a word that he said, if I could ask him just to clarify real quick.

Go ahead, Committee Vice Chair.

Mr. Johnson, did you say folks had NIMBY ideations? Is that the terms you used?

I wouldn't accurately say I use. It's just unfortunately become a term as far as that. It's just not in my backyard. That's all it stands for. I don't agree with it, but it's what's used.

That's what I thought you said. I just wanted to clarify. I never heard it put that way, but thanks for clarifying. Thank you, Chair.

Member Butongan. Thank you, Chair. Since the proposed pilot project is for land on MEO's base yard, I have a conflict. We'll be abstaining from discussing and voting, but I just want the record to reflect that with the appointment of Mr. Johnson as special resource that I am...

out of that one and uh miss um yukari is there we're not voting on anything today can can uh council member batonga and still participate

No, he's not going to be able to participate in the discussion and voting, so he's recusing everything.

So you asked the members to designate him as a resource without objection. I just want it on record that I'm abstaining from that portion of the conversation as well.

Okay, duly noted. Okay, thank you, Member Botonga. Member Rollins-Fernandez.

Mahalo chair and mahalo folks are referring to a written document. I don't know if like folks in the chamber received it and those online did not or can we get whatever it is that they've kind of been referencing if it's written.

Okay, that's all.

Mahalo, Chair.

Okay, well, Chair, did you have a written document or Mr. Johnson?

I have talking points. Does that count as a written document?

Oh, no, I just thought there was a plan. There was like a proposed plan that Mr. Johnson said in testimony. There was a proposal.

No, there's not a specific plan yet. To clarify, we're working on those ideas, but we don't have a written plan just yet. Mahalo, Director.

Thank you for the question. I do recognize we're still in public testimony.

Mahalo, Chair. Member Rollins-Fernandez, there was a notice of award. I don't know if you're referring to that, a request, the RFP?

Yeah, no, it's okay. It was clarified. Go ahead, Chair.

All right.

Thank you for that. Staff, can you call the next testifier, please? Chair, the next individual up to testify is Lisa Darcy to be followed by Gordon Jackson. Aloha, Ms. Darcy.

Good morning, Chair. Good morning, everyone. I'm going to need some divine intervention this morning because, oh my gosh, what I'm just learning. My name is Lisa Darcy. I'm the founder of Share Your Mana and the director. We are the original authors of the quote safe parking project that happened years ago. And if you need a refresher on the newsletter that I wrote this eight pages long, I will send it to you all on what happened. So what I'm gathering today is that the team of people who are living houseless that actually authored this project, what is happening today is completely different. So if anybody feels confused, you should be confused, because I'm just learning of this today. I'm just learning that Agion was awarded the project, that it was gonna be on MEO's land. This is a completely different project. Okay, so if you're confused, you should be because I'm thoroughly confused. I want to say that I respect the work that the AG on team does. However, the whole idea behind most of all this is that people are getting citations, people are having to go through court, they're getting ticketed, they're living in their vehicles. When they're in their vehicles, cops will tag it and people will tag it and say, you're abandoned and the county removes it, removes their home. I wanna remind people this, if you haven't been in this conversation for five, 10, and really since the overthrow, then you're not putting all the pieces together. And I feel like every time we come in here, the people who are presenting count on you not knowing the pieces. And so we have all of these other different conversations and it gets split up. And someone was talking about the bureaucracy and the urgency and the urgency gets killed because of all of it. I mean, this is astronomical confusion today for me. And I just have to say that, like I said, I need some divine intervention because this is off the hook. There are so many points I want to make that are there. I don't even know where to start. I don't even know where to start. But just to let everyone know, this is not the safe parking project. And you understand that because the director or the fire, fire department representative is talking about this being in a park this morning. Everyone who's coming here today, I thought this was about discussions of it being in the park and how that was gonna happen, EMTD. So this is a whole, we're talking about apples and oranges right now. And the bottom line is, it's just another set of confusing pieces that is going to leave so many people We continue, this body continues, and the mayor continues to leave people in danger. And it's completely preventable.

Mahalo, Ms. Darcy. Members, any questions for Ms. Darcy? And I'm sure we'll have some more questions for the department. Member Cook has a question for you.

Thank you. Excellent.

Good morning, Mr. Darcy. Thank you for coming today. My clarifying question is my understanding the safe parking and the parks initially and the safe parking in general was designed for people who are living in their cars and would have overnight safe parking, would leave during the day. Is that in alignment with what you're thinking?

Yeah, absolutely. And as Director Willis pointed out earlier, there are so many different groups in need. And we were starting with just seriously the simplest, easiest thing. You drive your car in, you drive your car out. You're not gonna have, and that doesn't even help any of the people that are living in vehicles that don't run or people who are living unsheltered. So this is seriously 20 people. This was like 20 people. And it's years later, I'm sorry, my divine intervention is getting, I need divine intervention.

No, so thank you. That clarifying question helped clarify it because there's so many people that are needing help. You were in alignment that the safe, or agreement, the safe parking wasn't going to address people who are in illegal or in unoperable areas. Yeah, no, no, not at all, yeah. Okay, thank you very much.

Thank you. Okay, anyone else? If not, Mahalo Ms. Darcy for your testimony.

I'm also available as a resource. Jessie?

Thank you for that.

Yeah, yeah, great.

Thank you. Staff? Chair, the next individual to testify is Gordon Jackson to be followed by Bill Greenleaf.

Good morning, Mr. Jackson.

Good morning. Most people on the street call me Stitch. I find this amazing. I googled yesterday the number of homeless or houseless people on Maui and Google came back with what I figured was a conservative estimate of 651. The reason I call that a conservative estimate is because I probably know more than that. Now the thing that comes to my mind is that we don't have any money to address the houseless situation, but yet we got $300,000 to rebuild a parking lot in Paia. $12 million to relocate the Paia Youth and Cultural Center. Probably gonna be another 10 million into that chunk of land between Lower Paia and Baldwin that they're proposing. $2 million in McKenna. Why can't we just build one campground for all these houseless people to safely survive until they can find housing. I mean, it's just ludicrous to me what's happening today. I mean, the idea of temporarily using the overnight parking lots sounds great to me. Most of the parking lots already have toilets and sinks where people can wash, Perhaps Melvin could station one or two of his people at each place to ensure that things don't get too far out of hand, have the local law enforcement crews by once in a while. I mean, right now at Baldwin Beach, you have people smoking fentanyl in the bathroom. I mean, personally, I don't care, but there's children going in and out of there all the time. And that's in the middle of the afternoon. I mean, we aren't doing anything here to help these people. So I guess that's about all I have to say. Thank you.

MR. Mahler, Mr. Jackson, for your testimony. Member Uhuhajens has a question for you.

Thank you for testifying. So you disagree with the point in time count, the number that you Googled. You said, I think it was about 600. You feel like it's more. How many do you think? What do you think the accurate number is?

Oh, I would estimate there's closer to be 1,000 at least.

Okay. Okay, that's all. Thank you so much.

Any other questions for Mr. Jackson? Seeing none, mahalo for being here this morning. Good morning. Mr. Greenleaf?

Chair, the next individual signed up to testify is Bill Greenleaf to be followed by KCFOM.

Mahalo, Chair, Council Members, Director Willis. My name is Bill Greenleaf, and as Tim Ordon said, getting in your heart, seeing what these people are dealing with, the unhoused, the people living in their cars, I left the farm this morning to come down and testify about this. Oftentimes, I leave the farm with some food to take down and go to different cars, and it's horrible. It's so emotional about it. They are human beings, Tim, and people face difficult circumstances. My life's been great, but I've had plenty of times where it hung on a thread. And I think we need to do something. What I'm hearing today has really got me feeling so tense that we've delayed so long that this ordinance was passed by a council under Mayor Victorino, and not implemented. And as you heard, Lisa Darcy from share your motto say, it was meant for people that could drive their car in and drive their car out the next morning. I've been to some mediation after people been to contested cases, and gotten awards from the county for the things that were done to them when their cars were taken and their belongings were taken, their phones, their documents, there were cash awards for this. But more than that, that was a two-year process. What were they doing in the two years? Well, they were suffering. This is a very simple project. It had Share Your Mana listed on the ordinance. They changed ordinances so this would be permitted in the parks. It was set to go. And Mayer didn't do it. And Mayer's now engaged a contractor, which we know is the beginning of a lot more meetings. And nothing against AGON, but it needs to be handled by one or two individuals, streamlined, and just done. And I don't know where we are now, but But during the rest of my time, I want to say I have a bigger vision. You know, Maui is this most gorgeous, wonderful place, but the heart of it is the people. The Hawaiian people and aloha, it's just changed my life. It feels so good to go around and smile and feel loving to everybody. But so many of our citizens are struggling, and we know tourism is part of our economy. Why don't we make a big effort to create villages and farming and services where we can actually create a great story for the rest of the world about how we dealt with our unhoused and people that were struggling with mental illness. Why don't we make that the highest priority? I know it will make Maui much more popular. It will be better for the hotels, God bless them. But most of all, the people that need the help We can do it. It's not a big deal. It's just simply putting your mind to it and not taking any diversions. There's land. The county can buy land. We can create anything we want. But first, let's just get these people that can drive and go to work in a situation where they can get up in the morning instead of having the sweeps come in the middle of the night. And I love what Mayor Bisson's done about the water. He's really protected us. But shame on him for having these sweeps and continuing to have them. when he could have taken a different approach. Thank you.

Mr. Greenleaf for your testimony this morning. Any questions for Mr. Greenleaf? Seeing none.

And thank you all for your work. Thank you for helping out. Every time I come down here and I see what you sit through, thank you.

We appreciate your testimony. Staff?

Chair, the next individual to testify is Casey FOM followed by Graham Press.

Aloha, Casey.

uh aloha my name is karina o'malley i'm sorry i didn't know how to change my my name on teams my name is karina o'malley i'm in kirkland washington i um i think i've testified before folks in maui before i have been running a safe parking program for 15 years for up to 50 cars here in kirkland and i have some relevant experience um just very recently that i'd like to offer myself as a resource if that would be valuable at all Because three months ago, I found out that I had to repave the parking lot that we've been using for 15 years to host folks who are living in their cars. And in three months, I was able to set up four alternative sites for folks. And currently, all of my guests that were at my one site are in four different spots. around the local cities here, including one local city hall offering to host some of our guests who live in their cars right at the city hall parking lot. So I know how easy it is. I know how you can just cut to sort of the core of what you need for a safe parking site and get it done very, very quickly. As Stitch and some other folks have testified, the urgency here is what is important. And I appreciate how hard it is sometimes with construction. I'm experiencing that and all those delays, but helping people can't wait. So let's figure out something faster and sooner so we can help people while you work through all the issues with that longer-term site. And my email address, if you need it, Karina, K-A-R-I-N-A, at lakewaumc.org, L-A-K-E.org.

w-a-u-m-c dot o-r-g thank you so much for your time malo miss o'malley for offering your services and we have your contact number we can we can reach out to you we have a question for you from member sugimura thank you for testifying i'm just wondering if you are working with our our county department of human concerns

I would be happy to. I'm not in current contact. I had some short amount of contact, I think about a year ago, but have not been in contact since. Thank you.

Thank you for joining us from Washington State this morning. Staff?

Chair, the next individual signed up to testify is Graham Press.

Hello, can you hear me?

Yes, we can hear you.

Wonderful. Aloha, chair and council members. My name is Dr. Graham Press, and I am the executive director of the National Vehicle Residency Coalition, a national organization that supports communities, policymakers, and service providers to better understand and respond to people living in vehicles. I've worked with vehicle residents for more than 15 years conducting ethnographic research across the western U.S. and have previously worked in outreach with more than 1,500 vehicle residents helping to start Seattle's first safe parking program in 2011. I'm speaking today in support of developing the overnight safe parking program for people sleeping in vehicles in Maui County. People living in vehicles are already using privately owned emergency shelter beds. Their cars, vans, trucks, and RVs are often the last form of shelter they have left. The question before the county is not whether vehicle residency exists. Of course, it already does. The question is whether Maui will incorporate these shelter spaces safely and productively into the homelessness response system, or whether it will lead people to survive in scattered, informal, and unsupported conditions. I also want to acknowledge that the important feedback given from the police and fire departments, their concerns about safety, access, fire risk and vehicle conditions, emergency response and site management are real and important. And also these issues are highly manageable through clear enrollment rules. Programs can require registration, participant agreements, vehicle information, emergency contacts, fire lanes, conduct expectations, trash rules, limited hours, referral pathways, all these sorts of rules that provide clear procedures around serious and provide clear procedures around serious safety violations. Safe parking does not remove accountability. It creates accountability and connection. It gives outreach workers, safe service providers, police, fire, and county staff a shared framework for knowing who is in their community, what supports they need, and how to respond before a new crisis escalates. The National Vehicle Residency Coalition would be glad to support the Maui County in answering these key questions. We can connect you with national community of practice operating parking programs, such as Carino O'Malley, across the United States, and to help share lessons on program design, safety protocols, enrollment rules, and service partnerships. Thank you for considering this important step to better support vehicle residents in your communities. I'm happy to speak with you further. My email address is graham at vehicleresidency.org. Thank you.

Mahalo, Dr. Press, for your testimony this morning. Members, any questions for Dr. Press? We have a question for you from Member Poulton.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Mr. Press. How did you hear about this presentation?

Thank you for the question. We have been working with members of the community who come to our monthly meetings for several years, actually, and have been following the movement around safe parking programs in Maui County.

And have you reached out to our Human Concerns Department? We have a new director.

I don't believe we have, but I would be happy to connect with them.

Thank you. I think Member Johnson had his hand. Did you?

Committee Vice Chair Johnson, did you have a question? Go ahead.

Yes, thank you, Chair. Mr. Graham, I was writing down your email. Can you say it again for me, please? I beg your pardon.

Yes, I apologize. It's Graham, G-R-A-H-A-M, at vehicle, V-E-H-I-C-L-E-R-E-S-I-D-E-N-C-Y.org. That's vehicleresidency.org. And you can learn more about our organization there as well.

In your experience, have you ever had to do a topographical map for this type of work? It seems like we have a lot of different ways we're going about it. Did you ever do anything like a topo map?

Yes, I've definitely seen these used. I myself have not created one for this because I do more ethnographic work and doing surveys and interviews with folks about their needs assessments. But I definitely have seen these used and there's a lot of information we can help with around spatial determinants of not only vehicle residency, but also of siting for parking programs. The various environmental aspects of programs are very important to make them attractive and useful for their clients.

So basically you don't want to have a parking lot next to like the train tracks or something that were so loud and, you know, that kind of common sense things just seems to me, but okay.

Absolutely. That would be one of them is the sort of the environmental hazards, industrial pollutants, noise. There's also issues around bodies of water because often in hotter climates, vehicle residents would have to run a cooling system. And so bodies of water often provide a natural cooling. There's other determinants like shading, the need for places for social connection and access to stores, work sites and forms of public transportation.

I thank you for that. And you bring up really valid points. Thanks for your work. And I'll probably reach out to you through email. Thank you, Chair.

Mahalo, Committee Vice Chair Johnson. And Mahalo, Dr. Perez for joining us this morning. Staff.

Chair, there is currently no one else who signed up to testify. If somebody would like to testify in the chamber, please let staff know, or on Microsoft Teams, please raise your hand. This is the final call. Three, two, one. Chair, it appears that nobody wishes to testify.

Members, any objections to closing public testimony at this time? Okay, mahalo. And I did get a text from a homeless coordinator, Crozier, she's not able to jump on at this time. Okay, members, it's 10 after 10. I can take a couple questions from the members and then maybe go into our morning recess. I would like to open the floor for questions and comments. Each member will have three minutes for the first round and then three minutes for any subsequent rounds as needed. And we can go ahead and start with Committee Vice Chair Johnson. I believe we do have the fire captain and the police captain and Deputy Director Robinson also for questions.

Great. Director Willis or anyone who wants to jump in, what are the locations that you have considered besides the one location behind Target?

So thank you for the question, committee member. So we've been looking at different county parcels for potential use. Again, we're looking at something that would potentially house something broader than just safe parking, so we can leverage whatever infrastructure we need to put in place for something like safe sleeping and safe parking. So we've been looking at a variety of other county-owned parcels.

Do you have any in particular? You don't have a name of a place?

We've been really just looking in mostly central Maui because that is where the bulk of people are right now. Specific sites, we're having a meeting on Wednesday to go over and try to narrow some things down and make some decisions.

So usually when we talk about county-owned parcels, we're talking about parks. And I'm curious if that upcoming meeting, are you going to have Parks and Rec in that meeting?

We are not looking at park sites right now. We're looking at some of the undeveloped parcels that the county owns.

Okay, so that leads me to my next question then. If we're building this thing from ground up, then this is going to be even longer. When there are existing nonprofits who might be able to work with, you know, like you say, I understand you're open to all the ideas and all the tools in the toolbox. I hear that plenty of times. But if you're considering building it from the ground up, is that okay here's my question is that helping with the sense of urgency that i feel this body has that i feel this community has that i feel the folks who need this have

Yes, and I feel that urgency as well. And I think what we are looking at would be bringing in some immediate infrastructure. So not building a building, right? We would create, we would do some potentially light grading, making sure fire and police have appropriate access to the site. And then we would really just bring in, you know, porta potties and shower trailers and and water buffaloes and lighting and things that we could just plop down for now while we work on the longer term plan. So the idea is to create something that is safer for people to be in than the side of the road with some basic amenities.

You know, we heard the timeline and everything, you know, five months, you know, it's a year long. Okay, I hear my time, so... I think you guys, we applied for a budget amendment for the subcontractors. Is that my understanding? And the subcontractors got switched in, switched out, and now that money's lapsed. It just doesn't seem we're spinning our wheels. Maybe that's a statement, and I hear my time, and I'll wait for a second round, but Director, if you have anything to add, I don't see we're taking one step forward, two step back.

You can wait to answer that on the second round. Okay. Okay. She'll answer that on the second round. Okay. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Vice Chair Johnson. We'll go to Member Batonga and work our way down.

Thank you, Chair. I'm conflicted and cannot participate in discussion. Got it. So I will be abstaining.

Thank you, Chair. Thanks for that reminder. I will go to Member Sugimura and then Member Poulton.

I just was wondering, Ms. Murakami, it sounds like we're not entertaining the MEO site because it flooded. Just for clarification, if we're not entertaining the MEO site, does he still need to recuse himself?

Just for clarification. Clarification. No, if it's not to do with the MEO site, then he's fine. Also, sorry, I had to update Ms. Murakami. Ms. Moniz updated me with that. The council actually allows for discussion when we recuse a member. He just can't advocate for the site. Really?

I thought when I got ethics training, I was told to recuse myself from both decision-making and discussion.

I would say that's true, but we're not discussing the MEO site, right? You guys aren't going to use the MEO site? Or you are going to?

Potentially. potentially that site is still in play.

Oh, okay, sorry. And we're still under contract, which I think is the crucial point here. Ms. Moniz?

And Chair, I'll just read out rule 4C. Abstaining members' participation. An abstaining member may be permitted to participate in the discussion of the matter, except that the member must refrain from advocating for their interest on which the abstention is based during the discussion and may not attend any executive meeting on the matter.

That may be the case, but the written guidance I got from the Board of Ethics said to abstain from discussion, so that's what I'm gonna follow.

Okay, I think that's a separate, yeah, that's fine. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you. Member Sugimura, for your three minutes.

So in general, we are talking about the MEL site, there's a contract. Were we able to get a copy of the contract, or is it not relevant anymore?

I'm sure we can provide that to the committee.

Okay. And I, I appreciate the expertise that we've been seeing Mel Johnson's organization do within, you know, greater communities. So I hope that, this discussion does continue because it seems like he has his boots on the ground basically and able to communicate, understands the law because he was a retired police officer and I see great value in that as we try to deal with the homeless questions that come up so we can be sensitive to what we need to do as a county community and to make it a better life for them. I'm gonna wait for further discussions as this discussion goes deeper, thanks.

Okay, Mahalo Member Sugimura next, Member Paltin.

Thank you, Chair. I guess I don't know who my question is for, but if NIMBY ideation is a problem, how much weight does that carry? Because in the last fiscal year, I identified county-controlled land in my community, and the mayors, somebody got the people under contract, and then they said, oh, but there's apartments in front of it, and so we're not gonna use it. And so people in my community, I mean, right now, low-income HUD gave $200 raises, so people are leaving low-income. I don't know what is below low-income here in Maui, but... That's just the rent increase without the utility increase. And if we're having to provide rental subsidy for low income housing, there's a flood of unsheltered coming. There is land right next to the highway being identified under county control in West Maui. There is a group that signed the contract and it's not moving forward. I think, I don't know if you've been able to reach out to churches or what, but I think we're at the point where we need to just let people use the infrastructure that's existing. We have gyms, we have swimming pools, we have beach parks. If Mr. Johnson is ready to go, if anyone is ready to go, press on the gas. We're at that point. I don't know where people are gonna go when they leave low income, but it sounds like they're gonna go in their cars because you can't get a four bedroom unit for less than 2000 on the open market. So the gentleman that spoke about the sense of urgency, I agree, I'm not seeing it. We tried to start on 2022. I'm not sure if it was you folks that said we have to RFP or contract with non-county lands. That was ridiculous. I don't know why we would do that. Visited the Salvation Army site on Monday morning last week in Hilo. Um, you know, churches are a great partner. Were you able to reach out to any churches, Mr Johnson?

Thank you for the question. I reached out, excuse me, several of them, but they were involved with other projects and at this point, this juncture they weren't, but I'm open to any collaboration with anyone so that we can again,

What allows the MEO parcel to work? I see it's taxed as agriculture. It looks like it's zoned as M1. Are we looking for M1 or PQP? I mean, I don't know if it's a safe lot, being that it's already been flooded out.

Thank you for that. Yes, we're looking towards that because that allows easier usage of the land for that. I'VE TRIED MANY COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES, OBVIOUSLY THEY'RE UNWILLING JUST DUE TO WHAT I HIGHLIGHTED WITH THAT THEY'RE AFRAID OF THE POTENTIAL COLLATERAL.

I guess I would just say that, you know, it's a pilot. And so we need to set the NIMBY on the side because it's unfounded if it's never happened yet. And as the Salvation Army and Hilo, they have set rules, guidelines to address the issues that the police and fire raise. And so, you know, at some point we have to put the NIMBY ideation to the side because it's not founded in reality if it's never happened before, you know, like give it a chance at least.

But I do believe Mr. John, she said the NIMBY was from the

subcontractors no it was from the property owners and property managers and we get it because we see it out there in the community again i do not agree with it and i do believe that a john has the solution to that you know to to bring that collateral damage that they they speak of make sure that it doesn't occur and that's through proper guidance as the testifier earlier laid out that you need proper instruction and policies in place to create that standard of conduct that everyone can follow

Okay, Mahalo for that. Next, we have Member Rollins-Fernandez, followed by Member Cook.

Mahalo, Chair. I know a lot has been mentioned about why we don't have a program already. And just for the record, I looked up the legislation, and in 2022, it was Resolution 22-216, and the Cameron Center, Chair Lee was able to speak to Mr. Chavez. That's his last name, right? Say, sir. Thank you. Say, sir. And... And, you know, he was willing to work with us back then. And we were very close.

It was like, it was a great... Stop laughing, Maribor Botongan, you're making me laugh.

And it was a great location and it was like ready to go. And if folks, you know, look back on how that all fell apart, they'll see why we don't have a program right now. Because mahalo, Chair Lee, for almost getting that program for us. I don't know if that would be, you know, if we checked again, if that location would could be something the board there would be open to. It's, what, 2022, four years later. I don't know. I don't really have a question. I guess it's just important to just provide context for folks that are listening. to understand some of the background of what happened. Because, you know, there was funding and we're very close. But we received some opposition and it didn't end up going through. And that's why we didn't have a program in 2022. And we would have had a pilot and would have been able to gain some experience and learn how to improve in the four years if we had just started in 2022, but we didn't. And so we don't have a program and that's where we are now. Mahalo Chair.

Mahalo for that context. Member Rollins-Fernandez, Director Willis, did you want to say anything to that? Okay.

I mean, she wasn't here. She doesn't have to. I know because I was here.

Yep. Okay. Next we have a member cook followed by member. Uh, uh, Hodgins.

Uh, thank you chair. Um, my question for the director or for Mel, when you talk about NIMBY is almost, is that a reference to sort of like when sports authority was approached before and some of the other empty vacant commercial properties that seem readily appropriate.

Thank you for the question, Member Cook. NIMBYism is a term that has been around for a while, and it just stands for, as Mr. Johnson stated, not in my backyard. And it's a very general term that talks about people who are opposed to, and they may be supportive of homeless services and homeless housing in general, but when it comes to siting in their neighborhood, they will oppose it. So yes, I think...

I need to rephrase, sorry to interrupt you, but I want to reframe my conversation, my question, my clarifying question or my question. Has the Sports Authority and other empty commercial properties been approached, to your knowledge, by the county to provide places for the currently unhoused?

Yes, my understanding is we've explored a couple of vacant sort of large commercial buildings in places with large parking lots and either the property owners are non-responsive to the county's requests and communication or they have said had concerns about the use of their property for that purpose.

Okay, the reason I'm asking that is because it seems like a very appropriate available spot and also the perceived impact to their businesses. What can we do to eliminate the barriers, identifying county barriers to make this happen? And if you cannot be a last republiant in writing, I'd like to know like the parks department, what are their challenges and barriers? what we heard from private businesses barriers. What can we do legislatively, policy and finance to address some of these issues to enable these programs to move forward?

I'll tell you, I'm learning here in the not quite 90 days that I've been on the job is that everything is relational. And so if you will have relationships with some of these large property owners or property management companies and can help us. I'm happy to meet with people and talk to them about what this program looks like and what it could be. We can hear their concerns and work on ways to mitigate those concerns. I'm happy to have those conversations if anybody has access to those decision makers. From the county... I'll just say, from the county perspective, the other major challenge is access to water in Central Maui. And so, you know, that has been a barrier to some of these sites being viable, or it just generates a new expense.

Okay, I know my time's up. Thank you.

Mahalo, Mr. Cook. Next, we have Member Wu Hutchins.

Thank you, Chair. I'm going to first agree with my colleagues that have gone before me. It is quite unfortunate that this was passed before, you know, member Cook and I were on this council and we're still kind of talking about it today. is is our best option then considering what member cook and you folks are just talking about the meo property is that what we're i know you're going to have a meeting on wednesday but in all likelihood is that what the parcel we're talking about i'm assuming i hope so because remember batongan is recusing himself so i kind of hope that's what we're talking about Yes?

I think until we have a better option, we will continue to explore the MEO property.

Great. And we're doing the TOPO now to kind of figure out what sort of engineering we need to ensure that when we do have safe parking, it's clearly safe from flooding, probably most likely. Yes? Yes. When is that going to be, Pao?

Thank you for the question. Estimated four weeks just to get the topographic study survey done on the map. And then from there, obviously it's the building out of the actual program based on that. And then coming to agreement on that moving forward, if that is viable, hence the longer timeline coming out there, bringing the status for that.

Thank you. And so when this is at its end goal, we're looking at something that accommodates safe parking and safe sleeping. Right now the RFP includes just parking.

Right now the scope of work only includes the parking. Okay. So we parallel, we are looking at other options that might be able to consolidate both.

Okay. Considering the RFP, I think we've got six months out or we're going to do another one soon. And are we going to include safe sleeping in that as well?

So we're looking at, we're talking to corporation council about our and finance about a procurement options. Okay.

And then, I don't know what kind of material we'll use to park, if any people can park wherever, we see that everywhere. But are we also, I'm assuming there's gonna be ADA showers, ADA bathrooms, laundry facility, what else can we expect in this place?

Thank you for that question. Yes, we've procured Santa stations. We just have them. We're waiting to deploy. We have the showers in there. No laundry services at this point was in the scope of service for this RFP, but we have Santa station showers Hopefully we can have laundry service as well. Yep, we can work with anyone as far as that or move towards that inclusion.

Great, thank you. And then as far as hours of this place being in operation, what are we looking at? We're looking at eight to eight, six to six. What are we looking?

We had specified basically from seven, sorry, six to six basically as far as that, but obviously there'll be some earlier parts where we would allow people to kind of sign up, get information, do those type of things.

Okay.

Within a 16-hour window.

Okay, thank you. Thanks, Chair. I heard my bell.

Alderman Wu, hi, gents. Next we'll have Chair Lee for her opportunity, then we'll take a quick break.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you. My comments, questions, mostly comments would be directed to the Director of Human Concerns. Okay. So, as Member Ron Fernandez mentioned, we tried to do a pilot project several years ago. And oddly enough, the opposition came from a couple of members on this council, one of whom is not here on the council presently. So that was one obstacle. And then another obstacle was not from the people, but from members within the human services community, people within the homeless community, caregivers. And that's for your historical information. Member Paulton brought up the churches, which I tried to do also several years ago. put aside a $500,000 for that project. And maybe, and that got turned down because there was resistance again from the department this time, because the person felt that the churches would probably not want to take on the liability. Okay, but maybe if you try it again, and and with 500,000 or whatever it is, pay for their liability insurance. If you did that, one, and two, start with women and children only, okay? The reason why we picked churches and some schools, private schools, is because they're enclosed, so the safety factor, yeah? So if you think about that and it makes sense to you, please, I encourage you to try and do that. Now, as far as the MEO site, I have major reservations because being in the field, I know the dangers of having isolated locations for people, even for parking. because you attract the drug dealers, you attract the drunks, the people who attack and steal from each other, the people who are involved with domestic violence, you attract those people. So wherever you pick, it should be a well lit place where people can feel safe. But if you separate the men from the women, at least that's gonna be a plus. But again, any place that's lit and easy access, the reason why we picked by Cameron Center is the police are next door and the hospital is right there. So emergency services were a stone's throw away. So those are the things that we were thinking of back then. And maybe you can try again with a different angle and probably separate the children and the women from the men. Because a lot of times the men are actually dangerous in that many need more than shelter. They need therapy. Thank you. So you can think about that and comment later.

Director, did you want to?

No, I just will, I thank you, Member Lee, for your suggestions and I would love to follow up with additional suggestions if you have them. I can't Monday morning quarterback the decisions and policy things and the conversations that happened prior to when I started. I know there's a lot of history behind this. Excuse me, I'm not trying to cast blame.

I'm just trying to give you some suggestions, that's all. Yeah, I appreciate that very much, thank you. Okay.

Mahalo, Chair Lee, I will reserve my time when we come back from recess, and so the What's Up Committee meeting is in recess till 10.50. Aloha and welcome back to the What's Up Committee meeting of Monday, June 29th, 2026. It is now 1053, and mahalo members for that quick break. Before we continue with our line of questioning, Just to remind you, today's agenda is just as a 7B item to receive the update on the safe parking pilot project program. Okay, I'll take, for my opportunity, Director Willis, the contract has been awarded for clarification, and has any of the funds been expended yet?

Thank you for that question, Chair. No, none of the fence funds have been expended yet.

Okay, thank you for that. And then you did mention that you have, in the interim while AGN continues to prep the site, do you have, you mentioned maybe opening some other programs that may be more immediate than the six months to get the program up and running. Anything you can share, Director?

Nothing that I can provide a lot of detail on because we're still making decisions and working some procedural things out. We're looking at different ways to, if we need to pivot to a different site or build out additional contracting that we could do it under emergency orders or other ways to speed things through so that we're not delaying the implementation. So there, we do, We are working on ways to create some expediency in whatever we do next.

Okay, thank you for that. And we can meet in the future, too, with you. Okay, members, for your second round of questioning, we'll just go with a show of hands. Member Committee, Member Johnson, followed by Member Cook.

Thank you, Chair. You know, I appreciate the first rounds of questions and it just sounds like this is not as fast of a process that I'd like to see. And I hear some other council members mentioning that as well. I don't really think this is the path forward with grub and grading permits, slowing down in the topographical maps. I mean, I ask this often when this comes up, was where are our churches, where are our faith-based organizations that can help? That $165,000 that was lapsed because of whatever happened, I think that could be used for if it's a little... we could help pay for insurance or some way to somehow, you know, I think the churches need to practice what they preach, and we really should help out these folks. Malcolm X said that the most segregated time in America is high noon on Sunday, and a lot of our house unsheltered people are. People of color, Kanakas are overrepresented in this group, and we need to help them. I think the question I have for the director is, have you spoken to any faith-based organizations as like a... like a meeting of all those guys coming together. They used to do that, like faith-based groups just meeting with the administration. Are you guys doing any of that? Because it can't just be one church. How about all of them? Director.

Thank you for the question, Vice Chair Johnson. It is on my list of things to try and do. I think there is a great deal of opportunity in the faith community. I did hear that there was, a while back, there were some convenings of church and faith groups, and I would love to work on reconvening that group. So yes, thank you for the suggestion.

Yeah, I mean, I can reach out to a few folks that I know as well. It's just something that needs to happen. Can we talk a little bit about the $165K that lapsed? It was through subcontractors? Can you guys get into the details of what exactly that was?

So my understanding is that there was some additional costs identified after the original contract was executed. When the contractor and the subcontractor went to evaluate the site, there were some additional costs estimated, and so there was a request to add that 162.5 to meet that need. However, since the project hasn't moved forward and incurred any cost at this point, We did not feel it would be appropriate to add money to that existing contract.

Yeah, and if the location changes, the number might change. Is that correct?

Yes, that's correct.

Okay. All right. That's my time. Thank you so much. Thank you, Chair.

I follow Vice Chair Johnson. Member Cook, for your second round?

I'll yield to Member Paltin. She has her hand up. Member Paltin?

Thank you, just following up on what Member Johnson said, there are a couple churches that already participate in feeding, and maybe that would be a good place to start, as well as the churches that we've given over a million dollars to in this upcoming fiscal budget, that might be another good place to start. I just wanted to take my opportunity to share a little bit about the Hilo program, and it's, they have 50 cots it's first come first serve they have two portable showers limited to 10 minute showers once a week they have laundry day where they laundry do the clients laundries for them they have three men and two women and one ada portables toilets for a total of six toilets They have a designated worker area, a designated storage area, a food truck. It operates on 1.2 million annually, which is mainly worker costs. The month of May, they sheltered 1,507 individuals. they had 24 new individuals they had to turn away 26 individuals it opens at 4 p.m the clients can go in and get a snack dinner is served around 5 36 lights out are at 10 but most people go to sleep at 8 and need to be out by 7 a.m from 11 30 to 7 30 p.m or sorry, from 3.30 to 11.30 p.m., they have three people staffing with additional two Salvation Army captains and a case manager from 11.30 p.m. to 7.30 a.m. There's two people. The church volunteers them. They have a cot set aside for HPD for DV victims. They also have kennels for animals to stay in. Bikes and carts are allowed. Other wraparound services come in to assist and they have opened during the daylight hours for emergencies like the Kona Low Storms. This location doesn't allow cars on property because they don't wanna deal with, I guess, registration, safety issues, illegal cars. So they can park their cars just outside. People start lining up for this at about 3 p.m. And it's worked well. This is right on the corner of Carvalho Park. And so, you know, prior to them opening up this service, uh, people did congregate there anyway. So it's not that it has gotten worse. And um, every night up to 50 people can have safe places to sleep. It's super low tech and it would be fabulous if we could do something like that here.

I don't remember. Paulton is that the Salvation Army Hilo program?

Yes, Salvation Army Hilo program. We had Hawaii State Association of Counties meeting in Hilo so they took us over there as well as to the HPM factory built housing.

And we did attend the Catholic Church Convention and we had a woman from Hilo that was starting tiny homes. um, and through the church. So thank you for that. Um, anyone else for their second opportunity? I do see member. Ooh, Hutchins.

Thank you. But member cook did, um, hold his time for, so I can go after him. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you. Member cook.

Uh, thank you chair. Um, so, I guess let me get back to my next question, my last question, which was identifying the barriers to move forward. And I know that this varied the frustration of, a shared frustration, the departments and the council and the public and the government not being able to uh secure and manage a place to move forward so uh how much of it is permits how much of it is um have we talked to state have we looked at state properties as well as county properties i should say are we in the process of looking at state properties as well as county properties

Thank you for the question, Member Cook. Yes, we are. So we had an initial conversation with both Kali Watson, who is the Commissioner for Hawaiian Homelands Resources, as well as June Young at the state about state properties and how we could better utilize those potentially. The barriers and delays that have been associated with this particular site are... are really physical in nature. We're looking at ways that are there things that we could do as the county that would help make the site ready maybe faster than some of the other options on the table, as well as, like I said, looking at alternate locations and how we could pivot quickly to stand something as an alternative to this location.

So I'll just voice is one option for as far as water availability. You know, it doesn't have to be necessarily a fire hydrant in a big line. But if the county can supply what potable water to a site to enable it to be used, it seems like a reasonable and contribution and support to make a piece of vacant property available. Obviously not something ridiculous but if it's just a matter of adjacent properties and needing to hook up to water cutting through some of the water red tape to enable that to happen for a project like this i would be supportive and i would imagine my colleagues would be supportive of um we we need to move this forward thank you thank you for that follow member cook next we have member urchins

Thank you, Chair. I'm just going to say for the record what I was kind of telling them during our break is that when I drive home at night or when I needed to pick up my son when he was working, I would see a couple of cars who I knew they were sleeping there overnight. And I don't blame them for coming all the way up country to look for a safe spot. So I'm very supportive of this project. when it comes through, and I look forward to providing a space for our people to feel safe when they sleep. I can't imagine how that feels, and I don't want that for anybody, and I understand this is gonna take a little while, and until then, what can we do, if anything, to provide something now? How can we help expedite this situation? If you could please share.

Thank you for that question, member. I think, I'll be honest, I don't have a task list for the committee right now. I think once we identify a site, community support and helping us to navigate those issues, if there's pushback, would be really helpful. And we are gonna be working on, bringing in all of this additional infrastructure needs. So there's gonna be a great deal of sort of emergency contracting, which we hope you will all be supportive of as well.

Okay, thank you. Thank you, Chair.

Hall of Member Uhuha Jens. Anyone else? I am supportive of the Henson Road site, only because on my way home Saturday mornings, five o'clock, the stop at Safeway, I see a lot of the houseless community coming into the into the store to use the restrooms and just coming in at five in the morning or whether they're getting coffee or food. So looking at the sites and where these camps are coming up is also important to meet them where they're at or for those that do not have vehicles either. Um, so I'm, I'm also supportive of the, the Hanson, um, site. Um, has there been any addition? I know the, the RFP process, there were, um, other candidates or some of the other candidates that did not get the contract or those pers, pers, uh, prospective, um, candidates to help with something more like now?

That's a good question, Chair. I have not followed up about this. I've met with the other proposers about other things, but not this specific question. I think what they are, they have offered up some other interventions. For example, as you know, we are working with Project Vision Now to implement street medicine and really ramp that up. And so we're grateful for that and I'm looking forward to that partnership. So there's other things definitely that that group of applicants together are working on. So yes, we're working with them on other types of interventions.

Okay, and then Project Vision does have a hygiene truck. Is the department looking to maybe get more of those to access those people that?

So AG on has that on standby.

You guys already have a couple of the trucks.

And then we have some that have been on standby that the county does own, and we're checking to make sure they're operable, that resource is met.

And then for Mr. Robinson, so once you open up and Member Poulton spoke about maybe having some food vendors to possibly be on site, is that something that you guys are open to?

Thank you for the question. We, AJN is, currently we have a certified kitchen that we can utilize as far as that, but we're also happy to collaborate with anyone else in that effort as far as that for the greater need, whatever we need to do. But we are currently staffed and ready to go with that option.

Okay, thank you for that. I did see Member Sugimura. Go ahead.

Thank you. Very interesting and important discussion. So my overall question, Chair, maybe to you is could you call another meeting and ask the administration what is their plan? We keep on hearing we're doing this, we're doing that, we're thinking of this, we gotta talk to the churches, whatever, whatever, but what is their overall plan? Because this is one little sliver of a plan that the administration is putting together, I guess, or trying to put together. and running into barriers. So what is your overall plan that the community is asking for? We are all seeing the Pulehu Road build up of the homeless that we've been getting videos, we've been getting complaints from our residents and not safe for my children to drive there. you know, whatever is not good. So what is your overall plan? What are you doing? Um, so that we're not looking at this small little sliver of a possible, you know, safe parking, safe sleeping. Uh, we need to build more shelters. Um, how many homeless are there? What are the counts? What is the plan? So as a department, do you have a plan?

Director?

Thank you for the question, Member Sugimura. Part of the priority that is on my list of things to do, because I was brought in specifically and asked to sort of pull some of those pieces together and develop something that is... a more clear vision to guide the work. And so in the 90 days that I've been here, I've been meeting with folks in order to get the inputs and to trade ideas so that I can compile something organized into a plan. Do I have a plan right now? Does the department have a plan right now? No, we are working on it. We've got bits and pieces together. As I've mentioned, we are looking at alternative sleeping opportunities. We are looking to expand availability of substance use treatment beds. and to remove some of those barriers. We're looking at ways to expand street medicine so that we can get services directly to people who are unsheltered rather than expecting them to come in to facilities and keep appointments. We're working on bringing and adding capacity for street psychiatry that could be medically based treatments right there on the street and in the field. We're working with Andrew Martin and his Partners in Healing Initiative to support the development of diversion programs, which will facilitate people who are in the criminal justice system or folks that PD is encountering that we could bring in and divert into appropriate treatment. We are working on prevention work through our senior services and really trying to figure out how we can better support to ensure that they don't end up on the streets. And so these are all things that I want to compile and articulate into a clear path forward with community input.

very good words, but what is the, when are you gonna have it ready, right? You're working on, you're working on, you've been here only so many months, I guess, you've been saying, and when we did your confirmation, you said you're gonna hit the ground running. Figured with your expertise that you came to us with, which is why we hired you, is your expertise was in homelessness, is what we were, told by the administration. So, Chair, when are we gonna hear what the plan is? You have very diligently been taking up this issue, which is super important, needs more attention. I appreciate what you have been doing, but can you decide what you want to happen, and can we ask for the plan, the homeless plan that the community, that's what we're all talking about.

Mahalo, Member Sugimura, and Yeah, we're all receiving the emails and forwarding all the emails to Director Willis that we're receiving from the community. And unfortunately, Homeless Coordinator Crozier is off island today. She would have wanted to be here and answer some of those questions. Our work in the committee has been following the Equal Northwest recommendations, so that's why we're bringing up some of these piecemeal questions. and working with the new director. So we can send correspondence to Homeless Director Crozier for an update, and then maybe we can post it on Granicus. But the next steps, I do believe the council did approve an additional one point, $5 million for the director so she could do some of these programs in this next upcoming budget. So mahalo for the council for supporting her in some of those efforts that she may need funding for. but we'll send that correspondence to the homeless coordinator and, and we're going to have, we're going to have, um, on July 27th we'll have, um, another presentation hopefully by from homemade.

Okay. So are we gonna have a plan from the department, a master plan of what they're trying to do?

We'll send that correspondence.

Yeah, can you ask that question? And what is the date? And then the status for, because I really believe that Agion, the work that they've done with other projects in the community have been very successful with their level of expertise. So are they gonna be included in future plans and how would that be? And so if we could get, you know, Contract, as I said, that is in, I guess it was executed, but what's gonna happen with that? But if we could get a contract so that we as a committee can see what is expected.

Okay, mahalo, Member Sugimura. I did see Committee Vice Chair Johnson, but if that's okay, Chair Lee needs to leave soon, so I'll call on Chair Lee and then come back to you. Chair Lee?

Thank you. Thank you, Member Johnson. Just wanted to also ask about priorities. I'm sure you're going to include that in your master plan, but it's very important to know which projects will come first because you can't attack them all at once. One of my priorities for the time I have left is to work with the Honolulu core group where you have these, well, you talked about mobile psychiatrists or psychologists. Well, similarly, they have these mobile units that take care of people with mental health problems. And as you know, we have several subpopulations within the homeless. And one of the main challenges are the people with mental health issues and with addictions. And they pose a major danger to those who have just regular homeless issues. In other words, people who are houseless in transition in between jobs, in between having a unit, so forth. And then you have this very dark group that has extreme requirements. So that means working with the hospitals, working with the emergency response people. That's one area I want to get into. And if I can be of any assistance to you, please let me know. Okay, that's all I have. Thank you.

Malo Charity, Committee Vice Chair Johnson.

Thank you, Chair. Director Willis, I appreciate what you're planning on and what you're working on and what you're looking at. Was there no plan before you came on? Were you left with a clean slate or wasn't there things in motion? I mean, can you speak to that, Director Willis? I hope you're not starting from scratch.

Thank you, Vice Chair Johnson. Yes, there's been a lot of proposals, a lot of suggestions. Members of the community have submitted their suggestions for plans. I think what has been missing is a... articulated strategy that is adopted by the community and by the administration and folks, other departments, like something that we can all agree to and that we have a shared vision for where we're headed. And I think that is the thing that I'm trying to combine into something so that we can take all these great ideas because I don't think Yes, I was brought in for my expertise on the issue of homelessness and the best practices of addressing homelessness. But I think ultimately, I don't want to dictate to the community what the solutions are. I want to work with the community, hear from them, and then work together to develop this plan. And so I hear the urgency of having something, but I would really ask for time to be able to bring a draft out and let people weigh in.

All right, fair enough. All of this funding that would be required is tied to federal funding, the HUD and the Housing First model. But Housing First for Hawaii, how do you do Housing First when we don't have housing? And I always find the solution to the unsheltered, the answer is in the statement, unsheltered. Well, find shelter. If you're unhoused, let's find housing. How do you do Housing First model when we don't have housing? So it's weird because the fundings are gate kept behind the feds. So we have to do homegrown solutions, I think. And there are folks out there that are private property folks that might be able to work with you on having seven parking stalls or 10 parks, not a whole new thing. I know there's folks out there and I just feel like, man, this is really tough, a little frustrating for me. All the work we've been doing, the 12-bed dorm at the Aloha House is designed for unsheltered folks who are struggling with addiction. there's that but it you know it but then when it comes into the insurance and all that then also we get more people and it just it frustrates the crap out of me because i'm trying to get stuff done for these folks who have limited time you know you when you're unsheltered your life shortens when you're a female and you're unsheltered 90 of them are facing physical violence or sexual violence so these are things that we need to you know act with some urgency so my time's up i just you know wanted to find out if there was a plan on the table it doesn't sound like there is it sounds like we need to instead play whack-a-mole come up with something comprehensive thank you thank you all the vice chair johnson uh for those comments

Uh, anyone else? Um, we, uh, staff, did we get, um, correspondence to send to the homeless coordinator? Um, anything else? Uh, members that you want to send, uh, to the administration or to the housing department? Well, she's right here seeing none. Okay. Thank you members. Um, Are there any objections to deferring this item? Okay, thank you members. Before we adjourn this meeting, I wanted to Mahalo all of our resources. Mahalo to Deputy Robinson, Captain Angel, Captain Purdy that came on to act as resources. Mahalo Director Willis for always working with us and our staff and being open to new ideas. Mahalo Mr. Johnson for serving as a resource and and moving forward with the project. Members, thank you for your participation and your comments, as well as all the testifiers that showed up to share their mana o nui. Mahalo. Anything else, staff, before we adjourn? Okay, members, with that, this concludes today's Water Authority Social Services and Parks Committee meeting. The time now is 1124, and this meeting is adjourned.