Council Meeting - Regular Meeting

5:31 – 5:58•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Aloha and good morning, everyone. It is Tuesday, August 25, 2026, and the time is 9.06 a.m. Will the Committee on Budget please come to order? Welcome to the committee. Members who are present in the chamber today, Committee Vice Chair Nishimoto, Council Member Cordero also joining us. I'd like to welcome Council Member Tupoula. Although remote oral testimony is being... Oh.

6:07 – 9:35•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Pursuant to Council Rule 8D, I designate Council Vice Chair Tupola as a temporary voting member. Thank you for helping us to achieve quorum. Although remote oral testimony is being permitted, this is a regular in-person meeting and not a remote meeting by Interactive Conference Technology under HRS section 92-3.7. Therefore, this meeting will continue notwithstanding loss of audiovisual communication with remote testifiers or loss of the public broadcast of the meeting. Members of the public will be allowed to provide oral testimony on all items on the agenda in two ways, in person in the coun

9:37 – 9:51•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you. We'll now proceed with remote testimony. Clerks, do we have any remote testifiers for this item? Thank you. We'd like to welcome from the administration the Director of Department of Human Resources, Director Nola Miyazaki. Good morning, Director Miyazaki.

12:16•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you, Director Miyazaki. Members, do we have any questions for the Director? Council Member Tupoula.

12:20 – 12:33•ATAndria Tupola

Aloha, Director. Good morning. Good morning. A question about the retroactive 2025-2026. Is the reason because the duration of the collective bargaining lasted so long that we're now doing the two retroactive years?

13:11 – 13:24•ATAndria Tupola

I see. And off the top of your head, do you know how many contracts we still have for ocean safety? I know there's a small handful that we're still operating under contract that weren't necessarily FT. I'm not sure how many contracts we have yet.

13:28 – 14:53•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Council Member Tupola. Members, any further questions for the Director? Okay, seeing none, I'd like to welcome to the Chamber, Council Chair Waters. Thank you. Seeing no further questions, members, we are in discussion. Okay, seeing no further discussion, the Chair recommends that Resolution 26-166 be reported out for adoption. Any further discussion? Any objections or reservations? Hearing none, so ordered. Moving on to agenda item number two for action, resolution 26-170. This resolution authorizes a transfer not to exceed $692,800 in general fun

14:55 – 15:10•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you. Proceeding on with remote testimony, clerks, do we have any remote testifiers for this item? Thank you. We'd like to welcome, joining us here today from the administration, from the Department of Community Services, Director Anton Krucke. Good morning, Director Krucke.

15:22•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you, Director. Members, any questions for the Director? Council Member Tupola.

15:27 – 15:38•ATAndria Tupola

Aloha, Director. For the salaries category of the transfer for the $33,000, is that for a staff member that's already on staff, or you guys are getting someone in to work with you on the local match?

15:44•ATAndria Tupola

And then for the local match grant, are there specific ones that we already have been awarded or you guys are putting it in there in anticipation of matches that we're going to do?

15:59•ATAndria Tupola

I see. Thank you, Director. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Council Member Topola.

16:03 – 17:04•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Any further questions for Director Krecke? Thank you, Director Krecke. Seeing no further questions, members, we are in discussion. Seeing no further discussion, the chair recommends that resolution 26-170 be reported out for adoption. Any further discussion, any objections or reservations? Hearing none, so ordered. Moving on to agenda item number three, for action resolution 26-173. This resolution authorizes a transfer of up to $280,000 in general fund monies within the patrol activity from the current expenses character of expenditure to the equipment character of expenditure to enable the H

17:06 – 17:22•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you. Proceeding now with remote testimony, clerks, do we have any remote testifiers for this item? Thank you. I believe joining us today in the chamber from the Honolulu Police Department, we have Major Henry Roberts. Good morning, Major.

17:52•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you, Major. Members, questions for the department?

17:55 – 18:19•RCRadiant Cordero

Council Member Cordero. Thank you, Budget Chair. Hi, Major Roberts. Thank you very much for being here as well as Assistant Chief Arquerio. I definitely miss Assistant Chief Arquerio in District 5. Anyway, since this is a request for transfer of funds for equipment, are ATVs that will be purchased with this funding solely going to be used for the community policing teams?

18:24•RCRadiant Cordero

And all eight patrol districts, community policing teams have requested for these ATVs.

18:35 – 19:04•RCRadiant Cordero

I understand that the bulk of the last round of ATVs were purchased maybe during the COVID time era. Yeah. And so I get that, you know, with use and the elements. They need to be upgraded or updated. But since that time, how has HPD, HPD Finance built up on their ATV updating program? How have you folks been able to support that?

19:39 – 20:01•RCRadiant Cordero

And Assistant Chief, I know that we talked a little bit about it before, but because we just had our budget process, I know there were ATVs requested and approved in the fiscal year, this most recent fiscal year budget, but how come a $280,000 amount request wasn't added to that additional ATV funds?

20:10 – 21:19•RCRadiant Cordero

Thank you. Budget chair, if it's okay if I can ask, I'm now directing to CPT. Okay, thank you. First off, I wanna thank both of your support and the whole department's support. As you know, just as us council members have to communicate with our communities differently, each community within each patrol district are different, yeah? So the reason for community policing teams to hopefully expand both training for the officers but also the communities that they serve and, they all have unique needs. And I understand that they are under the patrol division when it comes to budgeting. I understand

22:11•RCRadiant Cordero

Okay, thank you. Sorry, I know I took up a lot of time, Budget Chair, so maybe I'll just defer my time and come back around or talk during discussion. Okay. Thank you, Assistant Chief and Major.

22:19•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Mahalo, Budget Chair. Thank you, Council Member Cordero. Council Member Tupoula.

22:23•ATAndria Tupola

Aloha. Thank you so much, Council Member Cordero, for the line of questioning. So with this amount, it'll probably be between 20, 48 TVs. How many are you guys planning on getting?

22:42 – 22:56•ATAndria Tupola

And then back in the day, you guys were running Beach Task Force on the North Shore. You guys were running a parks crew on the West Side, and you guys had these for Waikiki. Those were like the main areas where the ATVs were being used. Are those the same districts that you guys are going to renew the ATVs that we have?

23:13•ATAndria Tupola

Yeah, we definitely have in District 8. So thank you very much. Thank you, Chair.

23:18 – 23:47•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you, Council Member Tupola. Any further questions, members? I do have a couple of questions, and then I can circle back if any of the Council members would like to ask any follow-up questions. Thank you for explaining. I did have some questions when this was presented to my office. And you did mention one of the top questions was why this was not placed in the budget request. You said it was, but it wasn't met. So now you're doing it here in this avenue and you're preparing to also have it for the next fiscal year. Is that what I understood?

24:05•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

And the last time, again, if you could repeat, the last time ATVs were purchased was what year?

24:16•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Okay. And those ATVs were used for patrol or for CPT?

24:58 – 25:26•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Okay, which is what I would assume they would be used for. So that was my question. I don't understand how this is gonna be used for CPT. I'm not sure if it was your major that mentioned that you said these will be used for CPT in all districts. Can you explain to me which districts? I have two police districts in my city district and I've never seen my CPT officers have the need or the use of ATVs. in their line of duty and what they're doing in our communities.

25:28 – 25:48•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Mililani, Pearl City, Waipahu, Aiea, yes. They come from the Wahiawa Station and the Pearl City Station. And I understand when you say that this would be used in all CPT districts. I can't understand how this would be used in mine. I've never seen it used in mine, and I don't understand how it will be used in mine. I could see how in other areas, but that, again, is patrol, not CPT.

26:11•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

And the officers who are using those ATVs on the bike path, are they the CPT officers or the patrol officers?

26:22•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Are the other ones patrolling the areas like the bike path?

26:35 – 26:54•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

I've never seen it in my district. Okay. So I'm trying to understand. I see them on the bike paths when we're cleaning it. They're not always there, but I would assume those are patrol ones. And you mentioned that they're trained. So all the officers in the CPT, they already receive training or they will receive training? What's the plan for them to have?

27:03 – 27:16•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Okay. I have one question and I'll turn it over to Council Member Cardero for any follow-ups. What assurances can you give to us that the ATVs will not be transferred to the Major Events Division and will remain with the CPTE?

27:57 – 28:38•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

So is it mainly going to be used for patrol or for what the community policing team division needs? Because you did mention that you're looking at how utilizing these funds will not impact The community policing teams ability to fulfill their their plans and their programs will this impact what they're doing in the communities there is there's fun there's enough funds in Current expense in patrol bureau to support every single elements needs for CPT expenses Okay, but you need this but not for the ATVs and the ATVs are necessary in your mind right now the

29:09•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Okay, thank you so much. Council Member Cordero.

29:12 – 29:37•RCRadiant Cordero

Thank you, Budget Chair, Assistant Chief Arquero, or Major Roberts. So I have a question relating to if we do transfer this 280,000 to equipment, are you looking to not a request for further ATVs in any near future fiscal years then?

29:56 – 31:44•RCRadiant Cordero

Yeah, I would love to see the 280,000 requests in equipment for specific use in ATVs during our fiscal year budget though. Because while it is unfunded, we've seen the positive impact of allowing for at least specific funds dedicated to community policing teams. And I know that you're already working with the different commanders on that. So I want to mahalo you and the whole department for that. But definitely want to highlight that it's it's beyond just like the patrol and this and even supporting special events but especially changing the tune of how hvd is viewed in our communities yeah li

31:44 – 32:08•ATAugie Tulba

Thank you, Chair. Hi, guys. I really appreciate the CPT team in my community. I rely on them a lot. Other than the ATVs, what are other CPT budget requests? For example, we heard that they may need supplies for programs, the school presentation, or community events like KKID. Is there any other...

32:24 – 33:00•ATAugie Tulba

And I do see the need of the ATVs in pulling out homeless encampments in my area. There are hills, and sometimes the easiest and the fastest way is to use the ATVs to drag things out of the area. But, you know, the program is amazing. One of the things, we attended something last week, and everybody said how good the CPT teams are in our district. So I want to just make sure that they're taken care of and having all the supplies that they need because it is a huge need in our community.

33:03•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you, Council Member Tobol. Members, any further questions? Okay, thank you. Thank you so much, Assistant Chief and Major Singh. No further questions. Members, we are in discussion.

33:13 – 34:23•RCRadiant Cordero

Council Member Cordero. Thank you, Board Chair. As I sort of mentioned, you can see that I would like more time to discuss it with HPD. We've been discussing this type of allocation in the budget for the past few years, Nya, like four years or so. Some was funded, the last two unfunded, but still allocated. And we saw really positive impacts through that. And we felt it, especially at the schools, but especially within our business communities too, as they face, like Assistant Chief O'Carroll mentioned, an increase of impacts of homelessness in their areas. So with that, I actually really woul

34:24 – 35:14•ATAndria Tupola

Yeah, just briefly, I think with CPT, some of the, I guess, larger picture is what are the needs, right? Because in my district, now we have school resource officers. They're approaching me like we need additional things for our schools that now we're over. Can we have a golf cart? Can we have this? All of it's great. But I think what we're trying to do is cut a budget that is given and then is followed up on and is spent. So I do agree with Council Member Cordero, we've actually allocated money for this prior. Now, whether or not it was actually spent or encumbered, I do not know, but apparen

35:14 – 38:24•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you, Council Member Cordero. Members, any further discussion? I want to thank you guys. I do agree. I had concerns. I continue to have some concerns about why this wasn't done in the budget process, especially since we just came off the heels of that. I'm hearing the discussion and the questions. I do want to, first of all, thank you guys. I know that what you guys do every day We've always been supportive of the department and continue to do so. And as was stated, we were at an event where CPT and the community police teams are the ones where we feel the most impact directly in our comm

38:26•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you. Proceeding now with remote testimony. Clerks, do we have any remote testifiers for this item?

38:34 – 38:51•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Seeing no testimony on my agenda. Oh, okay. I see from the Department of Transportation Services, Renee Espiao. Sorry. Thank you for joining us today and welcome to the chamber.

39:49•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Members, any questions for the administration? Thank you. Council Member Topola.

39:53 – 40:12•ATAndria Tupola

Aloha. Thank you for being here. So recently I just asked Director Morton, you know, the ability for DOT to just drop speed bumps out of the sky is amazing and we take maybe three to four years to get that done. Is this going to help in that initiative that we can maybe move faster when there is dire, I guess, safety improvements that are needed on our streets?

40:39 – 40:58•ATAndria Tupola

Oh, okay, so separate from what we're voting on, you guys need money to execute what we're discussing, because the master contract could be very useful for you guys. Yes, 100%. Yeah, we don't need to go through each budget process every time we know there's a danger and we need to address it right away. So I'm looking forward to that. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Council Member Tupoula. Chair Waters.

Thank you. I think you might have answered my first question. What is a quick build safety demonstration improvement? So you're saying signing, striping, speed humps, bumps, that type of thing?

Well, thank you. Your department is probably one of the best in the city for applying for and receiving federal funds, so good job. You said that it's for 50 uncontrolled crosswalk and signalized intersections. So if you have a specific number, do you have specific projects that you can share with us?

Yeah, that'd be great because we go to neighborhood boards every month, as does the administration, and people ask us all the time about safety improvements, and it'd be nice to be able to share that with them and let them know that we are actually getting things done. So if you can share that with each of the members, that'd be really helpful. Just a shout out on the corner of Kīlauea and I think 22nd Avenue is a really, really dangerous crosswalk. It's a four lane road. And I know during complete streets, you're talking about reducing it down to two lanes, but it really is dangerous. And I t

Yeah, great. Thank you. Thank you, Chair.

46:06 – 46:28•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you, Chair Waters. Members, any further questions? I just had a quick question. It was mentioned about the expedition of, I guess, the time from start to finish. So what are we looking at? When this is hopefully able to go through, what kind of processes will be faster? What timelines are we looking at to have things more effectively or efficiently done in our areas?

47:07 – 48:15•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you. We look forward to that as well. Members, any further questions? Okay, thank you very much. Seeing no further questions, members, we are in discussion. Last chance to ask for a plug in your area. No, we're thankful for DTS and all that you guys are doing to keep our streets safe. Seeing no further questions or discussion, The chair recommends that resolution 26-181 be amended to a CD1 as discussed to remove the Oxford comma after partnerships in the table in the be it resolved clause. Any discussion, any objections, any reservations? Hearing none, the resolution is amended to a CD1.

48:15 – 49:16•ATAndria Tupola

Aloha. Thank you, Chair, for listing this today on the agenda. Specifically, this is creating a fund where other fees that will be charged perhaps in the future could be deposited. This fund will be specifically used for the parks within the county. We do have other special funds such as the Passy Mink. We have the Central Oahu, which there are certain parks in our county that are taken care of better because they have their own fund. that keeps the contracts going. So the idea here with this is that we would be able to create a fund that then wouldn't have to go through the general budget and

49:17 – 50:00•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Members, please note that the committee approved a proposed CD2 version of the bill, OCS 2026-0422, and postponed action on the bill at its July 14, 2026 meeting. Members, we have also posted to the agenda a proposed CD2-OCS-2026-0481 submitted by myself. For your information, the amendments are listed on the agenda. Before we call up the administration, we will proceed first with in-person oral testimony in the council chamber. Clerks, do we have any in-person testifiers for this item? Chair, there are none. Thank you. Proceeding on with remote testimony, clerks, do we have any remote testifi

50:02•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you. Joining us in the chamber today, we have from the administration, from the Department of Parks and Recreation, Director Laura Thielen. Good morning, Director Thielen.

51:35•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you, Director Seelan. Members, questions for the director? Chair Waters.

Thank you so much. My understanding is that the fund is going to be made from camping permits. Is there anything else that's going to be contributing to the fund besides camping permits?

Thank you so much. I'm happy to support. But one last question. So for years we've been talking about charging non-residents parking fees at traditionally hot spots that are popular amongst tourists. Does this bill authorize that?

Right. You may have been the director of the Department of Land and Natural Resources that implemented paid parking at various sites like Topali Lookout, where you have this machine and people just go and pay on the machine. I think the state generates about $16 million a year on these parking machines. So if you could do the same here, like maybe even like at the blowhole, tourists are gonna pay it, you know. But anyway, yeah, that'd be great, thank you.

55:17•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

I like your thinking, Chair. Thank you, Chair Waters. Council Member Topola.

55:23 – 56:10•ATAndria Tupola

Yeah, thank you, Director, for bringing up Hoʻomaluhia. You know, it's one of our most popular botanical gardens. And I think in 2025, we had 729,000 visitors, which easily, even if it was only $1, could have helped us to generate some revenue to care for the botanical gardens. I think in the other bill that we'll be discussing later this afternoon, it'll give you the ability to do that. But aside from the ones you brought up, which we have... Hanauma Bay, it has its own fund. But I'm speaking about Ho'omaluhi and all the five botanical gardens. So what do you foresee as far as the actual reve

58:04 – 58:53•ATAndria Tupola

Yeah, thank you. I have been able to support your ideas based on a lot of the data that you're collecting. So thank you for that. Secondarily, you know, Chair Waters has repetitively brought up the need for us to generate revenue in other forms. And I know that when we budget, it's so hard for us to put the needs of the parks over, say, sewers or lights or streams or other maintenance that really those are life or death things that we really need. So I'm glad to hear that the fund will have something, but that it won't be, you know, flush in the 70 or hundreds of millions of dollars, but enoug

58:54 – 59:27•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

If there's any further questions. I had a quick question, Director. You mentioned, I think Council Member Topola, I really appreciate this coming to the Council because we want to make sure that we provide you with the resources you need. So this seems, you know, good and forward thinking. But when we, if you then are able to use these revenue sources to keep up the maintenance of these parks that we'll be generating them. Do you have the staff or personnel to carry out, other than the contractors that you're going to be using, but just in general, does the department have the personnel to car

1:01:43 – 1:05:05•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Okay. Well, we'll look forward to it. I would... I would encourage you to continue, I would ask you actually to continue to show us the results. Some of us, me included, I pause sometimes with general special funds because then it takes it away from, it creates a special place for it and in many cases, less oversight. But in this case, because it's the funds that will be generated from these specific parks, it goes back to that. I am in more support of that. But I would like to see that it is having results that will be beneficial versus we create the fund and yet the parks are still not being

1:05:08 – 1:05:24•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you. I have on my agenda from the Department of Housing and Land Management, Director Kevin Auger, but I don't see him here. Is there anybody here? We have from our Director of Budget and Fiscal Services, Director Andy Kawano. Good morning, Director Kawano.

1:06:06 – 1:07:14•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you, Director Kawano. Members, any questions for the director? Seeing no questions, members, we are in discussion. Seeing no further discussion, the Chair recommends that Bill 50-2026 be reported out for passage on third reading. Any further discussion, any objections or reservations? Hearing none, so ordered. Moving on to our final item on the agenda, agenda item number eight, informational briefing, community facilities district financing program presentation. Members joining us in the council chamber, we have Adam Bauer, president of Fieldman, Rollap and Associates Inc. to give a brie

1:32:15 – 1:33:08•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you so much, Adam. I'd like to welcome to the Chamber, Council Member Weyer. Thank you for being here with us. Members, before I turn it over to questions, I just had a couple I wanted to start off with, and I'll turn it over to the members, and then if we need to do this. We'll do that, if that's okay. And then I'll go over to testimony. Thank you for walking us through the presentation. And I want to thank you also, I was there in one of your previous meetings, but just really quickly, you mentioned the many parts that go into the formation of the CFD, the establishment formation, bond

1:33:34•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

So would we require more personnel to fulfill this? Do we have the personnel or would we have to create positions to work on this portion to have CFDs?

1:34:33 – 1:34:55•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Okay. And you did mention in your presentation presentation about the possibilities or the benefits if there's lots of CFDs and we can have annual revenue set up to have infrastructure projects funded. And you did mention right now that there could be multiple. So multiple CFDs could be happening at the same time or simultaneously. How does that usually work?

1:35:38 – 1:35:50•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you. I'll turn it over to members for questions. And I know that we have some testifiers here, so I want to give them time. Maybe we can go through questions. And if there's further discussion, we can do that after testimony. But members' questions. Council Member Tupoula.

1:35:50 – 1:36:44•ATAndria Tupola

Thank you so much, Mr. Bauer, for your presentation and for the thoroughness of covering all the aspects of it. I appreciate your thoughts on the ability to have multiple. And as well, I think you stated if there's only one, it might not be worth it. But at least if there's a handful, then the whole process makes it worth it since there's a lot of different moving parts to it. So I guess my preliminary question is, in the law, it states that the director of public works, which we don't have that anymore, is supposed to direct the independent consultant, which in this case is you, to do the wor

1:38:29 – 1:38:48•ATAndria Tupola

Yeah, because I think right after the resolution of intent, the CFD report is the next step. And so, yes, they might be advising, but in general, as you stated with the possible retainer, the person proposing the CFD, the developer, they would front the cost for that just to make it worth it on the city side, making sure that there's a partnership there. Is that correct?

1:39:10 – 1:39:35•ATAndria Tupola

Yeah, and I think that goes along with the question that you had about cost and what staff we would have to be, I guess... funding in order for this to happen. So after the CFD report, then there's the ordinance for the bond, and then there's the issuance of the bond, and then the ability to collect the special tax. I think those are the last three steps, correct? And I think those are just all different steps that we take in the legislative body to make sure that it happens, correct?

1:40:20 – 1:40:49•ATAndria Tupola

Yeah, so I wanted to make that clear as well. So on the back end, after the CFD report is completed, the only other cost you could fold into the bond issuance, you could do an administrative fee for the actual disbursement of the bond, right? Because you'd be collecting the tax, you'd be paying it to the district, and then the district would have to be paying off the bond that it purchased, correct? Yeah. Yeah. So I think in that sense, that little process I described that also doesn't require city staff, correct?

1:41:37 – 1:41:53•ATAndria Tupola

No, we appreciate it. And I think that's why budget chair was asking what staff would be needed. But I would say that in the law and when I read it, it says that the district, so the district that is formed, that is the entity that goes and sells the bond and actually has to pay the bond back, not us.

1:42:15 – 1:42:26•ATAndria Tupola

I'm almost positive that it's actually issued by the district because when we collect the taxes, the district itself has a trustee and it's set up to protect us from any of that. So we can get into that later.

1:42:52•ATAndria Tupola

Yes, so the trust is then given to the district, the district pays back the bond.

1:43:02 – 1:43:42•ATAndria Tupola

Okay, so the way I read the law doesn't state that, but we can get back to legalese at a separate time. Last question. There is a section that you have that states that there is going to be a committee or rules that are generated, but my question is because the law, chapter 27, doesn't designate that we're supposed to promulgate rules, but we can. So whenever there is an, and a responsibility given to a department, they can make admin rules of how they administer it. But specifically, it doesn't state that BFS is over this or that they have to make admin rules or have a committee to approve or

1:43:52•ATAndria Tupola

No, thank you so much. I don't want to put you into a spot that it's too much legalese. Thank you, Chair.

1:43:57•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you, Council Member Topola. I'd like to welcome to the Chamber, joining us, Council Member Kea Aina, Chair Waters.

Thank you so much. This prospect sounds really exciting. It definitely is a benefit to the developer as well as to the public, but I really had some nuts and bolts questions. Just following up, with what Council Member Tupola asked about pending rules. Are you testified that pending rules are currently being drafted? Is that correct?

Fantastic, because oftentimes roles take years. So if we're in final draft, that's really good news. And then how long do these CFDs last? Is it the same amount of years as the mortgage, like 30 years or 15 years, or is it a shorter period of time?

I see. And in the RISE example that you gave, The property tax revenue is frozen. That's right. Would that be same with the CFD process?

Okay. So the city can still generate revenue based on the increase in property values?

Well, we don't want to call it a tax because then people aren't going to like it, right? Let's name it something else. You got any ideas? A levy of fees? Special assessment. Special assessment is better. Yeah. No, seriously. People are very, very sensitive to that word. But the people would know going into it because I think you said 25% of the landowners have to agree to the levy.

Okay. And then as far as how the City Council gets involved, the first step is the petition. Who drafts the petition? Is that drafted by the City or the consultant or the developer?

And the petition is, I guess, transmitted to the City Council? Probably through DPP.

we approve it preliminarily, right? And then the next step would be, yeah, right here, it says city council adopts a resolution of intention, the ROI, and then who drafts the ROI?

Okay, well typically it would be probably DPP or Budget and Fiscal Services for our approval that we could amend as we see fit. Or no? I mean, because in the ROI you specify what rate and apportionment of the tax and what it's gonna be used for, right? Whether it's a road, sewer, or other infrastructure, it's gonna be in the ROI, correct?

Okay, no, I understand. I'm just trying to figure it out.

Right, okay, so there's an initial petition, then there's the ROI, and then there's a CFD report. This is done after the ROI, right? And then it says the duration of a hearing. So does that come back before the City Council? We have to have another hearing to determine if there's any protests?

Okay. Public hearings sometimes are done here at the City Council and sometimes it's done in the community. Which do you anticipate it would be?

Okay, so it could be in the community where the project is?

In the chamber here? Yeah. And what kind of protest do you anticipate? I'm sorry, I'm not part of the community. Protests, protests. Who possibly would protest against this?

Yeah, that's what I thought. If it's undeveloped land, right, the developer is the landowner. There's probably not going to be any protests because they're the ones initiating the CFD. But this would be in the cases where there's already an existing neighborhood, perhaps?

Okay, good to know upfront what we're possibly looking at. I don't actually anticipate protests, but you never know. And then lastly, the ordinance or formation. We actually have to pass an ordinance okaying this, and presumably that's through the City Council, right?

Yeah. Okay. No, it's really promising, and we've been talking a lot about this for years, so it's good to know we got two in the hopper and possibly more. So, hey, thank you very much for your presentation today. Thank you, Chair.

1:52:46•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you, Chair Watters. Council Member Weyer.

1:52:48 – 1:53:28•MWMatt Weyer

um thank you chair um and maybe this is more of a direct to kwano question um because i think we all know we're in a housing crisis that predates this bfs's work i think we all know that city staff are underpaid and stretched and and so i guess my question to you today is like how what can we do in the immediate knowing the gravity of this reality our community is facing to make it easier for you to speed up the process. And I don't know if that's transferring funds, that's looking at more consultants. I mean, I can't speak for the other folks, but for me, I think it's really a matter of you t

1:55:13•MWMatt Weyer

No, I appreciate that. So right now the rules are with the committee, the review committee. So all the different departments.

1:55:30•MWMatt Weyer

Okay, is that BFS's corporation council or all the different departments also?

1:55:42 – 1:55:57•MWMatt Weyer

Okay, so I mean like right now are all their corporation councils collectively looking at it or is it just BFS's? Corporation Council has looked at it. Okay, so the only review once it gets out from you would be the department's looking at something?

1:56:28•MWMatt Weyer

Okay. And then the timeline on the rules then is up in the air or is there a specific general timeline? amount of time.

1:57:23•MWMatt Weyer

Yeah. Specifically because the rules may affect state interests.

1:57:37•MWMatt Weyer

Okay. So there's not a possibility to do it in and steps and then like apply it to projects as they?

1:58:13•MWMatt Weyer

Okay. Do you think they'd be okay with that? Are we going to...

1:58:24 – 1:58:41•MWMatt Weyer

Yeah, because I'm not trying to upset them, but I'm just kind of curious. I think all of our mind is on how do we multitask, and not that you're not up to it, but how do we provide that support? Because I know you already have a contract out. We have contracts for appraisals and tax consultants, right? Or do we?

1:58:47•MWMatt Weyer

So the master agreement appraisers maybe aren't qualified to do this type of work?

1:58:59 – 1:59:19•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you, Council Member Weyer. Members, just to finish up this first round, we're going to have Council Member Cordero and Council Member Tova ask the first round of questions. I do want to respect our testifiers who have been here. So after this round, we'll go to testifiers, and then we'll come back if there's any follow-up questions or discussion, if the members are okay with that. Council Member Cordero.

1:59:19•RCRadiant Cordero

Okay, Chair, how many questions then? No, feel free to ask questions and then if there's follow-up again after this.

1:59:29•RCRadiant Cordero

Thank you, budget chair. Okay, so maybe Adam, I believe, so who holds liability for the bonds then, just in general?

2:00:27•RCRadiant Cordero

With that then, is the city or the council then liable for that foreclosure or any other types of bonds?

2:00:46 – 2:01:09•RCRadiant Cordero

Understood. Thank you. That's very clear, and I really appreciate that. Next, in other municipalities, where would the CFD, as you mentioned on page eight of your slide, where would the CFD administrative costs go to? I was kind of confused. Does it go to the firm or consultant, to the city, or I don't know?

2:02:13•RCRadiant Cordero

Okay, and so from the city standpoint though, that means we're going to be billing the CFD then?

2:02:38 – 2:03:04•RCRadiant Cordero

It'll be good to get to that point, but I don't know if that's very near in the future, but okay. My last question, sorry, I have more, but just one last question. On your page 12 here, it says, items to be considered by the committee, the viability of the development project. Is there a difference between a committee determining the viability of a development project versus the ability to form the CFD and designated area?

2:03:56•RCRadiant Cordero

Understood. Okay. Thank you. Thank you chair. Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Cordero. Councilmember Toba.

2:04:02 – 2:04:18•ATAugie Tulba

Thank you chair. Aloha Adam. My question is, is there a way to outsource the entire CEFD review process to a third party professionals like yourself that focus on these districts so that it won't burden the city staff?

2:05:08•ATAugie Tulba

Okay, thank you. And who determined which department heads are part of the reviewing moves? I think this is a question for staff.

2:06:38•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you, Council Member Toba. Thank you so much, Director, and thank you, Adam. If you could just remain here, because we do have testifiers, and I promised the members to have another round of questions in discussion if they still had any.

2:06:51 – 2:07:10•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Okay, thank you again for those of you who are joining us in the chamber and for your patience. We will now proceed with in-person oral testimony in the council chamber. I do have a list of in-person testifiers. I will go through the list and if anybody else is here that's not on my list and you would like to testify, please feel free to come up and identify yourself. First, I have Matt Delaney.

2:08:23•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you, Mr. Delaney. Members, any questions for the testifier? Okay, seeing none, next I have from Laulima, also Brennan Brown.

2:09:42 – 2:10:19•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you. I did have a quick question for one of the La Lima representatives. It came to me, and I think I'm going to ask you instead of Adam. In the event where Adam did mention that sometimes people don't want to buy into it because of the additional assessment charge. So as the developer, if units aren't sold, if we go through the process and you develop the properties and you have the projects, and then if units are not selling, what happens then? Who's responsible? Because I think in other projects with other... subsidized project, we've come back and we've been asked by other developers

2:11:09•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Okay, thank you. Members, any further questions for the testifier? Thank you very much. Next on my list I have from Operating Engineers Local 3, Mr. Pani Miatova III.

2:12:32•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you. Thank you, members, any questions for the testifier? Okay, Sina, next I have also from Operating Engineers, Mr. Ana Tui Sasopo.

2:13:41•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you, members. Any questions for the testifier? Thank you. Thank you very much. And thank you for sending your name for the record. Next I have Mr. Michael Pacheco from IBEW 1186. Good morning.

2:14:23 – 2:14:36•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you, members. Any questions for the testifier? I see none. I have none others on my list of registered, but if there's someone here who would like to testify, please feel free to come forward. If you could just state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.

2:15:59•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you, Mr. Sequoia. Members, any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, Imani.

2:16:29•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you, members. Any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, thank you so much.

2:17:27 – 2:17:58•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you. Members, any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, is there anyone here in person in the chamber who would like to testify? None will not proceed with remote testimony. Clerks, do we have any remote testifiers for this item? Chair, there are none. Thank you. Okay. Thank you for your patience. Again, members, we'll now transition back to discussion. So at this time, if there's any follow-up questions for our administration and Mr. Bauer. Council Member Cordero.

2:17:58 – 2:18:24•RCRadiant Cordero

Thank you, Chair. This question is for Director Kawano. Sorry I missed this earlier because I remember you mentioning Iwilei Kupalama, but I actually didn't really get the fact or get that point of just working on one individually. So are you stating that the city administration is only requesting to work on one or formulating one CFD per year? Is that what you said?

2:18:35•RCRadiant Cordero

I meant in general, like it could be, just for example, I'm going to use my district, like Aloha Stadium or Kapolei.

2:19:54 – 2:20:18•RCRadiant Cordero

Right, I understand. I think my first question to Adam was, like, who's liable then? I mean, I know you would be signing documents, but at the end of the day, it would be who's setting up the CFD, though, yeah? I mean, sorry, excuse my naivety. I don't even know how to say that word. But I was trying to formulate questions at the same time when you were talking. So, I mean, at the same time, what is our liability then at the city level?

2:21:49 – 2:22:51•RCRadiant Cordero

Yeah, I fully understand that. I don't want to overburden you folks, but I think at the same time, when we look at Iwile, Kapalama, TOD, and I forgot what it's called, that area, in comparison to possibly Akapole, CFD, I feel like Iwile, Kapalama would definitely take more time because you mentioned there's state entities and properties and numerous owners involved versus maybe just one CFD applicant. I don't know how to describe it, but yeah, like at Laulima. So I don't know, it just seems like it may be easier to do Laulima quicker, Versus like Ibele Kupalama where it's going to be a lot mor

2:22:51 – 2:23:40•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

If I could maybe tag on to what you're asking. Thank you, Council Member Cordero. And thank you, Director. I know that it sounds like this is kind of a guinea pig situation where we're following the example of Kauai, but I think we're looking forward to having the further discussion, but you just mentioned that it would make sense right now to have one, because we're still going through, I guess, the growing process of learning how to do this. Would it then make more sense, and you did mention that the liability would fall on the landowner, so in this case, as we're going through choosing one

2:23:45 – 2:24:18•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Well, you mentioned that, Adam mentioned that there's a benefit to having more than one CFD, which I thought was good for the long picture. But you said right now with our current personnel and what you're, I guess it's a little daunting for what you currently have to then only have one, to focus on one. So I'm asking if that is the goal and because that's what we have the staffing for right now, would it then make more sense? Because I thought you just said the project is, it would make more sense to not have the liability fall on the city as a landowner.

2:26:06•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

But you stated that the city wouldn't be more liable if it's our property versus?

2:26:43 – 2:26:57•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

And in that case where the third-party developer came in and they hired their own consultants, we would have to do the same if we're the landowner? And so you're saying it would not have more of a burden on us?

2:27:49 – 2:29:33•ATAndria Tupola

No additional questions. Thank you, Director, just for discussion. I appreciate your question, your line of questioning, because I do think that the complexity of us being the landowner is why the onerous of all of the different documentation would be different than a private landowner who then would have to hire, complete all of that without any of our wherewith, because that report would then be run through the city as far as the CFD report. Secondarily, I think because we're still in kind of the beginning mode of this, it would behoove us for the very first resolution of intent that comes t

2:29:34•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you, Council Member Tupola. Follow-up questions or discussion and or discussion? Council Member Weyer.

2:29:41•MWMatt Weyer

Thank you, Chair. I just wanted to check with Director Cuomo again on the... these particular bonds, or CFD bonds, the type of bonds, does that still trigger prevailing wage?

2:30:22•MWMatt Weyer

Yeah, is that something that'd be better for us to do an RLS for or would it be easy just to have CORE shoot over like an update or an opinion on that?

2:30:39•MWMatt Weyer

We can do that. Since I know we're talking about staffing needs.

2:30:58 – 2:31:50•MWMatt Weyer

the need for housing and then also the opportunity for good paying jobs. I think we know the severity. I know you fully know the severity of the crisis we're in, because then it also directly impacts revenue too. And honestly, I think we all know that a good job is the biggest safety net. I mean, that's what allows people to afford housing and healthcare and transportation and food and keeping them from falling below the line. And so, more reason just to kind of talk through how do we speed up the process. And I'm open to both, right? Like if it's how do we speed up the process for EVLA 2, Was

2:32:07•MWMatt Weyer

No, I do hope, in seriousness, I do hope that the city administration takes a position.

2:32:18•MWMatt Weyer

Yeah. Okay. I'll end with that. Appreciate you being here. Appreciate the discussion. And I definitely want to continue the dialogue in terms of how we can expedite the process. So thank you, Chair.

2:32:28 – 2:32:44•VOVal Aquino Okimoto

Thank you, Council Member Weyer. Any follow-up questions, further questions or discussion? Okay. Seeing no further questions or discussion, thank you everyone for joining us today and for participating in today's meeting. There being no further business, this meeting is adjourned.