2026-11-05 - Finance Committee

00:51Aloha, welcome to the Committee on

00:52Finance. Today is November 5th, 2026. It

00:56is 9:00 a.m. Calling this meeting to

00:59order.

01:00On my left, I have Council members

01:01Kagawa, Eustace, Kerekowitz, Inaba. To

01:04my right, I have Council members

01:06Kimball.

01:07We have Council members Galimba,

01:11Onishi, and Vereck Viegas excused this

01:14morning.

01:16Mr. Clerk, do you have any testimony to

01:17start us off?

01:19Oh, please let the record reflect Mr.

01:21Onishi is entering the chambers.

01:24We have

01:251 2 3 4 5 6 7 members in attendance. Mr.

01:30Mr. Arcelly, do you have any testimony

01:31this morning?

01:32>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just confirming

01:34that we do not have any testifiers here

01:35or in any of your remote sites.

01:38>> Okay. With that, Mr. Clerk, let's go

01:39right to the top of the agenda, please,

01:41with communications.

01:42>> Communication 23.45, report of fund

01:45transfers authorized June 16th to 30th

01:48and September 1st through 15th, 2026

01:50from Controller John Arvels dated

01:51October 8th, 2026.

01:54>> Is there a motion to close file on

01:55communication 23.45?

01:57>> Okay.

01:58We have a motion by Council Husted, and

02:00a second by Council member Kerbowitz.

02:03Any discussion on the communication?

02:10Just noting on this, not only the

02:12exceptional communication number 2345,

02:15uh but

02:17the impressive amount of funds

02:19transferred between different portions

02:22of the police budget.

02:25Uh into the admin services and other

02:28overtime accounts. Is there anyone from

02:30the police department available?

02:43Okay.

02:45Then Miss Nakagawa, do you have any

02:47comments on this?

03:00>> Good morning, members of Council. Diana

03:02Nakagawa, Finance Department. Uh this is

03:05one of the um

03:07several change uh transfers you'll see.

03:10This is our end-of-year process. So, as

03:14you see with police, there's a um

03:17their fiscal goes through a lot of

03:18reconciling to make sure that the

03:21budgets are available in the appropriate

03:23areas, and sometimes that results in

03:25these transfers.

03:28>> Okay, so this is July 1st, 2025 to June

03:3130, 2026 is the fiscal period for this.

03:35>> That is correct. So, they're they're

03:37going through end-of-year uh

03:40uh fiscal end-of-year.

03:42>> And that was $3.6 million

03:47uh in total movement, correct?

03:50>> That is correct. Internally within

03:52police.

03:54>> Do you know what the

03:55overtime

03:58under-budgeting was

04:01for?

04:02>> I don't know the moment, but happy to

04:03get back with you on that.

04:04>> I It was It was substantial, that's why.

04:06And I I remember

04:08the previous budget, I think I had asked

04:10questions about their overtime budgets

04:12and making sure

04:14they were appropriate, but looking at

04:16these numbers, it looks like they

04:17actually were not.

04:22Okay.

04:23I will follow up with the Police

04:24Department.

04:26Thank you for your answers, Director.

04:28>> Chair.

04:29>> Councilmember Kahoʻohalahala.

04:30>> Thank you. Director, I I just had a

04:32question about um

04:34when these transfer requests are being

04:36submitted.

04:37So,

04:38I'm looking at this and for police, the

04:40request came in in September.

04:42And I'm I'm just curious and trying to

04:44understand why so many months after the

04:47end of the fiscal year, we're still kind

04:48of doing end of year accounting.

04:51>> Yes, so the the to close the year, it

04:53does take several months for the fiscal

04:57teams in each department and also our

04:58finance team to be able to close the

05:00year. We're actually still going through

05:02that process now.

05:04Um so, it does take time. Part of it

05:08this year could be due to some of the

05:11the challenges with our new system, but

05:13it does eventually it still will take

05:15some time to close the year. And so, a

05:18lot goes into looking at each of these

05:21account areas and making sure that we

05:24have um that each department has enough

05:26in where they're going to transfer funds

05:28from, particularly when it comes between

05:29the SNW

05:31and overtime.

05:32>> just want to confirm that you're taking

05:33a look at these numbers and help using

05:35them to help inform next fiscal year's

05:37budget.

05:38>> Yeah, absolutely. It kind of comes at a

05:40good time because we're headed right

05:41into budget review with departments now.

05:44So, these types of things are are fresh

05:46on the on our minds and also on each

05:48department in their fiscal review.

05:49>> Okay, great. And I think I saw um

05:52Deputy Director Azevedo on Zoom.

05:55Deputy, are you still online? I'd love

05:57for you to speak on some of the transfer

05:59of funding from

06:01Hāmākua, Kohala, and Kona over to

06:04supporting some of the highway efforts

06:06in Puna. Good morning.

06:08>> Good morning. Good morning. Yes, um

06:11uh

06:12yeah, whenever we transfer that means

06:15actually we needed um

06:17during disasters or during any who call

06:20out and stuff, that's what we need more

06:21funds for. Just cover the area. I think

06:24they

06:26What is that? Um

06:28>> It's about $53,000. And I I just I just

06:30want to make sure that it doesn't come

06:32to at at an expense of work that needs

06:35to be happening island-wide.

06:37>> No. No, you don't.

06:39Just whatever was left over we look

06:41depending on what um the overtime the

06:45emergencies and call outs and stuff then

06:47from there we adjust the you know, we

06:49kind of look who we get left over then

06:50we cover each other.

06:52>> Okay, great. And this one specifically

06:54was for

06:55>> issue we always in the green.

06:57>> Awesome. And then this one was

06:58specifically for heavy equipment and

07:01parts and supplies for Puna roads and

07:03then materials to complete road work.

07:06>> Yeah.

07:06>> Okay, great. Thank you so much. Thank

07:08you, Chair.

07:08>> we get older equipment there too. That's

07:10why so we need to

07:12make

07:13repairs and parts

07:15on our eyes.

07:17>> Fantastic. Thank you, Deputy Chair. I

07:19yield.

07:21>> Uh follow-up question for Director

07:24Nakagawa. I was thinking about our

07:25budget this year.

07:39So, this fiscal year for the budget that

07:42we passed

07:44in June,

07:47I believe in running through HFD's

07:49numbers, their overtime budgets were

07:52very, very small.

07:55And I had remembered asking them if it

07:57was appropriate coming into this year to

07:60cover their expenses gauging from what I

08:02just saw in that transfer.

08:06I'm not sure that it

08:08our current budgeted amount meets their

08:10needs.

08:12So, that may be something you'd like to

08:13look into with HPD

08:17sooner rather than later.

08:21>> We'll We'll do. So, that those um when

08:24we're transferring from the S&W to

08:26overtime,

08:28it fluctuates based on

08:31availability of resources, so vacancies.

08:34The savings from the vacancies, if

08:36vacancies are still high,

08:38we need staffing to cover overtime. So,

08:41sometimes that's a little difficult to

08:42anticipate, but we'll go ahead and

08:44review what their end of year '26

08:48um needs were and put that um as we look

08:51at the next year's budget, but also

08:53review current year, as you mentioned.

08:55>> And then for the budget that you're

08:57going to be creating for the next

08:58council,

09:01will that number be represented in the

09:03actuals for 2020

09:06526?

09:09>> Uh when we are doing budget review in

09:12April, you will see the actuals from the

09:15previous fiscal year.

09:17>> And that that includes the transfers

09:20within the change orders as well?

09:22>> Correct.

09:23>> Okay, good.

09:24>> Yeah.

09:24>> Okay.

09:25Thank you, Director.

09:28Okay, seeing no further discussion,

09:30communication 2345 is on the

09:35table. All in favor of closing file on

09:38communication 2345?

09:39>> Aye.

09:40>> Any opposed?

09:43Mr. Clerk, you have

09:45seven members.

09:48Seven members in favor, Miss

09:50Vegas and Miss Galimba excused.

09:56>> Motion carries.

10:01>> Is there any testimony for communication

10:0323.46?

10:06Hearing none, communication 23.46,

10:08report of fund transfers authorized June

10:1016 through 30 and September 16 through

10:1330, 2026 from Controller Joan Arville's

10:15dated October 8th, 2026.

10:18>> Motion to close file on communication

10:1923.46.

10:22Motion by Council member Huestis, second

10:23by Council member Kirkwood to close file

10:25communication 23.46. Any discussion,

10:28Council members?

10:31Hearing and seeing none, motion is on

10:32the floor. All in favor?

10:34Any opposed?

10:36Mr. Clerk, you have seven members in

10:38favor. This

10:40Vegas and Galimba excused, motion

10:42carries.

10:43>> Is there any testimony for communication

10:4524.41?

10:49Hearing none, communication 24.41 report

10:51of change orders authorized June 6

10:52through 30, 2026

10:55from Finance Director Diane Nakagawa

10:56dated October 7, 2026 transmitting the

10:59above report pursuant to section 2-12.3

11:02of the Hawaii County Code.

11:03>> Motion to close file on communication

11:0524.41.

11:06>> Second.

11:07>> Motion by Council member Huestis, second

11:09by Council member Kirkwood to close file

11:11on communication 24.41.

11:13Discussion, Council members? Kirkwood

11:16Huestis, go ahead.

11:17>> Thank you, Chair.

11:18Uh first questions for Parks and

11:20Recreation.

11:32>> [clears throat]

11:35>> I don't think we have anyone from Parks

11:37and Rec, Chair. Um

11:39next question is for

11:42Planning.

11:48Okay.

11:50All right. Uh for the record, Chair,

11:52questions regarding

11:55Parks and Recreation items.

11:58There was one item here

12:01um

12:03various park lighting systems and

12:05related improvements.

12:07I was just curious on what parks were

12:09identified for this contract. It does

12:11not disclose in the purpose.

12:14And then the one above it there

12:18regarding the re-roofing repairs for a

12:19number of facilities,

12:21the

12:25supplemental agreement, the change order

12:27here, just has it address additional

12:29design concerns. So, I just wanted to

12:31dive a little bit more into what

12:32concerns they had.

12:35To address that. I don't know, Director,

12:36if you wanted to if you can speak to

12:37that.

12:39>> Uh yes. Councilmember, I can't speak to

12:41those details, but I just wanted to say

12:43I'll be happy to take those down.

12:44Apologies the departments are not able

12:46to be here, but we'll get those answers

12:48for you.

12:49>> Okay, thank you. And then just kind of

12:51going down my list here,

12:56the this was for for planning here. So,

12:58there you have a contract for the

13:00general plan comprehensive review.

13:02This change order

13:05itself is 6 years old,

13:08but it's showing up on on on here in

13:10front of us here for this period.

13:13Um

13:14so, curious about kind of the timing of

13:16that,

13:17but was curious with uh planning

13:21this contract is still open for the

13:23purpose of

13:25further review of the general plan. I'm

13:27not sure. I thought we were kind of

13:28concluding some of those pieces, but I

13:30wasn't sure if the plan department was

13:32maintaining this contract. So, thank

13:34you.

13:35Thanks, Chair.

13:37>> Thank you.

13:40Ms. Kimble.

13:41>> Just um offering my usual disclosure.

13:44There is a um

13:45change order here for Fleming and

13:46Associates. Again, we're just approving

13:48the change orders, not actually or the

13:51memo, not the actual expenditure.

13:54Just disclosing. Thank you.

13:55>> Thank you very much.

13:58Just a point of information to

14:00everybody. Uh Ms. Nakagawa was and has

14:04put in motion asking all the departments

14:06to be here

14:08for these items uh because each one of

14:10the departments should be here to

14:11represent why or why not

14:14uh these items are are in front of us

14:16and as they are not here, just a a

14:18warning for the departments.

14:21We are watching.

14:23And we would like you to be here. And

14:24miss Nakagawa has asked you to be here

14:26as well. So, for those of you who are

14:28here, thank you very much. And for those

14:30of you who aren't,

14:31let's work on being here next time.

14:33Thank you.

14:34Uh, Mr. Houston, did you want to table

14:36this motion and wait for the

14:37departments?

14:39>> Not necessary, Cheryl.

14:41Either they'll all reach they'll reach

14:42out to me or I'll get those answers in

14:44in due time. Thank you.

14:45>> Okay. Thank you.

14:46Uh, so we have the motion on the floor

14:48to close file on communication 24.41.

14:51All in favor?

14:52>> Aye.

14:53>> Any opposed?

14:56Mr. Clerk, you have seven members in

14:59favor.

15:00Council members Galimba and Viegas

15:02excused. Motion carries.

15:05Is there any testimony for communication

15:0624.42?

15:10Hearing none. Communication 24.42 report

15:12of change orders authorized July 1

15:14through 15, 2026 from Finance Director

15:16Diana Kagawa dated October 8, 2026

15:19transmitting the above report pursuant

15:21to section 2-12.3 of the Hawaii County

15:23Code.

15:24Motion to close file on communication

15:2524.42.

15:27>> Second.

15:28>> Motion by Council member Houston

15:30seconded by Council member Kagiwada for

15:33to close file on communication 24.42.

15:38Uh, Council member Kirkwood, do you want

15:39to start us off?

15:40>> Thank you, Chair. Um, I have a question

15:42for Research and Development regarding

15:44County and State Local Fiscal Recovery

15:46Funds programs, small business economic

15:49recovery and support.

15:51$75,000

15:53and the contractor is

15:55the Hawaiian Brain Freeze.

15:59What's that?

16:00>> Good morning. Dennis Ling, Deputy

16:01Director for Department of Research and

16:03Development. Yeah, so that is one of the

16:05ARPA grants um

16:07under the

16:08uh

16:09small business um grants that we gave

16:12out to businesses.

16:14So, those are direct like for operating

16:16to help them pull through COVID um and

16:20recover from it.

16:22The Hawaiian Brain Freeze um and this is

16:25I think it's pretty public knowledge. Uh

16:27they recently had a car drive through

16:30their storefront. Um

16:33Originally their plan was to build out a

16:34commercial kitchen. Um

16:38So there's been some timing issues.

16:39There's also been some discussions with

16:41the landlord that wouldn't allow them to

16:43build out the commercial kitchen. So the

16:46reallocation of the budget item

16:48we moved it from

16:50the cost that it would take to build out

16:53a kitchen to using a commercial kitchen

16:56elsewhere

16:57to do that food preparation. So that's

17:00the change order that we have there.

17:04>> Okay. So rather than building out a

17:06kitchen, they would

17:09use that money to rent another kitchen

17:11in order to create value-added products.

17:14So there's a

17:15>> Correct.

17:16>> time limit, it seems.

17:18>> Yeah, and the

17:19the Hawaiian Brain Freeze is a um

17:22shave ice, ice cream, snack shop kind of

17:26uh store.

17:26>> Valley in the Hilo Shopping Center.

17:28>> Yes, right next to Happy Valley.

17:29>> Um

17:33Because this is related to COVID and you

17:36said ARPA.

17:37>> Mhm.

17:38>> Do they need to expend the money by the

17:40end of this calendar year?

17:43>> Yes, that is the requirement.

17:46>> And then is everyone on track related to

17:49this grant, like spending this money

17:51down?

17:52>> Yes. So um most of the small business

17:56ones, the final reports have already

17:57been filed with our department. Uh so

18:00it's just a matter of

18:02making sure the ones that we did do

18:03change orders for, they're still in line

18:06with spending down that money and doing

18:08the work that was um

18:10in the contract.

18:11>> And so this particular business is going

18:12to be able to spend $75,000

18:15worth of commercial kitchen space by the

18:17end of the year.

18:18>> It's not completely $75,000. It's

18:21There's other

18:22um line items within there. But the

18:24specific reason for why they asked for a

18:26change order and and the change in

18:28budget was because of that um change in

18:31the commercial kitchen use.

18:32>> Okay.

18:32>> Yeah.

18:33>> Thank you for answering all the

18:34questions. There aren't a ton of details

18:36in the purpose section on the

18:37spreadsheet, so I just appreciate the

18:39context. Thank you, Deputy D. I yield,

18:41Chair.

18:48>> Is this uh Mr. Lynn, is that

18:57This is the what? RFP 4573?

19:01To build out commercial kitchen.

19:03>> No, no, different one. Different one.

19:04>> It's different.

19:05>> Different, yeah.

19:06>> Does it meet the original intent of the

19:10grants that were given out?

19:14>> The intent of the purpose of the 75,000

19:17is still there. It's just that they had

19:20to change the use of that funds cuz

19:22originally it was to utilize it to build

19:25within the current property that they

19:27rent.

19:28Um now it's been changed because the

19:30prop- the landowner

19:32uh would not let them do it.

19:35Although there's two restaurants right

19:36next to them. So.

19:40>> There is There is It's interesting.

19:44I'm not going to dig into that too much.

19:46Uh I would just note if this helps cool

19:48for them, uh Short and Sweet actually

19:50closed their doors

19:52uh and has moved.

19:54The kitchen space is available.

19:56>> Mhm.

19:57>> Um

19:58and it's sad to see one of our local

19:59businesses go, but there is a commercial

20:01kitchen next door

20:03to these folks should they be interested

20:05if that's a helpful move for them.

20:07>> Yeah, I haven't been in touch with them

20:08directly, but our our staff has, so I

20:10can definitely reach out and inform

20:13them. Thank you.

20:14>> Thank you.

20:15Any further discussion?

20:19Seeing none, um for the record, please

20:21let the record reflect Miss Galimba has

20:23joined us.

20:25So, on the motion to close file on

20:27communication 24.42

20:30All in favor?

20:32And any opposed?

20:35Mr. Kirk, you have eight members in

20:36favor, Council member Viegas excused.

20:38Motion carries.

20:40>> Is there any testimony for communication

20:4227.8?

20:45Hearing none, communication 27.8 report

20:47of donations received from the Daniel R.

20:49Sayre Memorial Foundation as of October

20:5126, 2026 from Finance Director Dean

20:53Nakagawa.

20:55Dated October 6, 2026, transmitting the

20:57above report pursuant to resolution

20:59468-20.

21:01Motion to close file on communication

21:0327.8.

21:05>> We have a motion by Council member

21:06Eustace and a second by Council member

21:08Galimba

21:10to close file on communication 27.8.

21:13Council member Eustace, go ahead.

21:14>> Thanks, Chair. I just want to big mahalo

21:17to the Sayre Foundation for for

21:19processing this donation to the county.

21:22Uh this particular item

21:24the FASCAT cannon vehicle is quite an

21:27amazing piece of technology and I had

21:29the privilege of attending with Chief

21:30Nava at the blessing for this vehicle.

21:34Um

21:35big mahalo to the donors really

21:37processing through this the Sayre

21:38Foundation. One of the first pieces

21:40donated directly to the Department of

21:42Public Works.

21:43Um amazing.

21:45If you If you're curious to see the

21:47FASCAT cannon truck in action, there are

21:48quite a number of videos out there to

21:50kind of highlight what it looks like and

21:52what it can do in in community and kind

21:54of safeguard and protect communities.

21:56So, I know uh Fire Chief is on as well

21:58if you wanted to

21:60pull him in and speak about the FASCAT

22:01cannon, too, but um

22:03thanks thanks, Chair.

22:04>> Thank you.

22:06Uh we need to recognize Chief Mopert for

22:10joining us today.

22:12So, thank you very much. Did you want to

22:14uh say anything, Chief?

22:17>> Uh sure. Um yeah, thank you very much.

22:19Um thank you for all the support of the

22:21council. Um as um

22:23Council member Eustace did mention, this

22:25this vehicle is a rather large donation

22:28from the Sayer Sayer

22:30Foundation. And again, Deputy Director

22:33Azevedo is on here as well. And this is

22:34the first time the Sayers have actually

22:35donated directly to the DPW agency,

22:40non-fire. So this vehicle is sort of

22:42advertised as a firefighting vehicle,

22:43but really what it is is a water tanker

22:46off-road with a dozer blade. It's a

22:48really a heavy piece of heavy equipment

22:51that really is more suitable within DPW

22:53rather than the fire department proper.

22:56It will be used to assist on fires just

22:58like DPW currently assists on fires with

23:01fuel trucks, bulldozers, water tankers,

23:04water tenders. So it really does

23:06highlight the continued support of the

23:09Department of Public Works for fire

23:11operations and emergency operations

23:13countywide. And I'm really grateful for

23:15that continued support.

23:17I'll let Deputy Director Azevedo chime

23:19in and I'm available for any more

23:21questions if you have.

23:24>> Thank you, Deputy Director Azevedo. Any

23:26comments?

23:27>> I'm Deputy Director Azevedo. I just want

23:29to thank the Sayer Foundation for

23:31donating this

23:32nice equipment. You know, it's going to

23:34help us for support fire, Hawaii Fire

23:37Department in fighting fires and do what

23:40we need to do. There's a 2,000 gallon

23:42tank in the back and shoots pretty good.

23:44It sprays nice and the whole thing,

23:46whatever we can get to support our

23:48communities out there and you know, this

23:51a blessing.

23:53You know, that equipment is nice and we

23:55could never say no because it's a new

23:57equipment and it says up you know, just

24:00help how we can fight stop fires.

24:03You know, what machines we need, what

24:04equipment we need and the Sayer

24:06Foundation stepped up and they gave us

24:08this

24:09this beautiful equipment where it's

24:10going to help us big time. I just want

24:12to thank them again and thank Fire Chief

24:14too. Thank you so much.

24:17>> Thank you very much, Deputy Director.

24:19And then from from myself to you, uh Mr.

24:21Volpe, congratulations on your

24:23nomination to be the new chief of the

24:25fire department for Hawaii County.

24:26believe

24:29>> Thank you very much.

24:30It's an honor.

24:31>> Thank you.

24:34Okay, council members, any further

24:36discussion?

24:39Hearing and seeing none, motion is on

24:40the floor to close file on communication

24:4327.8.

24:45All in favor?

24:47Any opposed?

24:49Mr. Clark, you have eight members in

24:51favor, council member Vegas being

24:52excused. Motion carries. Thank you.

24:55>> Is there any testimony for communication

24:56118.7?

25:00Hearing none, communication 118.7 first

25:02quarter reallocation report July 1

25:04through September 3rd, 2026 from Human

25:06Resources Director Summer J. Tokihiro,

25:08dated October 15, 2026.

25:11>> Motion to close file on communication

25:12118.7.

25:13>> Second.

25:14>> Motion by council member Huston,

25:16seconded by council member Kerkhoff,

25:17closing file on communication 118.7.

25:20Discussion, council member Huston.

25:22>> Thanks, chair. Um just to my colleagues

25:24here, if you look at the the cover page

25:26of this reallocation report, uh worked

25:29with Director Tokihiro to kind of

25:30provide a little bit more clarifying

25:32language um on the report in terms of

25:34the reallocation of positions. So,

25:36grateful for Director Nakagawa's input

25:38as well and Director Tokihiro just

25:39providing some more insight in what what

25:41is really in this report. So, thank you.

25:45>> Thank you very much. I think this helps

25:47uh elucidate some of the concerns

25:48brought by the testifier uh repeatedly.

25:51Thank you very much. And then also to

25:53Summer, you do have a very nice

25:54signature.

25:56And I appreciate it on your documents.

26:00All right. We have a motion on the floor

26:03to close file on communication 118.7.

26:06All in favor?

26:07Any opposed?

26:09Mr. Clark, you have eight members in

26:10favor, council member Vegas excused.

26:12Motion carries.

26:16>> Is there any testimony for communication

26:18574.4?

26:21Hearing none, communication 574.4 report

26:23of non-capitalized donations for July 1

26:26through September 3rd, 2026 from Finance

26:28Director Diane Akagawa, dated October 7,

26:302026, transmitting the report pursuant

26:32to resolution 200-25.

26:36>> Motion to close file communication

26:38574.4.

26:39>> Second.

26:40>> Motion by Council member Heustis,

26:42seconded by Council member Kirkwood, to

26:44close file on communication 574.4.

26:47Any discussion? Council member Heustis?

26:49>> Thanks, chair. Just um

26:51mahalo to these individuals and

26:52organizations for their for their

26:54donations, and I was curious about the

26:56Victoria crowned pigeon,

26:58and I was unfamiliar with what that bird

27:00looked like. It's quite a striking bird

27:02that's been donated to the zoo, so

27:04thanks, chair.

27:05>> Thank you.

27:07Okay. Seeing no further discussion,

27:08motion is on the floor to close file on

27:10communication 574.4. Any

27:13Sorry.

27:14All in favor?

27:15>> Aye.

27:16>> Any opposed?

27:18Mr. Clerk, you have eight members in

27:20favor. Council member Viegas is excused.

27:22Motion carries.

27:24>> Is there any testimony for resolution

27:26720-26?

27:30Hearing none, 720-26 authorizes payment

27:33of funds from later fiscal years to

27:34enter a licensing agreement for Axon

27:36software to use by the Office of the

27:38Prosecuting Attorney. Authorizes the

27:40mayor to enter into a 10-year agreement

27:42with an approximate annual cost of

27:44$250,000 to allow for continued access

27:47to digital evidence software, introduced

27:49by Council member Kounalakis by request.

27:52>> Motion to forward resolution 720-26 to

27:55Council with a favorable recommendation.

27:56>> Second.

27:57>> Motion by Council member Heustis,

27:58seconded by Council member Kirkwood, to

28:01close to forward resolution 720-26

28:04to Council with a favorable

28:05recommendation. Any discussion?

28:09Hearing and seeing none. Oh, Council

28:11member Kirkwood?

28:12>> No, I just wanted to confirm that there

28:13is sufficient funding in their budget to

28:15cover this additional cost.

28:19The annual cost is $250,000

28:21a year, and I know that um

28:23Prosecutor does a very good job of

28:25stretching every dollar. Um hi, Mr.

28:28Nagasawa. Good to see you. Just want to

28:29make sure that you folks have enough or

28:31Or are plans to replenish your budget

28:34with fund balance or other resources to

28:36cover this.

28:38>> Thank you for your question. I'm the

28:39Grant McGotha, business administrator

28:41here at the prosecutor's office. So, I

28:42appreciate the question and the concern.

28:44So, for for the Axon licensing

28:47uh

28:48for this current fiscal year, we're

28:50trying to get the contract done by the

28:51end of this calendar year. Uh so,

28:53they're only going to charge us 15 about

28:5515,000 for this current fiscal year,

28:57which we can uh we can cover we can

29:00cover in our current budget. And then

29:03in fiscal year 28

29:06uh we do have a supplemental uh budget

29:08request uh going through the budgetary

29:10process. We did have initial uh

29:12conversations and discussions with uh

29:15with the finance department as well as

29:17purchasing and then the mayor's office

29:19as well. So, uh that 250,000

29:23uh average cost a year is is going

29:24through

29:25uh the current budget process.

29:27>> Okay, great to hear. And then this is

29:29for a term of 10 years. Just want to

29:31confirm that it's 250,000 every year.

29:34There's not going to be any

29:36cost differentials, increases over time,

29:39or decreases even.

29:41>> Well, this That's a great question. And

29:42so, uh so, the average cost is about is

29:45about 250,000

29:47a year, but it is a it goes on a scale.

29:50So, the first year is about maybe 209

29:53and it kind of goes up up with the

29:54average of the 10 years is about

29:56250,000.

29:58Uh so, I did ask Axon. So, one of my

30:00concerns uh over

30:02uh talking about this agreement was

30:05you know, if uh

30:06because we're we're getting these

30:07licenses because we need access to the

30:10police uh their body cam

30:12uh data files. And so, if police for

30:14whatever reason, if they end up going

30:15with a different platform, you know, are

30:17we as a community as an office stuck

30:20with uh with the Axon for for the

30:23remainder of the 10 years? So, the the

30:24answer from Axon was that uh this

30:2710-year contract is a year-to-year. So,

30:29if if for whatever reason, if the police

30:31department moves away from using the

30:33Axon body cams, we can terminate the

30:35contract and then there's no

30:37uh no penalties or anything like that.

30:41>> Great.

30:41>> And then also too, just to add, with the

30:43with the 10-year contract uh we're able

30:46to

30:47to get a little bit more savings

30:50versus, you know, the 5-year.

30:52And also too, with the increase in

30:55the data storage and the technology

30:57costs, um you know, we're able to lock

30:60in uh this current pricing that Axon has

31:03throughout the 10 years. Uh they did

31:05mention that

31:06in the beginning of

31:08uh calendar year 2027 that the cost of

31:11their licensing and and some of their

31:13services is going to go up by 30%. And

31:16so

31:17uh

31:17so by doing this 10-year

31:19uh contract, uh now we're going to be

31:21able to lock in that pricing and then

31:23save the county

31:25some money.

31:26>> Yeah, smart. Thank you. And I noticed in

31:28the resolution the office was

31:32accessing files through HPE, but

31:34[clears throat] then notified by the

31:36vendor that you needed a separate

31:38license.

31:39>> That's correct. So, um so our office,

31:41our attorneys, were using the free

31:43licensing

31:44uh to be able to get to the the Axon

31:47data

31:48uh the

31:49the video files. And and Axon later on

31:52they came back and said that we need to

31:53purchase our own licenses. And so uh so

31:56that's why we

31:57>> [clears throat]

31:58>> we need to

31:59uh

31:59get our own contract and then pay for

32:01our own licenses ourselves.

32:03>> Got it. Thanks for the additional

32:04context and for being here, Mr. Nagata.

32:06Chair I yield.

32:07>> Sure.

32:08>> Thank you.

32:10Okay. Seeing no further discussion,

32:12motion is on the floor to close file on

32:14communication sorry, to forward

32:16resolution 720-26

32:18to council with a favorable

32:19recommendation. All in favor?

32:22Any opposed?

32:24Mr. Clerk, you have seven members in

32:26favor, councilmembers Vegas and Galimba

32:28excused. Motion carries.

32:31>> Is there any testimony for resolution

32:33721-26?

32:35>> [clears throat]

32:36>> Hearing none, resolution 721-26

32:38authorizing payment of funds of later

32:40fiscal years to enter into a

32:41multi-release agreement for three

32:43compacting refuse trailers to be used by

32:45the Department of Environmental

32:46Management. Authorize the mayor to enter

32:48into a 5-year lease agreement with an

32:50approximate annual cost of $191,000

32:54for the collection and transportation of

32:55municipal solid waste from transfer

32:57stations to either the East Hawaii

32:58reload facility or the West Hawaii

33:00sanitary landfill. Introduced by

33:02Councilmember Carroll Fielder by

33:03request.

33:04>> Move to forward resolution 721-26

33:07to Council with a positive

33:08recommendation.

33:09>> Second.

33:10>> I have a motion by Councilmember Huestis

33:11and a second by Councilmember Kirkwood.

33:14Councilmember Huestis, go ahead.

33:15>> Thanks, Chair. Um

33:17the next three resolutions to Director

33:19Garvin, if you want to come up um just

33:21for this one at least to start.

33:27And your team, yeah. And Robin, thank

33:29you so much.

33:40Thanks, Director. I

33:42My colleagues may have other questions

33:43too. I was just curious if, you know, it

33:45may answer some of the other ones as

33:46well for the this the following

33:47resolutions.

33:49Um the first resolution here, 721 on the

33:50floor,

33:52uh

33:53three compacting refuse trailers.

33:56What What is the What are the conditions

33:58of our compacting trailers? So, this is

34:00for a term of 5 years,

34:02$191,000

34:04for each of the 5 years for three

34:05compacting refuse trailers.

34:07Are these replacing trailers that are no

34:10longer in use, that are in poor

34:12condition?

34:15>> Uh these are replacing trailers that um

34:19are are at the very end of their service

34:21life.

34:22>> And what has been the typical service

34:23life for these compacting trailers?

34:26>> Well,

34:27we've artificially extended the service

34:30life by replacing cylinders and

34:33hydraulic systems on them, but

34:36I I I would have to ask Mike for the

34:38exact number, but I think all of our

34:41trailers are at least 7 to 10 years old.

34:45>> Um Mike Rivera, DEM. So, the average uh

34:48lifespan for a regular compacting

34:51trailer would be anywhere between 5 to 7

34:53years.

34:54And many of ours are

34:5710 years and older.

34:59So, we're just

35:01trying to fix a problem and

35:04>> Thank you. And Mr. Rivera, when And

35:06Director, when's the last time you've

35:07kind of requested

35:09a replacement of some of these vehicles,

35:12particularly the compacting ones here as

35:14this resolution speaks to?

35:18>> For me, this is the first time.

35:20>> Okay.

35:20>> Yeah.

35:21>> I'm just kind of curious how how often

35:23you're asking for that the request for

35:24turnover.

35:25>> So, for our fleet rotation the cycle,

35:28you'll you'll see three trailers and

35:31three tractors for the next several

35:34years as we recycle out our older

35:37tractors and walking floors and the

35:39compacting trailers.

35:41So, as part of that um

35:44fleet cycle rotation, every other year

35:47you'll see a

35:50addition for a roll-off truck and

35:52containers, and then every 3 years

35:55you'll see the grapplers being submitted

35:58for

35:59And and

36:00it'll take about 5 years to write the

36:02ship for the department, and then we'll

36:05be fine after we reduce our our

36:07maintenance as well as our rental costs,

36:10which are extremely high.

36:13>> And then in terms of a supplier for

36:15these, cuz we're leasing them from

36:17someone here on island, or they're

36:18coming in from another location?

36:21>> We would have to bid it out.

36:23>> Okay.

36:23>> Yeah.

36:24>> But there are suppliers

36:25>> No.

36:26>> on island for this purpose. Okay. Okay.

36:30I think that's all I have for now,

36:30Chair. Thank you.

36:32>> Thank you. Any further discussion?

36:36>> How many How many

36:38trailers do you

36:39>> have right now?

36:43>> He Heilo has just three.

36:46>> [snorts]

36:46>> So, the others are are down. We're

36:49trying to

36:50um

36:51secure some cylinders to keep them

36:53operating. Uh and that that'll help

36:56bring several more online.

36:58There are three in Waimea.

37:011 2 3 4 Four in Kona, two in Waianae.

37:05And

37:08Did I Did I miss one? No, that's all of

37:10them right there.

37:12>> Are these the walking floor trailers?

37:14>> Some of our sites have walking floors.

37:16So, Waianae has a walking floor. There's

37:18two. Uh Laupahoehoe has two.

37:22And the Kona site are compacting

37:26trailers, as well as Waimea. And then

37:29the Hilo shoots are compacting trailers.

37:35>> What What are the trailers at the Hilo

37:37transfer station where you dump your

37:38rubbish in? What are those trailers on

37:40the underneath the chute?

37:41>> Those are compacting trailers. So, the

37:44ones that go in over Saddle Road, those

37:45are walking floors.

37:48>> Do we have enough walking floor trailers

37:50to handle the amount of volume that

37:51we're trucking each day?

37:53>> We're right at that minimum level right

37:55now.

37:56>> Okay.

37:57Are we currently outsourcing any of our

38:00trucking and hauling needs to private

38:03contractors?

38:04>> Not at this time. We are renting

38:06tractors, though.

38:08>> How many tractors?

38:09>> 1 2 3 Five.

38:12>> Five tractors. Okay, I think that's a

38:14better discussion for our next

38:15resolution.

38:16>> Okay.

38:18>> Um

38:21Yeah, this has been This is This one's

38:23been continuously done about this time

38:26of year.

38:28At least for the last 2 or 3 years,

38:30we've been buying more trailers. I'm not

38:31opposed to it. All of our waste

38:34island wide has to go to West Hawaii.

38:38So, we don't really have another option

38:40on the table.

38:43>> No, we don't right now.

38:45>> Okay. So, this is a This is to me a

38:48crucial piece of equipment needed for

38:50the department. Just making sure we

38:53don't have

38:55making sure we have enough I think is

38:57the right word. Now, that's that's our

38:59our hope too eventually through

39:02acquisitions and

39:03through the years that we have plenty

39:05and

39:06and as we redesign the reload station,

39:09hopefully we can uh eliminate those

39:14under the shoot and as we go to a more

39:16modern design for offloading of trash

39:19and it'll be less trailers going over or

39:22to more [snorts] direct from the from

39:24the offloading right to right now we're

39:26kind of double handling

39:28at the heel shoot area, which is then

39:31offloaded in the reload and then

39:32reloaded into a walking floor. So, we

39:34would like to eliminate that

39:37that step.

39:38>> [snorts]

39:39>> Yeah.

39:39Until we have like a light rail system

39:41that transports like Star Wars to the

39:44other side.

39:44>> Yeah, yeah.

39:45>> Yeah.

39:46Yeah, thank you.

39:48Any further discussion?

39:51Hearing and seeing none, motion is on

39:53the floor to forward resolution

39:55721-26 the council with a favorable

39:58recommendation. All in favor?

39:59>> Aye.

40:00>> Any opposed?

40:02Mr. Clerk, you have seven members in

40:05eight members in favor. Council member

40:06Vegas being excused, motion carries.

40:09Is there any testimony for resolution

40:10722-26?

40:14>> Hearing none, resolution 722-26

40:17authorizes the payment of funds of later

40:18fiscal years to enter into a multi-year

40:20lease agreement for 11 flatbed trucks

40:22with hydraulic pump units to be used by

40:24the Department of Environmental

40:25Management authorizing the mayor to

40:26enter into a 5-year lease agreement with

40:28an approximate annual cost of $409,000

40:32for refuse compacting at transfer

40:33stations island-wide introduced by

40:35Council member Connie Clynch Holder by

40:37request.

40:38>> Move to forward resolution 722-26 the

40:40council with a favorable recommendation.

40:42>> Second.

40:43>> Motion by Council member Hughes seconded

40:44by Council member Kirkwood.

40:46Discussion by the body.

40:55Okay.

40:58Oh, let's reconvene. Thank you.

41:00>> Hi, thank you, Director, um for being

41:02here. Uh can I just get a little more

41:04information? Are we Are we leasing new

41:07vehicles, used vehicles here, and um are

41:10we replacing

41:13Are we just replacing one for one, or

41:14are we adding additional

41:16vehicles on this one?

41:21>> I can answer that. These are yeah,

41:23replacing very, very old uh

41:27pump trucks that are

41:29currently in use. I think some some most

41:31of them are from 2005 to 2008.

41:35So, they've more than outlasted again

41:38about the same 5 to 7-year

41:40lifespan should be the normal usage for

41:43these. So, these are

41:45just replacements.

41:49>> And they're um are they specialized for

41:52solid waste management, or and and are

41:55these

41:55>> They're

41:56They're dedicated yes, just for the

41:58compacting trailers.

42:00>> Okay. All right.

42:01>> To smoosh it together.

42:03>> Okay. Thanks for the explanation.

42:05Yield chair.

42:06>> Thank you.

42:08Uh question for the department.

42:11Was this in your 25 Sorry, was this in

42:13your budget for this year, or this is an

42:14additional ask?

42:19It was, yeah.

42:24>> Hi, yes, it is in our budget.

42:26>> Okay. Thank you, Ms. Balwin.

42:28Thank you. Any further discussion?

42:31Hearing and seeing none, motion is on

42:32the floor to forward resolution 722-26

42:35to the council with a favorable

42:37recommendation. All in favor?

42:39Any opposed?

42:41Mr. Clerk, you have eight members in

42:42favor. Councilmember Viegas is excused.

42:44Motion carries.

42:46>> Is there any testimony for resolution

42:48723-26?

42:52Hearing none, resolution 723-26

42:54authorizes payment of funds at later

42:55fiscal years to enter a multi-release

42:57agreement for three heavy-duty truck

42:59tractors to be used by the Department of

43:01Environmental Management. Authorizes the

43:03mayor to enter a 5-year lease agreement

43:05with an approximate annual cost of

43:06$205,000

43:08for transmitting municipal solid waste

43:11Excuse me, transporting municipal solid

43:13waste transfers trailers between East

43:15and West Hawaii introduced by Council

43:16member Kanie Kleinpeter by request.

43:19>> Motion before resolution 723-26

43:22the council with a favorable

43:22recommendation.

43:23>> Second.

43:25>> Motion made by Council member Hustace,

43:26seconded by Council member Kirk-Green

43:29any discussion? Council member Hustace,

43:31go ahead.

43:31>> Thanks chair. Just with these three

43:32resolutions

43:35estimating about a hundred 805,000

43:38each year.

43:40So, over the 5-year terms for all of

43:42these four

43:434 million, right?

43:454025

43:49>> I I

43:49>> haven't added that up, but that sounds

43:51about right.

43:51>> Okay.

43:53Just some some big figures there for

43:54sure over the for the lifespan of these

43:56vehicles and an expense for the

43:57department. I thank you for confirming

43:59that it's it's been budgeted for this

44:00cycle for this year.

44:02Um

44:03just curious.

44:04You know, it's a these are all kind of

44:06an estimation on an annual basis, right?

44:08So, the the hope and the goal is to kind

44:10of

44:11be within that range or under that value

44:13there. Um

44:15kind of curious to see what what the

44:17term may lead in the next few years and

44:19beyond especially with the figures we're

44:21seeing in front of us. So,

44:22yeah.

44:23Thank you.

44:25>> Thank you.

44:29Good points, Mr. Hustace. And

44:32waste waste is going to continue to be

44:33an issue.

44:35And I I have concerns about the

44:36longevity of the

44:38site where actually housing our waste

44:39at. That needs to be a discussion

44:41brought up in future years they given

44:43that our

44:45our lifespan of that facility is not

44:47what was represented or has decreased

44:50drastically from what was represented to

44:52us 8 years ago and what it is today.

44:55So,

44:56food for thought.

44:57Thank you for being Thank you for being

44:59here today.

45:00Uh motion is on the floor to forward

45:02resolution

45:03723-26

45:05to council with a favorable

45:07recommendation.

45:09All in favor?

45:10>> Aye.

45:11>> Any opposed?

45:13Mr. Clerk, you have eight members in

45:14favor. Councilmember Viegas is excused.

45:20>> Motion carries.

45:22>> Motion carries.

45:24>> [snorts and laughter]

45:24>> Is there any testimony for resolution

45:26724-26?

45:30Hearing none, resolution 724-26

45:32authorizes the mayor to enter into an

45:34intergovernmental agreement with the

45:35United States Department of Homeland

45:37Security to receive a grant for fire

45:38investigation equipment. Authorize the

45:41mayor to enter into a 1-year agreement

45:43with the Federal Emergency Management

45:44Agency to receive approximately $24,157

45:48through the fire prevention and safety

45:49grant to be used to purchase

45:51investigative equipment introduced by

45:53Councilmember Councilmember Connolly for

45:55a request, and this is a companion to

45:56bill 209.

45:59>> Motion to forward resolution 724-26 to

46:01council with a favorable recommendation.

46:03>> Second.

46:04>> Motion by Councilmember Houston,

46:05seconded by Councilmember Kirkwood.

46:07Any discussion? Councilmember, go ahead.

46:10>> Uh just want to recognize um Chief Bolpy

46:13and BC Henderson if they wanted to speak

46:14to the resolution. Thanks, chair.

46:18>> Uh yeah, thank you everybody for having

46:20us. Uh we really appreciate you guys

46:22assisting us with this. This is a grant

46:25that was put together by our new grant

46:27writer and Captain Goon. So,

46:30uh

46:30this is going to help us with a lot of

46:32equipment that we need. And as you guys

46:34know, fire investigations, they tend to

46:35wear on a lot of the equipment that we

46:37have in this list. So,

46:39uh you know, if you have any questions

46:41or concerns, please feel free to reach

46:42out to us. But we really appreciate the

46:44help, for sure.

46:48>> Thank you very much. Councilmember

46:49Kirkwood.

46:51>> Thank you, and I appreciate the

46:53dedication of your team in securing this

46:56particular grant. Um I just want to

46:58point out something just troubling in

47:00the resolution about our fire

47:02investigators are having to rely on

47:04limited or personally owned equipment.

47:07Um every year I consistently advocate

47:10for additional funding for our fire

47:12department because so much of their

47:14budget is service oriented and going to

47:16paying for personnel, but I really do

47:18hope this administration does prioritize

47:22getting the department necessary

47:24resources so they can carry out their

47:26essential duties. In full support of the

47:27resolution. Thank you.

47:30>> Thank you.

47:33Okay, hearing and seeing no further

47:34discussion, motion is on the floor to

47:36forward resolution 740-26

47:38to council with a favorable

47:40recommendation. All in favor?

47:42Any opposed?

47:44Mr. Clerk, you have eight members in

47:46favor, Councilmember Viegas excused,

47:48motion carries.

47:53Is there any testimony for resolution

47:54740-26?

47:59Hearing none, resolution 740-26

48:01authorizes payment of funds from later

48:03fiscal years to enter into a multi-year

48:05agreement for computer software related

48:06services to be used by the office of the

48:08county clerk. Authorizes the mayor to

48:10enter into a four-year agreement with

48:12two subsequent option years with an

48:14approximate annual cost of $32,000 for

48:16the development, deployment, hosting,

48:18and maintenance of a web-based platform

48:20for the Hawaii County Code introduced by

48:21Councilmember Inaba by request.

48:23>> Move to forward.

48:24>> I'll uh resolution 740-26

48:27to council with a favorable

48:29recommendation.

48:31>> There was a motion by Councilmember

48:32Inaba and a second by Councilmember

48:34Kealoha to forward resolution 740-26

48:38to council with a favorable

48:39recommendation. Councilmember Inaba, go

48:40ahead.

48:41>> Uh thank you. I would like to call on

48:43our deputy clerk, Aaron Brown, to come

48:45forward um to give us a little bit of

48:47insight on what this is, and then I'll

48:50chime in after that, as well as our

48:52operations manager from LRB, Jacob

48:54Perry.

49:02>> Good morning. I'm Brown, Deputy County

49:04Clerk.

49:06>> Uh Jacob Perry with LRB office of the

49:08County Clerk.

49:10>> I just want to start thanking you guys

49:12for the opportunity to speak a little

49:13bit about the

49:17what we've been able to

49:19get to so far over the past 2 years.

49:21This is a project that

49:24our County Clerk, myself, with Jacob and

49:26then with some

49:27um insight from a lot of the council

49:29members including Council member Kimble,

49:32Cherry Noboa. This is a project we've

49:34been looking at for almost 2 years now.

49:37Um basically we are taking an assessment

49:40of the entire department and looking at

49:42how we can improve

49:44a lot of our operations, especially

49:47things that we can offer to the public

49:49being a little more um

49:52What what would the word be?

49:55More technical, more Mr. Perry, if

49:58there's a word you want to help me out

49:59here. Kind kind of

50:01being able to provide

50:04things for the community, our staff, the

50:06council members on a technological basis

50:09to to take things forward.

50:11This is the first prong of a

50:13multi-pronged project where we're

50:16looking to have some of our legislative

50:18tracking, our code hosting, and other

50:21things like that that'll be a lot more

50:22electronic. It'll be easier to

50:24find things, to organize things, to work

50:27on um

50:29whether it be legislation or code stuff.

50:30So again, this is the first kind of

50:32phase in a multi-phase project that

50:34we're

50:35looking at where our code will be

50:38organized electronic. You'll be able to

50:41search different keywords, different

50:44chapters, different things like that of

50:46the code. So

50:47um

50:48we are pretty far along in our

50:50procurement process. We can't speak too

50:53much on that, but we're looking for

50:55a best and final offers from a list of

50:58vendors which we will be going through

50:59and scoring and evaluating. So

51:02um

51:03Mr. Perry, if you want to add anything

51:05to that, please jump in.

51:07>> Um I guess the only thing I would say is

51:09trying to make things more digitally

51:11friendly.

51:12Um

51:14I'm happy to answer any questions.

51:16>> Thank you both for being here driving

51:18over this morning. Uh

51:20you know, this is something as Deputy

51:22Clerk Brown pointed out um that was

51:26initiated while Councilmember Kim was

51:29chair and then something that I

51:30continued

51:31uh for lack of a better word to hound

51:33these folks on um because I'm tired of

51:36our PDF uh versions of codes. So, I'm

51:39very happy that we are moving this

51:42forward and it's going to be easier not

51:44only for the public

51:46um but for us as well serving here in

51:48these roles being able to easily look

51:51things up um being able to track things

51:54without having to each manage our own

51:56little tracking system. Um so, mahalo to

52:00the clerk and the clerk's office as a

52:02whole for moving this along. Um I ask

52:04for your support.

52:06>> Thank you. Councilmember Kikuoka.

52:09>> Thank you, Chair. Thank you both for

52:10your hard work on this. Um I know

52:12there's been a lot of effort put into

52:15modernizing the way that council members

52:17and our community accesses our

52:19ordinances.

52:21I'm wondering and you know, let me know

52:22if you can't answer this question. Are

52:24there other counties that you are

52:26inspired by their code interface so that

52:29we have a good sense of what you folks

52:31have in mind.

52:32>> When we put uh the RFP together, we

52:35actually

52:36advised vendors to look at um

52:40Kauai and Honolulu um as models of what

52:44we wanted the public interface at least

52:47to look like. Um

52:49those were the two that

52:51we highlighted.

52:52>> Okay, the Cadillac versions, got it. Um

52:55I'm also wondering with the code like a

52:57lot of our conversation conversations

53:00have been around what was like the

53:02legislative history and thinking at the

53:04time when a specific code vision

53:06provision

53:08was adopted. Will any of that

53:09legislative history be attached or

53:11accessible in this modernized platform?

53:17>> It's

53:18possible. I mean, I I I think in some

53:20form at the kind of the simplest level

53:23we're just wanting to be able to link

53:25the ordinances directly, you know, in

53:27the source notes to have the ordinances.

53:29You can click click in the source notes

53:31and it'll take you to that ordinance.

53:33Um

53:34you know, some of the vendors have been

53:35more creative and have proposed being

53:37able to kind of track changes in the

53:40code itself to see things

53:42um previous versions, you know, just

53:45being able to

53:46search up and navigate to what did this

53:48section look like on this date.

53:51Um

53:53that's something that we're having

53:54ongoing discussions about because not

53:56every change to code material is linked

53:59to an ordinance. There's some technical

54:00things of why I wouldn't want why we

54:02wouldn't want that functionality to go

54:04live right away, but um the legislative

54:07history piece is

54:09you know, an important aspect of it.

54:12>> Um I'm also curious about

54:17Sometimes there are certain sections of

54:19code that link to other areas.

54:23Are there going to be prompts or

54:24features that let someone in the public

54:26know there's a directive in this section

54:29of code like building or vacation

54:31rentals but don't forget about the real

54:33property tax piece. Are there going to

54:35be some like cross walking or sinking?

54:37>> There'll be

54:40when a section of code is

54:42cross-referenced or cited in another

54:44section, there'll be the direct linking.

54:46Um

54:48We've also thought about, you know, if

54:50HRS is cited, could we link it there?

54:52There's issues there with linking to,

54:54you know, externally hosted material.

54:57So, there'll be that as far as like more

55:00explanatory things, you know, editor's

55:03notes, I don't I don't think so because

55:07we wouldn't want to

55:09add anything to what you know, beyond

55:11what the code says, but there will be

55:12that internal linking between sections.

55:15>> Got it. And then I know nowadays there

55:18are these AI agents on websites where if

55:20you have a question about content, let's

55:22say someone does not understand a

55:24specific section of code. Will there be

55:27an AI agent that helps to simplify the

55:30legislative language?

55:34>> Some of the vendors did propose that and

55:36it was

55:38um

55:39it was cool. It was very cool. Um

55:43but you know, with AI there's always

55:45that kind of risk and liability. And so

55:48actually before we went in for the best

55:50and final offer, we asked all the

55:52vendors to explain how and to what

55:55extent artificial intelligence is used

55:58and then tell ask them to explain to us

56:00what are the risk and liabilities. I

56:03don't think that in this first iteration

56:06of this

56:06platform that there will be that

56:08function.

56:11>> I agree that you're keeping an open

56:12mind. Um and then what is the time frame

56:14for rolling this out? I know that

56:15there's several years mentioned in the

56:16resolution, but as a member of the

56:19public, when can we expect to access

56:21this

56:22new

56:23code setup?

56:27>> I think we want to under promise, over

56:29deliver. I think it's hard for us to put

56:31a a date on it before we get these best

56:34and final and have that last sort of

56:36procurement piece wrapped up. Um but

56:40we're hoping to move quickly. Um

56:44that's part of one of the um scoring

56:46criteria and how we score the vendors is

56:49how fast can they

56:51Um of course we don't want them to rush

56:52it where the product is not what we

56:54want, but we want them to move pretty

56:56quickly. So I'm

56:58not seeing it being dragged out very

57:01far. I I It's very likely

57:02>> say within 2 years by the end of the

57:04next council term?

57:05>> 100%.

57:06>> Okay.

57:06>> I I think I'm com- we're we're confident

57:09as a team saying that it will not take

57:11years to get this done.

57:13>> Okay.

57:13>> Cuz we actually have a vision where we

57:14want to move to the next phase sort of

57:17in the project where we're bringing in

57:18some of the legislative tracking and

57:20some of those other things. So, yeah.

57:23>> Very exciting. Thanks again and great

57:25molly by the way. I yield.

57:27>> Thank you.

57:29>> Councilor Waters, you?

57:31>> Thank you, chair. So,

57:33right now it's like $33,000.

57:36Right in the zone. So, you talk talking

57:37about next phases,

57:39what would be we're looking at the total

57:42cost for everything?

57:45>> Very hard to say. I think because we

57:48haven't fully specked out what we want

57:50the second piece to look at yet. We're

57:52still trying to just nail down this this

57:54code hosting as our first piece. Um,

57:57we have actually made

57:59an addendum to the RFP process where we

58:03kind of capped the pricing for this

58:05initial cost. Um, some of the some of

58:08the prices that we've seen were coming

58:10in a lot higher than expected. So,

58:12um,

58:14you know, there might be some give and

58:15take in like the question regarding to

58:18AI. What

58:20What exactly features that maybe we

58:22didn't quite spec out that these vendors

58:24could offer? They may not be in this

58:27first iteration right away because it's

58:28just cost prohibitive.

58:31Um, but

58:32we have been working with Honolulu

58:34actually. Um, Jacob Riley, they've gone

58:37up they've they've actually visited

58:39Honolulu and seen them on a couple

58:40different fronts both AV and some of

58:44um, this this digital What was your

58:47term? Digital

58:49digitally friendly. Um, they looked at a

58:52lot of their programs that they use up

58:53there including some of that second

58:55phase stuff and so we got an idea of

58:56what that looks like.

58:58Again, we kind of use that that term the

59:00Cadillac version because what they have

59:02in Honolulu is

59:05a very um, robust

59:07>> And how much are they spending on their

59:09program?

59:10>> Over a quarter million dollars for their

59:12system that they did in phases. That's

59:15not something

59:16>> And and what phase are they at right

59:17now?

59:17>> They've they've fully

59:18>> completed?

59:20>> They've implemented over three phases.

59:22Um they've actually even added on to

59:24their thing and they have a special

59:26testimony piece that cost them, I think,

59:28hundreds of thousands of dollars to do.

59:31I think we are not looking at something

59:34as robust as that, but again, it's We're

59:36not quite there on the second phase yet.

59:38>> Why is that?

59:41>> I think the vision that their

59:44council, um at the time, wanted

59:47something to look a little bit more like

59:48the state system. Um I don't know some

59:52of the particulars. Maybe Jacob can can

59:54add on to that, but they're

59:56they had a very expensive

59:58robust system. Yeah.

1:00:01>> Uh yeah, we call it the Cadillac

1:00:03version. They had three phases spread

1:00:05out uh

1:00:07a little bit over 6 years, and it was

1:00:12total a little bit less than a million

1:00:14dollars over that over those 6 years.

1:00:17Um one

1:00:19at you know, and then so there's a

1:00:21couple reasons for that. One is just

1:00:22their volume, the amount of

1:00:26paperwork and things that they do,

1:00:27things that they handle is orders of

1:00:29magnitude above what we do.

1:00:32>> by saying that, with Big Island,

1:00:35we using less, right?

1:00:38Right? We we have less

1:00:41documents than them. So then our cost

1:00:43would come lower, or would it be because

1:00:46of the program itself,

1:00:48it costs X amount of money?

1:00:51>> No, these are all kind of custom

1:00:54>> Based on what the use is, correct?

1:00:56>> Yeah.

1:00:57>> Yeah. So they spent almost close to a

1:00:59million because of their workload. We

1:01:02have maybe what, 50% of their workload?

1:01:07>> I don't know. I couldn't tell you.

1:01:08>> So see, the thing is

1:01:10>> what I'm getting at is that

1:01:12we don't know what the end numbers are.

1:01:15Right? And we just had earlier all the

1:01:18change orders, we had about having this

1:01:22um transfer of funds and so forth.

1:01:25Right?

1:01:26And we scrutinize the departments

1:01:29on their spending, right? And they're

1:01:32transferring of funds. And now we you

1:01:35come in front of us and we don't even

1:01:37have numbers.

1:01:40>> So, the numbers you have in front of you

1:01:41is for this first phase.

1:01:42>> Right. That's the co-hosting, yeah.

1:01:44>> kind of need to know what is the end

1:01:45number.

1:01:45>> And I I see what you're saying, but I

1:01:47think I want to talk more about the

1:01:48procurement process where

1:01:50we don't, you know, sometimes you don't

1:01:52know exactly what you need until you go

1:01:53through the the procurement process. So,

1:01:57for an example, as when we created our

1:01:59initial spec on what we want for this

1:02:01co-hosting, these are the things we

1:02:03initially want. Then we had

1:02:05presentations from the vendors. When you

1:02:07go and sit in these presentations, they

1:02:09offer up certain things that they can do

1:02:10and we realize, oh, those are things

1:02:13that we also need and would make the

1:02:14project better.

1:02:15>> Right.

1:02:16>> So, then that's why sometimes there's an

1:02:18added cost for that. So,

1:02:20>> that could be the reason why, you know,

1:02:21and I don't want to speak for any of the

1:02:22departments, but for us, after getting

1:02:24those presentations done, then we

1:02:26amended what we wanted, right?

1:02:29>> Right.

1:02:29>> To kind of

1:02:30>> No, I I said

1:02:31>> And it's not like something new. I mean,

1:02:33you folks there it's out there already.

1:02:35Counties do use this, right? So, you

1:02:38could pick and choose or ask which which

1:02:41product or which company is the best

1:02:43that we can get.

1:02:45>> Correct?

1:02:46>> And and good point, that was a great

1:02:48starting point for us. We do things a

1:02:50little differently with our code and how

1:02:52we manage and then some of the other

1:02:54>> um you know, counties, some of them have

1:02:57a vendor that just does all the total

1:02:58management of their code.

1:03:00You know, that's not something we were

1:03:02interested in. So, when we take that, we

1:03:03look at that first as a base and then we

1:03:06>> Yeah.

1:03:06>> It's It's kind of like, for example,

1:03:07when we did the Eptic,

1:03:10right? They implemented that.

1:03:12It was like very bad, right? And it

1:03:16wasn't really thought of, right? This

1:03:18whole plan on the epic, right? And kind

1:03:21of like till today, we still need to I

1:03:24guess tweak it. Right? Because it's not

1:03:27completely and how many years already,

1:03:29right? And so and how much money we

1:03:31spent.

1:03:33Right? So it wasn't really thought of.

1:03:34And like I said, there was

1:03:37other counties that use these different

1:03:40programs. And why we have to start all

1:03:42over again, right? The wheel, right?

1:03:45Look at what we got. Look what others

1:03:47got.

1:03:48Ask questions. Find out what the cost

1:03:51is. Look at what we need, right? And

1:03:54then you do your adjustments or your

1:03:55estimate. Because it's hard to for me to

1:03:58sit to approve this if I don't know what

1:04:02the bottom line is.

1:04:04Right? Cuz it could cost

1:04:07I don't know, maybe it's $750,000 at the

1:04:10end. I don't you know, we don't know.

1:04:12So So for this one, you know, we have a

1:04:15set what we budgeted and I want to thank

1:04:17finance cuz Dan was very supportive of

1:04:19our projects and what we've done. Um if

1:04:22they don't meet our budgeted amount,

1:04:25you know, if

1:04:27we're we're not going to go with them.

1:04:29If for some reason we feel like, "Oh my

1:04:31gosh, there's no way we cannot use

1:04:32them." We would have to come back to the

1:04:33council, right? We would look at getting

1:04:35more appropriation. We would present why

1:04:37we feel more money is warranted in the

1:04:40project, but we've set a cap on what

1:04:42it'll cost. We don't know what the final

1:04:44cost is going to be. You know, the

1:04:45resolution comes before we get the final

1:04:47best and final offers. So that's why we

1:04:49don't have an exact number for you guys,

1:04:51but

1:04:52um we have a ballpark and we actually

1:04:54have set a cap on what the pricing will

1:04:57be.

1:04:57>> Okay, but see the thing too now, we

1:04:59approved this as $33,000,

1:05:01right? Being spent. Correct?

1:05:05>> I mean, again, we don't have the best

1:05:06and final offers from the vendors yet.

1:05:09We should be getting that by next week.

1:05:11>> And then but it seems like it must be

1:05:14around that figure that we're going to

1:05:15be approving, right? And so now

1:05:18once we get into the game, it's kind of

1:05:20hard to get out of the game because we

1:05:22already have some investment in there,

1:05:24right?

1:05:25>> You have something to come

1:05:27>> There is, I mean, the one distinction

1:05:29that I want to make clear is that this

1:05:31phase is a free-standing phase. So, you

1:05:34know, we will

1:05:36we want to pursue this, but doing this

1:05:39doesn't

1:05:40um

1:05:42it doesn't even necessarily mean that

1:05:45we're going to be doing the we're going

1:05:46to be using the same vendor for the

1:05:47other phases. It doesn't even

1:05:50necessitate that we do the other phases.

1:05:52We want to, that's something we want to

1:05:54do, but this is a free-standing um

1:05:58piece.

1:05:58>> Okay. Go back to like Oahu.

1:06:01Are they using multiple vendors?

1:06:03>> Yes, their code is different from their

1:06:05ledge tracking, yeah.

1:06:06>> Okay. Okay, and so we're looking at

1:06:09something like what they're doing then.

1:06:12On a smaller scale.

1:06:14>> Yes.

1:06:15>> Okay. Okay, and they spent close to a

1:06:18million dollars.

1:06:19>> Yes.

1:06:20>> Okay. And then if we say we do 50% of

1:06:23their the work that they do, so that

1:06:26means we might be looking at about 500

1:06:28500,000 dollars.

1:06:29>> So So, they spent a million dollars, but

1:06:31that's for

1:06:32in totality for all of their different

1:06:34programs. Just for for the one we're

1:06:36doing with the code hosting, I believe

1:06:38it would believe it was much less.

1:06:40>> So, but what I'm just saying is that if

1:06:41we start moving in these phases, we want

1:06:44to end up to the end. So, I'm just

1:06:46looking at what would be kind of the

1:06:48total cost to get to all the phases,

1:06:51right? That you folks want, right?

1:06:53Instead of going like, "Okay, we're

1:06:54going to just stop at phase one,

1:06:56right? And not be completed or we're

1:06:58going to phase two, but we're not going

1:07:00to do three and four, right?" But we're

1:07:02looking at trying to do all the phases

1:07:04kind of like how Oahu does, correct?

1:07:07>> I think

1:07:09I think we want to take a uh

1:07:11we want to implement each phase and make

1:07:13sure they're implemented correct before

1:07:15we move on to the next one. I think

1:07:16we've seen where, you know, in and

1:07:18talking with Honolulu, they were very

1:07:20careful about it. So, I think this took

1:07:22them, I don't know, over to 8 years, 6

1:07:24years.

1:07:25>> 16 years.

1:07:25>> You know, so I think what we'll do is we

1:07:27really want to focus on this first phase

1:07:28first, and then

1:07:29>> the good thing is

1:07:30>> build on that.

1:07:31>> Yeah, but the good thing is

1:07:34we following them. So, the mistakes that

1:07:36they had or the questions they had, it's

1:07:39already done. So, it makes our job

1:07:41easier, right? It's not like we

1:07:43experiencing for the first time and we

1:07:45going to be like testing everything,

1:07:48right?

1:07:49>> That's definitely part of it. That's one

1:07:50of the reasons

1:07:50>> that we went over there and one of the

1:07:51things I told um

1:07:53the

1:07:55um

1:07:56Honolulu people that were lucky enough

1:07:58to bring us in and kind of show us

1:07:59around was that, you know, you guys went

1:08:01through this.

1:08:02We kind of just want to say

1:08:06you know, we want something similar. We

1:08:07don't want to have to reinvent the

1:08:08wheel. Um

1:08:10>> Right.

1:08:11>> And that's what I'm kind of getting at,

1:08:12right? And then that's why to me

1:08:15if we do like I said 50% of what Oahu

1:08:19does,

1:08:20then we might be looking at maybe

1:08:21between 400 to 500,000 dollars for the

1:08:24complete package.

1:08:25>> You good at that, Diane? We're going to

1:08:27need half a million, yeah?

1:08:31>> [laughter]

1:08:33>> No, I we totally see what you're saying,

1:08:35uh Councilmember Moniz. I think

1:08:37um

1:08:38those those later phases were were much

1:08:40more expensive in the hundreds of

1:08:42thousands, and they did it, you know,

1:08:44years ago. So, when you look at, you

1:08:45know, you hate to use that

1:08:47>> Of course. Inflation.

1:08:48>> inflation, but things get are getting

1:08:50more expensive. given. So, that's

1:08:51definitely something we've been thinking

1:08:53about. Uh we're keeping on our radar. We

1:08:55want to make sure, you know, this is

1:08:56kind of a big step for us, too, just

1:08:58getting the code, you know, hosted

1:08:59online, you know, digitally friendly.

1:09:02Um and I think it'll be appreciated in

1:09:05the work you guys do in the community

1:09:07when they come in search and um but

1:09:09we're definitely already trying to think

1:09:12to those those things and use some of

1:09:13the lessons they learned so that we can

1:09:15kind of

1:09:16>> So, within our budget, within this

1:09:18account, we have the funds.

1:09:21>> Yes. So, we budgeted for these funds

1:09:23last year, so they're in the current

1:09:24budget now. and then when when we um

1:09:27present the new budget for you folks,

1:09:29you'll see money

1:09:30that we're already thinking of, you

1:09:32know, trying to think of next year

1:09:33already when we move to the next phase.

1:09:36So, you'll see that budget that we've

1:09:37made a

1:09:38>> And you both have a

1:09:41estimated amount?

1:09:44>> We don't We've We've looked at what Oahu

1:09:45did and kind of what we haven't focused

1:09:48as much on that phase yet. We're trying

1:09:49to, you know, get through this first

1:09:51one, but we have thought a little bit

1:09:52about what have they done, what are we

1:09:54looking for, and kind of use their

1:09:56pricing knowing that

1:09:58it we might be a little more expensive,

1:10:00it might be, you know, we don't need

1:10:01everything maybe, but um we we have put

1:10:04some thought into that.

1:10:05>> Okay, sounds good. Okay, all right,

1:10:07thank you.

1:10:08>> Thank you.

1:10:11>> Uh if it's helpful, Mr. Brown,

1:10:14I've been short-staffed for about 2

1:10:15years. Savings from that should be able

1:10:18to cover the 33,000 a year.

1:10:20And I've also been really low on my DAE

1:10:22expense officers from my office. That

1:10:25should help as well offset the cost of

1:10:27anything you need to do.

1:10:29>> Thank you, Councilmember Connie

1:10:31Clyncholder. We appreciate you looking

1:10:33out for our future digital friend-like

1:10:36friendly digital digitalization

1:10:39projects.

1:10:40>> I I think it's a great move. Uh

1:10:42I I hate Laserfiche. I just I don't like

1:10:46it. I never have liked it.

1:10:48And then given the

1:10:51changes we've seen technologically and

1:10:53visually

1:10:55over the past 5 years,

1:10:57and that it's 2026, it is high time for

1:10:59the county to step up

1:11:01our ability to be accessible by the

1:11:03public in a way that's easy. Uh with the

1:11:07rise of AI,

1:11:08no matter who's in office, no matter

1:11:10what's going on in the stock market,

1:11:13technology and AI are driving the

1:11:15ability for humans to access information

1:11:17really readily and easily. And

1:11:21legislatively, the easier it is for us

1:11:24creates better legislation, the easier

1:11:26it is for the department LRB

1:11:29to understand what we're doing and get

1:11:31us information. We have better

1:11:33legislation and the easier for the

1:11:34public to access those documents as they

1:11:37need it and not trying to dig their way

1:11:39through a system that's antiquated.

1:11:41becomes the most useful tool in creating

1:11:43a

1:11:44properly running government that's

1:11:46transparent and works well for the

1:11:48people, which is why we do what we do.

1:11:49So,

1:11:50I totally support 32,000 a year. I mean,

1:11:53the prosecuting attorney's office was

1:11:54$250,000 for Axon.

1:11:58Uh continued annual

1:12:00access. You're asking for 32,000 a year.

1:12:04Is that correct? Per year?

1:12:07>> Again, I

1:12:08we don't know the exact amount. Based on

1:12:11some of the proposals we got so far,

1:12:13that's kind of an average on what is

1:12:15being offered, which is why we try to be

1:12:17careful in the way we worded that.

1:12:19That's we're hoping it's around that

1:12:20area. That's kind of the average that's

1:12:21been proposed. We're waiting for the new

1:12:24best and final prices from the vendors

1:12:26and then um we'll look at, you know,

1:12:29executing a contract, of course, with

1:12:31the approval of this resolution, but

1:12:34So, yes, should be in the ballpark

1:12:37right there. Of course, I don't want to

1:12:39tip our hand too much, either, which is

1:12:40why I think we're very careful the way

1:12:44a lot of it is public information. These

1:12:46vendors can go and look at what we

1:12:47budgeted. They can go and see a lot of

1:12:49the public documents, but I don't like

1:12:50to tip our hand and tell them exactly

1:12:54where we're at and what we, you know, we

1:12:56want. So, I think we've done a good job

1:12:58of communicating with them and um we'll

1:13:00look forward to that final negotiation

1:13:03after the best and final offers.

1:13:05>> And to Mr. Onishi's point, maybe we be

1:13:08wary of any of the vendors coming in

1:13:09that offer us services like Epic and uh

1:13:12existing county systems that have been

1:13:14>> For sure.

1:13:15>> Just Great point. I think we're trying

1:13:16to be careful and we only want to bite

1:13:18off what we can chew, right? So, we

1:13:20start off with this first phase a little

1:13:21bit smaller and then we'll look into,

1:13:23you know, a lot of the bigger

1:13:24legislative tracking project.

1:13:28>> And just think about finance director's

1:13:31new dashboard tied in with public being

1:13:34able to access our

1:13:36legislative branch and historical

1:13:38documents. I mean, jeez.

1:13:41The educational

1:13:43ability of the public to review what

1:13:45we're doing at the county would be just

1:13:48tremendous. It'd be beautiful. Good job.

1:13:52Good luck.

1:13:53Yeah. So, on the motion two

1:13:55>> Hey, I just had

1:13:56>> Hold this this

1:13:57>> Sorry, sorry, chair.

1:13:58>> Go ahead, Ms. Kimble. Sorry, I didn't

1:14:00know.

1:14:00>> I just

1:14:01I just wanted to make sure everyone was

1:14:03clear as I understand it, this is not

1:14:05replacing laser fiche. This is just

1:14:07moving our code service from

1:14:12the current form to a digital searchable

1:14:16platform like Municode or something like

1:14:18that.

1:14:18>> Yes.

1:14:19>> Yeah. Sorry, Matt.

1:14:21But, um, to that to your other comment,

1:14:23though, the

1:14:26um, avoided cost, I would say, by having

1:14:30uh,

1:14:31this served up in a digital way that is

1:14:33more accessible for our offices, for the

1:14:34public, um, is going to shift that, you

1:14:38know, it's all ultimately should be a

1:14:40cost savings, I would anticipate. Um,

1:14:44the

1:14:45the proposals that you put forward, is

1:14:47there sort of an understanding that

1:14:49there would be sort of an initial cost

1:14:51that comes with setting everything up

1:14:53and then

1:14:54the annual sort of maintenance fees

1:14:56would be at potentially a lower rate.

1:14:59And and if so, is the 33,000 kind of

1:15:02that understanding of what that initial

1:15:04payment would be, but the annual sort of

1:15:06maintenance cost might be a a little bit

1:15:08lower?

1:15:09>> I anticipate that for the initial 4-year

1:15:12locked-in term, the

1:15:15cost will be in that 33,000 range. After

1:15:19that, it will

1:15:21it'll reduce to just kind of that

1:15:23standard um,

1:15:25maintenance support fees. The vendors

1:15:28have um,

1:15:30proposed different things and structures

1:15:32for that, but that's all that's kind of

1:15:33what the trend is, you know, that that

1:15:35bill that initial bill is spread out and

1:15:37then when that's kind of recouped you

1:15:39have your standard

1:15:41not necessarily fixed, but lower

1:15:42maintenance and support fees.

1:15:46>> I guess I just want to add that

1:15:48you know, G when I when we

1:15:50looked at how do we want to structure

1:15:52the contract for this program, um a lot

1:15:54of

1:15:57a lot of what you're seeing in the

1:15:58industry now is sometimes people will

1:16:00will do yearly contracts, right? Just

1:16:02option your contracts. So, for the

1:16:05vendors because

1:16:07they the their client does not have a

1:16:09lot of skin in the game,

1:16:11the initial costs will be extremely high

1:16:13because if they don't know that, okay, I

1:16:14don't have a guarantee that my customer

1:16:16is going to even use my product after 1

1:16:18year, the initial costs will be

1:16:20really big. So, we wanted to do, you

1:16:23know, a hybrid approach where it's like,

1:16:24okay, we're we're committing to you, you

1:16:27know, for a number of years, 4 years, so

1:16:29that your risk is not as high in the

1:16:30beginning, the initial costs will be

1:16:32lower and then we like Jacob said,

1:16:34they'll they'll

1:16:35uh recoup their their fees and costs

1:16:38over that guaranteed 4 years. And then

1:16:40we can analyze and look, okay, option

1:16:41years, do we want to continue with this

1:16:43vendor?

1:16:44Um so, that sort of gives the county

1:16:45also that ability to, okay, after 4

1:16:48years, you know what, this is not the

1:16:50best thing for us, then we can look at

1:16:51pulling out as well. So.

1:16:53>> To what extent does your

1:16:56does the procurement process, and I

1:16:57really should know this, allow you to

1:17:00sort of evaluate a vendor not just on

1:17:04their offer, but on their ability to

1:17:06potentially provide these expanded

1:17:08services down the line because with this

1:17:11sort of

1:17:12to and and maybe it's in the RFP, right?

1:17:14Um we wouldn't want to bring in one

1:17:16vendor for this and then one vendor for

1:17:18the laser fees conversion and then and

1:17:21and my next question, I can see finance

1:17:22nodding back there. My next question or

1:17:24comment was going to be, are we talking

1:17:26coordinating with the administration at

1:17:28all on some of this conversion because

1:17:30as far as the public is concerned, we're

1:17:32all the county, right? And so, So, needs

1:17:34to be kind of standard look, feel,

1:17:35access, and it would be important to

1:17:38ensure that we have the possibility to

1:17:42put all of that under one vendor, both

1:17:44within the clerk side, but then also

1:17:47more broadly. Um Council member Kirkwood

1:17:50mentioned, you know, an AI-type search

1:17:51tool.

1:17:53Um there are a number of them available

1:17:54right now that are just like search the

1:17:56whole county. Like, I have a question,

1:17:57where do I get my driver's registration?

1:17:59And it finds everything. Or, I've got a

1:18:02dog in my street that I don't like, what

1:18:03do I do? And it checks the code and does

1:18:05all that stuff. The more unified we are

1:18:06across departments and the clerk's

1:18:09office, the better on that. So, I did

1:18:12start that with a couple of questions,

1:18:14if you remember they are, otherwise I'll

1:18:16repeat them.

1:18:16>> No, I think I got, you know, where

1:18:18you're coming from, and I think this is

1:18:19a much bigger question than what

1:18:22just what we're looking for today. And

1:18:24and

1:18:25um Diana and I have had conversations

1:18:27about this for those points you made,

1:18:29where is there like a kind of a one-stop

1:18:30shop where someone can go, and I think

1:18:34we had ideas about creating a gateway

1:18:37where it it's hard because each project

1:18:39has to be spec'd very carefully, right?

1:18:41Government procurement. So,

1:18:43unless you know the specs for the whole

1:18:46picture you're looking at, you

1:18:50which would create one

1:18:52sort of comprehensive thing. If unless

1:18:54you know exactly all the details on all

1:18:56of them, you can't really go out for

1:18:57procurement for all of them. So, that's

1:18:59why you'll see all these departments

1:19:00coming in

1:19:01trying to procure just what they need.

1:19:04So, we've had discussions about is there

1:19:05a gateway where there's an overarching

1:19:07program where you would go to, and then

1:19:09it would link into all the other things,

1:19:11but

1:19:13because we want open competition in

1:19:14procurement, and when you put out the

1:19:16spec, you almost don't know what vendors

1:19:18are going to bid on that project or

1:19:20putting a proposal. So,

1:19:22um it's hard in that sense. You sort of

1:19:25kind of look at it truncated and siloed

1:19:27in a for each project bit by I guess

1:19:30some of it by design, but I think there

1:19:33has been um discussions about an

1:19:37overarching thing where it's more of a

1:19:39one-stop shop. So, sorry I don't have a

1:19:41better answer for you. I think for us,

1:19:43we've been very very focused on our

1:19:45project and what we need.

1:19:47Um

1:19:47moving toward the next phases, we know

1:19:50that when we go out to procurement

1:19:52again, there is a chance we'll get all

1:19:54these other vendors. So, it's not a

1:19:56guarantee where the vendor we use here

1:19:57will be

1:19:58So, the look could be different, right?

1:20:00But we could spec it where whoever gets

1:20:03the next

1:20:04phase of the project, they have to be

1:20:06able to communicate and link with our

1:20:08existing program, which would be this

1:20:10one, the code hosting. So.

1:20:13Yeah, I don't think um finance director

1:20:16wants to add to that, but I she can if

1:20:18she'd like. No, she

1:20:21>> There was um

1:20:23something you mentioned earlier, like

1:20:24informal evaluation of the proposals,

1:20:26that do I do we think this vendor has

1:20:29what it takes to do

1:20:31the larger project? Um

1:20:36This RFP for this phase was narrowly

1:20:39scoped, and there wasn't any indication

1:20:40that there's going to be a guarantee

1:20:44that if you're the vendor for this

1:20:45project, then you have more work coming

1:20:47for you.

1:20:48Um

1:20:49And then I guess

1:20:51>> Yeah, that would be against procurement.

1:20:52We wouldn't be able to do that. Yeah.

1:20:55>> And then I know that IT is doing larger

1:20:58um CMS projects with the entire like

1:21:01with the broader county website. So,

1:21:05that's

1:21:07something we're aware of, and something

1:21:09that

1:21:10uh

1:21:11when we spoke to the vendors, explaining

1:21:13that, you know, we are going through a

1:21:16broader CMS transition.

1:21:19Um things like look and feel, um

1:21:23linking

1:21:24the DNS and domains and other things I

1:21:26don't fully understand, but those things

1:21:28were brought up. So,

1:21:30at the very least, like Mr. Brown said,

1:21:32I'm confident that there'll be that

1:21:33gateway

1:21:34that

1:21:36will be the access point for

1:21:40um

1:21:41different areas. The code be in one

1:21:43another department. Alleged tracking is

1:21:45one.

1:21:50>> I'll yield there.

1:21:53>> Councilor Gleba.

1:21:55>> Thank you. Just wanted to get some

1:21:57clarity. Um

1:22:00this is not replacing Laserfiche, but

1:22:03that will be still available.

1:22:06But you'll be

1:22:08pretty much bringing in all the content

1:22:10from Laserfiche and then making it

1:22:12accessible, more accessible. Is that

1:22:14what I'm hearing is kind of that?

1:22:16>> This resolution, what we're proposing to

1:22:19do here, is just moving

1:22:23where we're hosting the code. So, this

1:22:28resolution now doesn't affect Laserfiche

1:22:30at all.

1:22:32>> Okay. But I just heard you guys say that

1:22:34something about and you know, bringing

1:22:37in Laserfiche or analyzing and so I was

1:22:39a little confused.

1:22:41>> Um no, this So, this like right now if

1:22:44you go, you know, to our county website,

1:22:46county clerk's office, and you pull up

1:22:47the code, it's basically an electronic

1:22:49version of just a PDF right now.

1:22:52You know, so if you want to find

1:22:53something, I think some of the

1:22:54frustration we heard, um and even from

1:22:56Chair Express, like you have to just

1:22:58control F and then kind of scroll

1:22:59through the document. So, this would

1:23:01just be basically a new electronic form

1:23:04of the code where you could code search.

1:23:06Yeah.

1:23:07>> Okay. Okay.

1:23:08>> Look up specific chapters, keywords,

1:23:10things like that. Um the those other

1:23:13phases, which again, we're not there yet

1:23:16on some of those, but we're looking at

1:23:17having ability to just track like a bill

1:23:20is introduced or proposed, you know,

1:23:21where is it? What kind of votes did it

1:23:24get on first reading? You know, it'll be

1:23:26a infrastructure something like that. We

1:23:28don't even exactly know, but um it won't

1:23:31be replacing Laserfiche or things. It

1:23:34might link to Laserfiche, but we're not

1:23:36sure what that looks like yet.

1:23:38>> Okay. All right.

1:23:40Good luck. Thank you so much for your

1:23:42all your work on this. Very careful

1:23:44work. Appreciate it.

1:23:48>> Thank you.

1:23:50Only comment not yet.

1:23:53Not yet.

1:23:56>> Okay.

1:23:59>> [laughter]

1:24:00>> Uh thank you very much for being here

1:24:01today and driving over from Hilo. I

1:24:03appreciate you folks and all your work

1:24:04during the elections as well. Thank you.

1:24:06Uh

1:24:08to the council, we have the motion on

1:24:09the floor to forward resolution 740-26

1:24:13to council with a favorable

1:24:14recommendation. All in favor?

1:24:17Any opposed?

1:24:19Mr. Clerk, you have

1:24:23eight members in favor. Council member

1:24:24Villegas is excused. Motion carries.

1:24:26Thank you.

1:24:29>> Is there any testimony for bill 171?

1:24:34Hearing none, bill 171 amends chapter 2,

1:24:36article 4, section 2-12.7 of the Hawaii

1:24:39County Code, 1983-2016 edition, as

1:24:41amended, relating to fiscal impact

1:24:43statements. Requires that a fiscal

1:24:45impact statement prepared by the finance

1:24:46director be submitted with council bills

1:24:48that have fiscal implications.

1:24:50Introduced by Council member Onishi,

1:24:51this matter was postponed July 22 and

1:24:54September 15 of 2026. And there is a

1:24:56motion on the floor by Council member

1:24:57Onishi, seconded by Council member

1:24:59Glember, to recommend passage of bill

1:25:01171 on first reading.

1:25:04>> Chair, I would motion to withdraw this

1:25:07bill 171.

1:25:08>> Okay. Thank you.

1:25:11Mr. Clerk?

1:25:13Motion to withdraw.

1:25:18>> I'm sorry, what did you say?

1:25:19>> Uh the motion was with withdrawn by the

1:25:21Council member.

1:25:21>> Oh, thank you.

1:25:22>> Yep.

1:25:25>> Is there any testimony for bill 209?

1:25:30Hearing none, bill 209 amends orders

1:25:32number 26-44 of the operating budget of

1:25:34the County of Hawaii for the fiscal year

1:25:35ending June 30, 2027.

1:25:37Appropriates revenues in the federal

1:25:39grants fire prevention and safety grant

1:25:40account $24,157

1:25:43and appropriates the same to the fire

1:25:44prevention and safety grant account.

1:25:45Funds to be used by the department's

1:25:46fire prevention branch to purchase

1:25:48investigative equipment. Introduced by

1:25:50Councilmember Connolly Clapperton by

1:25:51request, and this is a companion to

1:25:53resolution 724-2

1:25:55>> Chair, motion to forward bill 209 to

1:25:57council with a favorable recommendation.

1:25:60>> Moved by Councilmember Husta, seconded

1:26:01by Councilmember Galimba. Any

1:26:03discussion?

1:26:05Hearing and seeing none, motion is on

1:26:06the floor. All in favor?

1:26:09Any opposed?

1:26:11>> [clears throat]

1:26:11>> Mr. Clerk, you have eight eyes.

1:26:14>> Councilmember Viegas is excused. Motion

1:26:15carries.

1:26:16>> Is there any testimony for bill 210?

1:26:20Hearing none, bill 210 amends orders

1:26:22number 26-44, the operating budget of

1:26:25the County of Hawaii for the fiscal year

1:26:26ending June 30, 2027. Increases revenue

1:26:28in state grants state substance abuse

1:26:30prevention coordination grant account

1:26:32$100,000 and appropriates the same to

1:26:34the state substance abuse prevention

1:26:35coordination grant account. Introduced

1:26:37by Councilmember Connolly Clapperton by

1:26:39request.

1:26:40>> Chair, motion to forward bill 210 to

1:26:42council with a positive recommendation.

1:26:44>> We have a motion by Councilmember Husta

1:26:46and a second by Councilmember Kagiwada

1:26:48to forward bill 210 to council with a

1:26:50favorable recommendation. All in favor?

1:26:54Any opposed?

1:26:56Mr. Clerk, you have

1:26:58eight members in favor.

1:27:00Councilmember Viegas is excused. Motion

1:27:01carries.

1:27:03>> Is there any testimony for bill 211?

1:27:07Hearing none, bill 211 amends orders

1:27:09number 26-44, the operating budget of

1:27:12the County of Hawaii for the fiscal year

1:27:13ending June 30, 2027. Increases revenue

1:27:15in the federal grants victims of crime

1:27:17account $97,703

1:27:19and appropriates the same to the victims

1:27:20of crime account act account. Introduced

1:27:23by Councilmember Connolly Clapperton by

1:27:24request.

1:27:25>> Chair, motion to forward bill 211 to

1:27:27council with a favorable recommendation.

1:27:30There was a motion by Councilmember

1:27:31Husta and a second by Councilmember

1:27:34Onishi to forward bill 211 to council

1:27:36with a favorable recommendation. Any

1:27:38discussion?

1:27:39Hearing and seeing none, motion is on

1:27:41the floor. All in favor?

1:27:42Any opposed?

1:27:44Mr. Clerk, you have eight eyes

1:27:47on the motion. Councilmember Viegas is

1:27:49motion carries.

1:27:51And I just wanted to check in, sir,

1:27:54on resolution 717 and 718. Did we do

1:27:57those?

1:27:58They're on my agenda.

1:28:02Did we do those already?

1:28:10Yeah, on the on the one note, I have

1:28:12resolution 717 and 718.

1:28:15But on the

1:28:16>> Those should not be there. They were

1:28:17waived to council. And then there's

1:28:19apparently we made an error and and left

1:28:22them there, but they're okay. Yeah,

1:28:24they're not part of our agenda. They

1:28:26were waived to council.

1:28:27>> Okay, perfect.

1:28:28>> Those are donations, correct?

1:28:30Yes.

1:28:30>> Yes.

1:28:31>> Sorry for that error.

1:28:32>> No, just checking.

1:28:34Okay, thank you. Uh so, with that,

1:28:36seeing no further business on our

1:28:38agenda, we are adjourned. It is 10:28

1:28:40a.m.

1:28:42Thank you very much. Our next committee

1:28:43will start shortly.

1:28:45>> Um thank you so much. But in between

1:28:48meetings, I just want to recognize we

1:28:49have a new HR technician. She's here

1:28:51today. Her name is Winter Takagi. Would

1:28:53she just stand up and say hi to the

1:28:54council? We're so happy she joined us.

1:28:56We were without an HR technician for a

1:28:58while. I'd like to thank Nicole for

1:29:01stepping in and taking care of our HR

1:29:03needs in the interim. She only made

1:29:05about a thousand errors. Um no, she's

1:29:08terrific. I tease her because she's um

1:29:10terrific. And thank you, Nicole, for

1:29:12standing in. And you can see the smile

1:29:14on her face is a reflection of her

1:29:17relief and happiness to have a

1:29:20uh professional on board to take over

1:29:22these matters. We're very excited to

1:29:23have Winter join our team. We have our

1:29:25accountant, Kelly, joining us today,

1:29:26too. Thanks for coming on over. So, we

1:29:29have a full robust administrative team

1:29:31now. We're very grateful for that. And

1:29:32we hope that the council sees the

1:29:34results of that um in the work they do

1:29:37where human resources and accounting.

1:29:38So, thank you for the opportunity just

1:29:40to make that announcement.

1:29:42>> Thank you very much, sir.

1:29:43And we are adjourned to our next

1:29:44committee. Thank you.

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