Nāpili affordable housing bill clears first reading

Maui County Council members passed on first reading Friday morning a bill that sets aside $650,000 from the Affordable Housing Fund as a grant to A0746 Lahaina L.P. for pre-development costs for a project in Nāpili.

The 120-unit Kaiaulu o Nāpili affordable housing project is for rental units on nearly 15 acres of County-owned land in Nāpili. Eligible renters would be Maui County residents earning up to 60% of the area median income.

Project pre-development costs include a traffic impact analysis report, cultural impact assessment, flora and fauna survey, district boundary amendment and a market study.

Bill 33 also would return $11.89 million in unspent and unencumbered money to the fund’s estimated balance as of June 30, 2024. On March 18, the Council’s Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee was left with unanswered questions about unspent and unencumbered funds in the Affordable Housing Fund.

A committee report on the bill is available here.

A check with the Office of Council Services earlier this week found that no written answers regarding the unspent funds had been received so far by the Budget Committee from the Department of Housing.

In a March 3 letter Budget Director Lesley Milner reported that funding was available for the Nāpili project because of unencumbered or partially encumbered money, before June 30, 2024, for the following projects:

• Kuikahi Village workforce housing ($6 million). (The County reported previously that the project has not moved forward as planned.)
• Feasibility analysis and planning for development of affordable housing on a County-owned parcel in Waikapū ($1 million).
• Master plan and feasibility study for 5th Street in Uina’i ($250,000).
• Haggai Institute ($3,935,000) ($1,565,000 was encumbered for this project)
• Hawaii Community Development Board for Hale o Pi’ikea II ($637,593)($1,512,407 was encumbered for this project)
• Administrative expenses ($70,000)

Budget Committee Chair Yuki Lei Sugimura said she hoped her committee could get answers from the Housing Department in writing.

In other Council action Friday, council members gave initial first-reading passage to three bills recommended for passage by the Water and Infrastructure Committee, chaired by Council Member Tom Cook.

Bills advancing to second-and-final reading are:

Bill 28, which would allow additional flood-prone areas to be included in special flood hazard areas for flood insurance purposes. The measure addresses a federal flood insurance program that provides communities with subsidized flood insurance premiums, federal disaster money in times of a federal disaster declaration, disaster loans and federal mortgage insurance for buildings in special flood hazard areas.

Bill 19, which would authorize the mayor to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the US Geological Survey for the first phase of a three-phase groundwater availability study in West Maui where future water demand is expected to increase. The study will involve sinking a deep monitor well to provide information on the thickness of the freshwater lens in the Launiupoko aquifer in West Maui to determine its capacity as a groundwater resource. According to a committee report on the bill, the USGS will cover $30,000 of the $180,000 total cost. The Water Department and the State Commission on Water Resource Management will contribute the remaining $75,000 each.

Bill 16, which authorizes payment of $28,062 to the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relation’s Hawaiʻi Occupational Safety and Health Division for violations of safety and health standards at the Kīhei Wastewater Reclamation Facility. According to the draft bill and supporting documents, the violations ranged from “serious” to “other than serious” were corrected. Because of the corrections, an initial fine of $40,089 was reduced to $28,062.

Council members also adopted two resolutions authorizing additional compensation for outside legal counsel in two lawsuits.

One case stems from litigation arising from the death of Maui firefighter Tre’ Evans-Dumaran. The 24-year-old firefighter died after he was swept into a storm drain during a storm on Jan. 27, 2023. His family is seeking $12 million from Maui County for his foundation, estate and family; a memorial for fallen firefighters; and improvements for firefighter safety in a public petition posted online and aimed at Maui County decision-makers.

On Friday, public testifiers opposed approving $150,000 in additional compensation to ES&A, a law corporation serving as a special counsel. They maintained that the compensation should go to the firefighter’s family, not to fight the lawsuit.

In the other case, the Council authorized $475,000 in additional compensation to Kobayashi Sugita & Goda to defend the County in a lawsuit brought by a former County employee.