Meeting Minutes of the
Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization
POLICY COMMITTEE

Monday, September 29, 2003, 11:00 a.m.
Hawaii State Capitol, Conference Room 212
415 South Beretania Street, Honolulu, Hawaii

Member(s) Absent: Representative Joseph Souki

OMPO Staff Present: Gordon Lum (Executive Director), Lori Arakaki, Laureen Brennan, and Pamela Toyooka

Chair Cal Kawamoto called the meeting to order at 11:00 a.m. A quorum was present.

I.    MINUTES OF THE AUGUST 12, 2003 MEETING

Vice Chair Nestor Garcia moved and Councilmember Charles Djou seconded that the minutes of the August 12, 2003 meeting be approved as read. The motion was unanimously carried.

II.    REGIONAL TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT CENTER

Those who signed up to testify were not present. Chair Kawamoto deferred this item to later in the meeting.

III.    AMENDMENT #1 TO THE FYS 2004-2006 OAHU TIP

Gordon Lum gave a brief presentation on Amendment #1 to the Fiscal Years (FYs) 2004-2006 Oahu Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). He stated that the Policy Committee had requested the processing of this amendment at their August 12, 2003 meeting. Amendment #1 involves the addition of a transportation enhancement project that will purchase crossties, spikes, and other track hardware to restore the historic Oahu Railway & Land right-of-way from Fort Weaver Road to Kahe Point. Subsequently, the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) recommended that the Policy Committee endorse this amendment. During the public review period, two comments from individuals supporting this project were received.

Representative Mark Moses moved and Vice Chair Garcia seconded that Amendment #1 to the FYs 2004-2006 Oahu TIP be approved.

Testimony
Gale Treiber, Hawaiian Railway Society - Mr. Treiber testified in favor of Amendment #1.

A vote was taken. The motion was unanimously carried.

IV.A.    ORTP CONSULTANT SELECTION PROCEDURES
   
Mr. Lum gave a brief presentation on the Oahu Regional Transportation Plan (ORTP) Consultant Selection Procedures and Criteria. He explained that the proposed consultant selection procedures reflect the recent changes to the State procurement process. A Screening Committee was deleted and a Selection Committee that evaluates and ranks each qualified consultant was added. For the proposed revised ORTP Consultant Selection Procedures: 1) the Executive Director would be designated as the Purchasing Agency Head; and 2) as the Purchasing Agency Head, the Executive Director would designate the Review and Selection Committee members. Also, in items 4 and 6 (regarding the Selection Committee interviewing and scoring/ranking the consultants, respectively), the phrases “may go into a closed Executive Session” and “will exit its Executive Session”, respectively, would both be changed to “will meet in a closed session.”

Vice Chair Garcia and Councilmember Romy Cachola requested that Mr. Lum ask the Attorney General’s office and the Office of Information Practices for written opinions on the subject of holding decision-making meetings that are closed to the public.

[Councilmember Donovan Dela Cruz arrived at 11:25 a.m.]

Mr. Lum stated that initial verbal discussions with the Attorney General’s office indicated that it would neither be necessary to advertise nor post a Selection Committee meeting notice if no Policy Committee business was to be discussed or acted upon, since these proceedings could be done confidentially.

Vice Chair Garcia moved and Councilmember Djou seconded that the ORTP Consultant Selection Procedures, including the revisions noted by Mr. Lum, be endorsed.

Mr. Lum explained that Selection Committee members needed to attend all Selection Committee meetings; otherwise, they would not be eligible to participate in the selection of the consultant.

Representative Kirk Caldwell asked if the consultants could be required to disclose their contributions made to City and State politicians. Mr. Lum stated that, it could be included in the question-and-answer portion of the interviews and he could request this information from the consultants with Policy Committee concurrence. There were no objections from Policy Committee members.

A vote was taken. The motion was unanimously carried.

The members present who indicated their interest in serving on the ORTP Selection Committee were as follows: Councilmembers Cachola, Dela Cruz, Mike Gabbard, and Garcia; Representative Moses; Senators Brian Kanno, Kawamoto, and Gordon Trimble; and Rodney Haraga. OMPO staff would contact Representative Joseph Souki and ask him if he is interested in serving.

OMPO staff was asked to let the interested members know, in advance, all the dates of the Selection Committee meetings, so the members can reserve those dates.

II.    REGIONAL TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT CENTER (cont’d)

Senator Kanno moved and Representative Caldwell seconded that OMPO proceed with the investigation of a regional traffic management center (RTMC).

Chair Kawamoto indicated that this would allow: 1) the City and State to address concerns relating to an RTMC; and 2) the federal agencies to review the availability of federal funding and conduct scanning tours of the RTMCs in other cities.

Testimony
Jane Greenwood, a paramedic with the City & County of Honolulu – Speaking on her own behalf, Ms. Greenwood testified that she is in support of an RTMC.

In response to questions, the Honolulu Police Department (HPD) officers present indicated their continued interest in upgrading their dispatch system, so that Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and/or the Honolulu Fire Department (HFD) can reach the scene of the accident as soon as possible.

Cheryl Soon noted that the City was responding to the Policy Committee’s concerns through their concept of operations plan for the City’s traffic management center. Although the final documentation was not expected until July, some preliminary baseline information on the RTMC’s function and operational needs could be available in January 2004. She also noted that housing the various City agencies – Oahu Civil Defense Agency (OCDA), EMS, HPD, and HFD – together in an RTMC ignores the City’s jurisdictional responsibilities and the Mayor’s authority.

Chair Kawamoto stressed the need to proceed with the investigation to find out how much federal money would be available. In supporting the RTMC concept, he cited City-State coordination needs, the affected City agencies’ fiscal needs, and homeland security issues.

In response to a funding question, Abraham Wong identified two possible sources of federal monies for the RTMC – the annual formula federal funds apportioned to each state and discretionary funds. The formula federal funds are normally matched 80% federal and 20% local, unless it is related to the Interstate program, which can be matched 90% federal and 10% local. Federal matching ratios for discretionary funds are determined by Congress.

Mr. Haraga estimated that it would take Congress two years to pass the new reauthorization bill. This would provide a window of opportunity to include a placeholder for discretionary funding.

A vote was taken. The motion was carried by a majority of votes – seven in favor of and five against the motion.

[Representative Caldwell left the meeting at 12:20 p.m. A quorum was still present.]

IV.B.    ORTP CONSULTANT SELECTION CRITERIA

Mr. Lum stated that the ORTP Consultant Selection Criteria would be used to evaluate and rank consultant firms for the update of the ORTP. Mr. Lum noted that the weighting breakdown of the sub-criteria would be provided by Mr. Lum in November.

Ms. Soon moved and Representative Moses seconded that the ORTP Consultant Selection Criteria be adopted.

[Ms. Soon left the meeting at 12:23 p.m. Senator Kanno left the meeting at 12:25 p.m. A quorum was still present.]

Mr. Lum stated that the OMPO staff will be checking the references for each consulting firm.

A vote was taken. The motion was unanimously carried.

Chair Kawamoto took the following agenda items out of order.

VIII.    BRIEFING ON THE NIMITZ FLYOVER

Testimony
Rodney Kim, Executive Director, Sand Island Business Association (written testimony submitted) – Mr. Kim testified in favor of a Nimitz Flyover project.

Mr. Lum noted that the current ORTP includes a line item for Nimitz Highway Improvements – which could include the Nimitz Flyover.

V.    AMENDMENT TO THE FY 2004 OWP

Mr. Lum explained that the proposed amendment to the FY 2004 Overall Work Program (OWP) was to include W.E. 201.40-04 (Maintenance of the Oahu Regional ITS Architecture).

Councilmember Djou moved and Vice Chair Garcia seconded that the amendment to the FY 2004 OWP be approved. The motion was unanimously carried.

VII.    CAC MEMBERSHIP REQUEST

Mr. Lum stated that Charley’s Taxi had attended the required four meetings within a 12-month period and had requested OMPO Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) membership. Mr. Lum noted that Charley’s Taxi had previously been a CAC member and, in years past, its representative had served two terms as CAC Chair.

Councilmember Cachola moved and Councilmember Djou seconded that Charley’s Taxi be appointed to the CAC.

Dale Evans, President of Charley’s Taxi, testified in favor of Charley’s Taxi’s appointment to the CAC (written testimony submitted).

A vote was taken. The motion was unanimously approved.

VI.    ITS PROCEDURES AND RESPONSIBILITIES REPORT

Mr. Lum gave a presentation on the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Procedures and Responsibilities Report.

Representative Moses moved and Councilmember Cachola seconded that the ITS Procedures and Responsibilities Report be endorsed. The motion was unanimously carried.

IX.    OTHER BUSINESS

In response to a question from Councilmember Cachola, Mr. Lum stated that the OMPO Policy Committee’s involvement with the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project included its programming into the ORTP and TIP. For any project to receive federal funds, it must be identified in the TIP and be consistent with the ORTP.

Councilmember Cachola stated that there is disagreement between the City and the State regarding the use of lanes for the BRT. Since the City is the project implementer, Mr. Lum indicated that the City will take the lead in resolving this disagreement.

Vice Chair Garcia stated that, at the request of Council Chair Gary Okino, the issue of rail will be taken up at next month’s Council Transportation Committee meeting. The Committee will take a position on rail, so that the Governor’s Transportation Committee will know whether the Council is committed to rail and whether they can move on this or not. The Governor’s Transportation Committee doesn’t want a repeat of the last effort – with one vote, at the last minute, undermining the fate of rail.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 12:50 p.m.