Meeting Summary of the

Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization

 

CITIZEN ADVISORY COMMITTEE

 

Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 3:30 p.m.
Hawaii State Capitol, Room 325
415 South Beretania Street, Honolulu, Hawaii

 

 

Members Present:                                                                        

NB #34 Makakilo-Kapolei-Honokai Hale

Michael Golojuch, Vice Chair

AARP

Mary Protheroe

Castle & Cooke Homes Hawaii

Ray Kunishige

Citizens for a Fair ADA Ride

Ronald Pike

Committee for Balanced Transportation

Joseph Magaldi

E Noa Corporation

Tom Dinell

Hawaii Bicycling League

Janice Marsters

Hawaii Centers for Independent Living

Michael Tada

Hawaii Teamsters and Allied Workers, Local 996

Michael Costa

Hui Kupuna VIP

Louise Horio

Institute of Transportation Engineers

Robert Nehmad

League of Women Voters

Piilani Kaopuiki

Leeward Oahu Transportation Management Association

Shannon Alivado

Mestizo Association

Arvid Youngquist

NB #01 Hawaii Kai

Greg Knudsen

NB #02 Kuliouou-Kalani Iki

Linda Starr

NB #03 Waialae-Kahala

Lester Fukuda

NB #05 Diamond Head-Kapahulu-Saint Louis Heights

Bert Narita

NB #07 Manoa

Tom Heinrich

NB #08 McCully-Moiliili

Ron Lockwood

NB #09 Waikiki

Robert Finley

NB #10 Makiki-Lower Punchbowl-Tantalus

Charles Carole

NB #12 Nuuanu-Punchbowl

James Marn

NB #13 Downtown

Tom Smyth

NB #18 Aliamanu-Salt Lake-Foster Village

Lorene Godfrey

NB #20 Aiea

Jane Sugimura

NB #21 Pearl City

Cruz J. Vina, Jr.

NB #22 Waipahu

Blaine Tsugawa

NB #25 Mililani-Waipio-Melemanu

Dick Poirier

NB #26 Wahiawa-Whitmore Village

Joseph Francher

NB #29 Kahaluu

Ken LeVasseur

NB #30 Kaneohe

Glenn Ida

NB #35 Mililani Mauka-Launani Valley

Pamela Young

North Shore Chamber of Commerce

Gil Riviere

Pacific Resource Partnership

Mike Kido

Waikiki Residents Association

Daisy Murai

 

Members Absent (Reps):

American Planning Association Hawaii

John Valera

American Society of Civil Engineers

Tiffany Hamada

Eye of the Pacific

Twila Lai

Honolulu Community Action Program

Karl Espaldon

Land Use Research Foundation

David Arakawa, Chair

NB #23 Ewa

Coby M. Lynn

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

Lowell Kalapa

 

 

Guests Present:

Nicholas Poulos

Department of Transportation Services

Virginia Bisho

DTS

Susan Uejo

Hawaii Department of Transportation

Rose Pou

Hui Kupuna VIP

Robert Whitaker

NB #7 Manoa

David Hilea, Jr.

NB #11 Ala Moana

Bob R. Smith   

NB #24 Waianae Coast

                                               

OahuMPO Staff Present:  Gordon Lum (Executive Director), Randolph Sykes, and Marian Yasuda

 

Vice Chair Michael Golojuch called the meeting to order at 3:32 p.m.

 

Vice Chair Golojuch announced that Executive Director Gordon Lum will be retiring at the end of 2009.  He stated that Director Lum has been a valuable and highly-respected leader for the OahuMPO; and he will be sorely missed.  The CAC demonstrated their gratitude to Director Lum with a round of applause.

 

Vice Chair Golojuch announced the passing of Colleen “CC” Curry on October 13, 2009.  A moment of silence was observed in her memory.

 

1.  New Business

1.A. Draft Amendment to the Bylaws of the CAC 

Vice Chair Golojuch introduced Tom Smyth, Chair of the Bylaws Subcommittee.  Mr. Smyth summarized the substantive Bylaws changes proposed for acceptance by the CAC:

·        Nine references to “State of Hawaii fiscal year” would be changed to “calendar year”;

·        Three references to the quorum requirement would be clarified to be consistent with Chapter 92 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, Part II;

·        An additional provision for the CAC Chair to make adjustments to the membership based on member organization’s past attendance would be added.

 

Mr. Smyth moved and Bert Narita seconded that the CAC accept the proposed changes to the Bylaws of the CAC, as suggested by the Bylaws Subcommittee.

 

Discussion Highlights:

[Unless noted otherwise, questions were answered by Mr. Smyth.]

·        Linda Starr offered a suggestion that the wording of II.C.2 and 4 be amended from a twelve-month period to within the previous twelve months to insure the intent is clear.

·        Tom Heinrich offered his support of the existing language in the proposed bylaws amendment; he felt it was clear and succinct.

·        Mr. Smyth requested that the minutes reflect that the term twelve-month period refers to any twelve-month period with no specific start or end point.

 

The motion unanimously passed with one abstention (Arvid Youngquist). 

 

Mr. Smyth stated that the proposed bylaws amendment will be presented to the Policy Committee at its next meeting for their consideration and approval.

 

1.B. FY 2011 Overall Work Program (OWP) Subcommittee’s Report

Vice Chair Golojuch introduced Charles Carole, Chair of the OWP Subcommittee.  Mr. Carole read the list of suggested work elements included in the OWP Subcommittee’s report.

 

Discussion Highlights:

[Unless noted otherwise, questions were answered by Mr. Carole.]

Ms. Starr moved and Mr. Youngquist seconded that the scope of the East Honolulu – H-1 and Kalanianaole Highway Corridor Study be amended to include both access and egress around the University of Hawaii.  The motion was unanimously passed.

Mr. Carole moved and Mr. Heinrich seconded that the scope of the East Honolulu – H-1 and Kalanianaole Highway Corridor Study be amended to include the Lunalilo on- and off-ramps.

 

Discussion:

·        In response to a question by Mr. Heinrich: The scope of East Honolulu for this study would be Downtown to Hawaii Kai. 

·        Mr. Heinrich spoke in opposition to the proposed language in the motion.  If specific areas are to be identified, he suggested the Vineyard Boulevard to Punahou Street area.

·        In response to a question by Michael Tada: A study done for the Honolulu Rail Transit Project looked at the traffic in the Lunalilo area, but the rail project has no impact on this proposed study.

·        Lester Fukuda commented that the intent of the Subcommittee was for the scope of the study to include Kalanianaole Highway and H-1 Freeway, from Hawaii Kai into Downtown.

·        Robert Nehmad suggested that the existing language covers all of the areas that are being discussed with this motion.  All of those areas would be included in the study, regardless of whether or not they are specifically identified, because of their impacts on the corridor.

·        Gil Riviere agreed with Mr. Nehmad’s suggestion of allowing the language to stand as previously amended.

·        Ron Lockwood also agreed with keeping the current amended language.

The motion failed with 3 ayes and 31 nays.

·        Joe Francher suggested a friendly amendment to include both the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) and the Department of Transportation Services (DTS) on the list of responsible agencies for the Wahiawa Town Traffic Study.

·        Blaine Tsugawa inquired about the Waipahu Residential Parking Study.  In response, Mr. Lum explained that the purpose of this exercise is to provide the City and State agencies information about studies that the public consider to be important prior to the development of their list of work elements for inclusion in the OWP.

Pamela Young moved and Mr. Youngquist seconded that the Wahiawa Town Traffic Study be amended to read “study traffic engineering measures for the major roadways”.  The motion failed with 8 ayes and 20 nays.

·        Nick Poulos stated that DTS would prefer specificity in the wording of the suggested work elements.

·        Mr. Riviere suggested a friendly amendment to include both HDOT and DTS on the list of responsible agencies for the North Shore Traffic Study.

Mr. Francher moved and Mr. Narita seconded that the FY 2011 Overall Work Program (OWP) CAC Subcommittee’s Report be approved as amended.  The motion passed unanimously with one abstention (Mr. Youngquist).

 

1.C. Oahu Regional Transportation Plan (ORTP) 2035 Financial Forecast

Randolph Sykes, Planning Program Coordinator and project manager for the ORTP 2035, gave a presentation on the revenue forecasts that will be used in the development of the ORTP to the year 2035.  Mr. Sykes spoke about revenue sources, growth assumptions, and anticipated revenue available for future ORTP 2035 projects and programs.

 

Discussion:

[Unless otherwise noted, all questions were answered by Mr. Sykes.]

·        In response to a question by Mr. Tada: Tolling of roadways is being explored simply as a scenario study.

·        In response to a question by Tom Dinell: The Federal Highway Trust Fund ran out of money prior to the end of the federal fiscal year.  Congress needed to infuse the fund with an additional $10 to $20 billion to carry it through the end of September 2009.

·        In response to a question by Mr. Carole: The forecast of the amount of State funds available to Oahu is based on historic shares of 50% for Capital Improvements and 33% for Operations and Maintenance.  This will result in an estimated $654 million for Capital Improvements and $1.24 billion for Operations and Maintenance.

·        In response to a question by James Marn: Fixed Guideway Modernization Funds that Hawaii has received in the past have gone to TheBus. 

·        In response to a question by Mr. Youngquist: Formulary Funds are set by statute.  Existing Federal law provides that specific minimum percentages of funds are to be awarded to each of the states based on various formulae, depending upon the purpose for which the funds are to be expended.

 

2.  Approval of the September 16, 2009 Meeting Minutes

Hearing no corrections to the September 16, 2009 minutes, the minutes were accepted with one abstention (Mr. Youngquist). 

 

3.  OahuMPO Meeting Highlights - Policy Committee & Technical Advisory Committee

Ms. Yasuda announced that meetings of both the Policy Committee and the Technical Advisory Committee were held since the last CAC meeting on September 16, 2009.

·        The Policy Committee met on Monday, October 19, 2009.  At that meeting, they:

o       Imposed furloughs on the OahuMPO Executive Director and Office Manager for a portion of FY 2010 and all of FY 2011.

o       Participated in a funding workshop for the ORTP 2035,

o       Discussed the search to fill the OahuMPO Executive Director’s position,

o       Approved the CAC membership of the Mestizo Association, and

o       Heard the summary report of the CAC.

·        The Technical Advisory Committee met on Friday, October 16, 2009.  At that meeting, they heard a presentation on funding for the ORTP 2035.

 

4.  Announcements

Vice Chair Golojuch announced the results of the CAC member survey on meeting dates, times, and locations.  The survey results reaffirmed the current meeting day, time, and place:

·        70% of respondents prefer meetings to be held in the 3rd week of the month.

·        76% of respondents prefer meetings to be on Wednesdays.

·        70% of respondents prefer meetings to be at 3:30 p.m.

·        82% of respondents prefer meetings to be 1 hour in length.

·        94% of respondents prefer meetings to be in Downtown/Capitol District area.        

 

Vice Chair Golojuch announced an opportunity for a presentation to the CAC on two large projects being planned by the HDOT: the Interstate H-1 PM Contraflow Lane and the Eastbound Widening at Middle Street projects.  The CAC expressed their interest in pursuing this presentation.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 4:45 p.m.