Meeting Minutes of the
Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization
POLICY COMMITTEE

Friday, October 22, 2004, 10:00 a.m.
City Council Committee Room, room 205
Honolulu Hale, 530 South King Street, Honolulu, Hawaii

Member(s) Absent: Councilmember Ann Kobayashi, Representative Kirk Caldwell

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

The meeting was called to order at 10:04 a.m. by Chair Nestor Garcia. A quorum was present.

I.    MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 2, 2004 MEETING

Vice Chair Cal Kawamoto moved and Rodney Haraga seconded that the minutes of the September 2, 2004 meeting be approved as circulated. The motion was unanimously carried.

II.A.    APA AWARD

Chair Garcia stated that the Hawaii Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA) had awarded OMPO with their 2004 Community Advocacy Planning Award for OMPO’s efforts in identifying Oahu’s truly low-income and minority groups. Steve Young, Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP)’s Planning Information Branch Chief, was instrumental in establishing and documenting the process for defining Oahu’s environmental justice populations for OMPO’s planning process. Chair Garcia presented the award to Mr. Young.

Councilmember Gary Okino, who worked with Mr. Young at DPP, commended Mr. Young for all the work he has done for the City and County of Honolulu and OMPO. He added that Mr. Young is a very valuable resource who would be hard to replace should he decide to leave the City.

II.B.    AWARD OF DISTINCTION

Chair Garcia presented an Award of Distinction to Vice Chair Cal Kawamoto for his years of service – 10 years on the Hawaii State Legislature, eight years as the Chair of the Senate transportation committee, eight years on OMPO, and three terms as the Chair of OMPO.

III.A.    ORTP VISION

Gordon Lum asked the members of the Policy Committee to provide their “vision” of Oahu’s 2030 transportation system. This information will help in the development of the Oahu Regional Transportation Plan (ORTP) – to better understand the members’ expectations and to assist in setting the direction for the ORTP. He noted that: 1) this vision could be as broad as a concept or as specific as a project; 2) as more information (such as current and future problem areas) is presented to the members during the process, their visions could change over time; and 3) the members will periodically be polled for their visions.

The following are some of the visions given by the members:

• Recognition that some form of congestion will always exist on Oahu and there is a pressing need to manage that congestion.
  
• Transportation and land use moving hand-in-hand to achieve the type of community we want.
  
• The need for transportation infrastructures to be integrated and reflect the sense of community while addressing access and mobility.
  
• Rail was consistently mentioned as the backbone of Oahu’s transportation system that is needed to accommodate and improve the quality of life for our people.
  
• Major transportation infrastructure planning and construction in tune with demand, rather than lagging demand.
  
• Short-term transportation improvements to be implemented now to optimize traffic flow.

To elaborate on these visions, specific projects were identified. They included such items as the second access to Makakilo, North-South Road, bridges to connect West Oahu with Ford Island, Nimitz flyover, ferry, traffic light synchronization, ramp metering, freeway service patrol, University of Hawaii West Oahu, vehicle disincentives, bike facilities, and walkways.

While discussing the members’ visions, the issues of financing its costs and the potential need for a tax increase were raised. Chair Garcia also noted the need for OMPO to be more active in Oahu’s transportation planning – which may result in having people, such as a land use planner, participate in Policy Committee discussions.

III.B.    ORTP GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
[Handout: Proposed Goals and Objectives for the 2030 ORTP]

Mr. Lum went over the comments and recommendations received from the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC), and the general public. He noted the resulting changes to the Goals and Objectives.

Dick Kaku, of Kaku Associates (OMPO’s ORTP consultant), gave an overview of the proposed ORTP Goals and Objectives.

Councilmember Romy Cachola stated that using Barber's Point Harbor for freight movement (i.e., unloading of cargo from ships) would be consistent with Objective #5 (Promote intermodal efficiency of harbor terminal facilities, airport terminal facilities, and land transportation systems). Director Haraga acknowledged that Honolulu Harbor is running out of space and responded that the harbor at Kalaeloa does not have a 45-foot draft (but rather, only a 35-foot draft); also, infrastructure is not in place to support large container ships.

Representative Mark Moses suggested that Bus Rapid Transit (as proposed with dedicated bus lanes) is inconsistent with Objective #4 (Encourage the availability of adequate public and private services between Waikiki, the airport, and other tourist destinations) because dedicated bus lanes cannot support private transportation providers.

Chair Garcia noted that, as part of the ORTP effort, he would like a process using performance measures to be developed to assess how the goals and objectives are being met. He suggested that, during the development of this process, a mechanism be established to identify a desired level of performance.

Councilmember Charles Djou moved and Representative Moses seconded that the ORTP Goals and Objectives be endorsed. The motion was unanimously carried.

IV.    CITIZEN ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP REQUEST

Mr. Lum requested deferral of this agenda item.

V.    FYS 2004-2006 TIP AMENDMENT #7
[Handout: Draft FYs 2004-2006 TIP Amendment #7]

Mr. Lum presented the Fiscal Years (FYs) 2004-2006 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Amendment #7. The Department of Transportation Services (DTS) was requesting: 1) the addition of project C24 (Dillingham Boulevard Transit Improvements) and 2) the deletion of project C20 (Rehabilitation of Streets, Unit 5A).

Representative Moses moved and George Miyamoto seconded that the FYs 2004 -2006 TIP Amendment #7 be approved.

Councilmember Cachola requested that DTS provide him with a list of the locations where the transit/bus pullouts would be located in project C24 (eight pullouts at seven locations).

In response to Representative Moses question, Toru Hamayasu, Chief of the DTS Transportation Planning Division, stated that small pieces of land would be needed for bus shelters, so that the impact on the property owners would be minimized. So far, there were no objections from the property owners. Mr. Hamayasu stated that he would provide the members with a list of property owners who will be having construction done on their property for project C24.

Senator Brian Kanno asked about addressing a request from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) for assurance from the developer that, “should iwi or Hawaiian cultural or traditional deposits be found during ground disturbance or excavation, work will cease, and the appropriate agencies will be contacted pursuant to applicable laws”. Mr. Hamayasu stated that this is standard procedure for all contracts. He added that this requirement is already part of State law.

Senator Kanno moved and Councilmember Cachola seconded that the motion to approve the amendment be amended to include a statement of support for the OHA’s request.

Representative Joe Souki stated that this amendment to the motion is not necessary, since the State already has applicable laws to address these situations.

A vote was taken on the motion to amended the main motion. The motion carried, with six votes for and five votes against.

A vote was taken on the main motion to approve FYs 2004-2006 TIP Amendment #7, as amended. There being no objections, the amendment was approved.

VI.    FY 2005 OWP AMENDMENT

Mr. Lum explained that the proposed FY 2005 Overall Work Program (OWP) Work Element (WE) 202.31-05 (Multimodal Travel Forecasting Training) would be for a 3-day course conducted by the National Transit Institute for middle- to senior-level technical staff responsible for travel forecasting. Mr. Lum noted that this work element will include a half-day meeting with OMPO staff, as well as a possible one-day lower-level session.

Representative Moses moved and Senator Kanno seconded that the FY 2005 OWP Amendment be approved. There being no objections, the motion was carried.

VII.    COUNTY ESTIMATES OF FEDERAL HIGHWAY FUNDS
[Handout: DOT’s answers to information requested at September 2, 2004 Policy Committee meeting]

Mr. Lum stated that, at the September 2, 2004 Policy Committee meeting, DTS was requested to share their views on DOT’s proposed distribution.

Mr. Miyamoto provided the following comments:

• The new City Administration may decide to utilize different programming strategies when developing a transportation project. As such, future federal funding needs may be different from what Oahu needed in the past.
  
• Honolulu’s percentage of federal funding should be based more upon population than on lane traveled miles.
  
• Computations related to lane mileage should also include the numerous private roads and roads not turned over to the City and County of Honolulu.

Dean Nakagawa, from the DOT Central Planning Office, stated that the percentages previously presented are general guidelines for planning purposes. Mr. Nakagawa stated that a historical comparison of allotted funds to obligated funds shows that the obligated funds never reached the full level of allotted funds. Based on the history of the Statewide TIP, the numbers shown in DOT’s handout are valid. Rather than focusing on percentages, project delivery should be emphasized.

Representative Souki stated that it would be unfair for the Policy Committee, with the vast majority of its members from Oahu, to change the allocations for the Neighbor Islands. The Statewide allocations should be made by the State, not the MPO. While acknowledging that changing the allocation for Oahu would result in changing the allocation for the Neighbor Islands, Mr. Lum noted that federal regulations require that OMPO, DOT, and DTS cooperatively develop estimates of federal funds available for Oahu’s transportation program. Mr. Lum added that the DOT is reviewing the federal funding allocation under their statewide transportation planning process. Federal regulations for the statewide transportation planning process require greater interaction with metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) than with areas without an MPO, such as the Neighbor Islands.

Chair Garcia requested that a letter be sent to the DOT Director: 1) asking that the State take into consideration the points made by Mr. Miyamoto, and 2) regarding the need to get funds spent on projects, so that the amount allocated equals the amount obligated.

VIII.    OTHER BUSINESS

Mr. Lum announced that there will be presentations on Smart Growth at the November 17, 2004 CAC meeting. Eric Crispin, DPP Director, and Dean Uchida, Executive Director for the Land Use Research Foundation, will be making the presentations.

There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:45 a.m.