County says ARPA-funded West Hawaii crisis center contract terminated; officials weighing reprogramming of roughly $3.85 million

The Hawaii County Committee on Finance was told Thursday that the county and Hawaii Island Community Health Center agreed to a mutual termination of a contract to use federal ARPA funds for a proposed West Hawaii crisis intervention center.

Deputy Director Dennis Lin of Research and Development told the committee that ‘‘ultimately, the county and the health center agreed for a mutual termination of the contract. So that project, is not gonna continue using the ARPA funding.’’

The termination leaves about $3,845,000 in ARPA funds previously earmarked for the project; committee members pressed county finance staff on whether those dollars will be reprogrammed. Finance Director Diana Kagawa said staff are reviewing executed ARPA contracts to determine where the recovered funds can be added and stressed the county must follow federal ARPA guidance and existing contract terms. ‘‘The options are limited into those projects that we have already executed contracts with,’’ Kagawa said, adding that wastewater projects are among likely candidates to receive additional funding.

Why it matters: Committee members said they want to avoid losing federal relief funds and sought an internal deadline and clearer public tracking of ARPA projects. Council Member Kirkowitz criticized previous administration efforts and urged prompt decisions: ‘‘What deadline are we giving ourselves? Because my understanding is we have to spend all of the money by the end of next year.’’ Finance staff confirmed the federal spending deadline remains and said they will prioritize reprogramming to projects that can be completed within ARPA timelines.

Committee members also requested more transparency. Kagawa told the committee the county does not yet have a public listing on its website of all ARPA-awarded projects but offered to provide members with a list and said the finance department is working on systems and a CIP manager position to improve public reporting.

Council Member Inaba asked whether the county has the original application and contract documents for the health center project; Deputy Lin said the county retains the RFP and the health center’s response. Lin said some details are constrained by a legal agreement between the parties.

Council members asked for a confidential memo outlining exact spending to date on the terminated contract. Lin said some funds were used but he could not recall the amount and would provide details later. Kagawa said staff have been coordinating with corporation counsel to ensure any reprogramming complies with ARPA rules and contract terms.

Next steps: Finance staff said they will (1) finalize the contract termination, (2) determine which existing, executed ARPA projects can accept additional funds within program timelines, and (3) brief council members — including the requested confidential memorandum on amounts spent on the terminated contract.

The discussion occurred during the Committee on Finance meeting convened at the West Hawaii Civic Center (Kona Chambers) with participation from the Hilo Chambers.