Council advances ordinance to let sole proprietors qualify for county agriculture grants

The Maui County Council on June 12 voted 6-0, with three excused, to pass a bill amending Chapter 3.36 of the Maui County Code to allow sole proprietors to qualify for county grants administered by the Department of Agriculture.

Vice Chair Yukile Sugimura moved to pass the measure and explained the change would allow the department to treat sole proprietors as eligible grantees under the county grants program. Department of Agriculture grant coordinator Anna Mejia Vasconcelos told the council the change was time sensitive because several sole proprietors had already received awards under pending grants and the county needed the ordinance in place before the close of the fiscal cycle.

Mejia Vasconcelos listed two example grantees, Halakala Creamery and Kahu Farms, and said the department would provide a complete list of the nine sole-proprietor grantees to the council. Councilmember Tamara Poulton asked for the names; the department agreed to supply the list to the clerk.

Councilmembers asked whether the grants were sole-sourced or awarded through the regular grant application process; Mejia Vasconcelos said the grantees applied through the county grants program and eligibility determinations are made after application review. The council also referenced input from the Department of the Corporation Counsel and the Office of Council Services before moving the bill.

The motion to pass the bill carried 6 ayes, 0 nos; Councilmembers Tom Cook, Shane Senesi and Keani Rollins Fernandez were recorded as excused. The department committed to send a formal list of grantees to the council office for the record.