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Finance Committee forwards grants, firefighter contract and coffee subsidy; several measures pass favorably
Summary
At its May 4 meeting the Finance Committee voted to forward multiple items to full council, including stewardship grants totaling $477,266.50, a firefighter labor cost package estimating $25.3 million over four years, and a $150,000 pesticide subsidy for Kona/Ka'u coffee growers; most measures carried with favorable recommendations.
The Hawaii County Council Finance Committee on May 4 forwarded a slate of budget and program measures to the full council with favorable recommendations.
The committee approved forwarding Resolution 548‑26, awarding stewardship grants from the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation and Maintenance Fund totaling $477,266.50 to four nonprofits. Councilmember Rick Kimball requested that, when the resolution reaches the full council, staff provide a communications packet listing applicants who applied but did not receive awards so the public record is complete.
The committee also forwarded Resolution 550‑26, which authorizes payments for a multiyear contract for the Hawaii Firefighters Association and certain excluded employees covering July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2029; staff stated the estimated four‑year cost is $25,292,860. Councilmember Kirkwood disclosed a personal conflict (partner is a member of the Fire Department) and recused himself from the vote.
Agriculture support measures moved together: Resolution 551‑26 would authorize the mayor to accept a grant and an intergovernmental agreement with the state Department of Agriculture for a Coffee Berry Borer and Coffee Leaf Rust Pesticide Subsidy Program and receipt of $150,000 in federal funds to aid coffee growers in Kona and Ka'u. The companion Bill 153 would appropriate $150,000 to the county operating budget for that program; the committee forwarded both measures with favorable recommendations.
Other communications on the agenda (Communications 24.32 and 24.33) were closed by the committee after staff answered questions about a Salvation Army contract extension (a one‑month final extension with added funds for staffing and meals while an RFP is pending) and hazardous‑materials testing at Waikae Uka Park (arsenic detected in excavated soil and disposed at West Hawaii Landfill).
All forwarded items in committee carried by recorded votes; the committee adjourned after completing its agenda.
