Policy Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit – Ninth Session – February 4, 2026
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Policy Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit – Ninth Session – February 4, 2026
The committee met at 10:30 a.m. in Hilo chambers under chair James Houstis, who later passed the gavel to Councilmember Inaba. The sole agenda item was Bill 127, which would establish a construction code commission to advise the mayor, council, and public works director on building code adoption and interpretation. After discussion, the committee voted 8-0-1 (with one excused absence) to forward the bill to the full council with a favorable recommendation.
Discussion Items
- Bill 127 – Construction Code Commission: Councilmember Kirkowitz, co-introducer with Councilmember Houstis, explained that the commission was a scaled-down version of a prior charter amendment that did not advance. The intent is to bring community expertise—from licensed professionals and experienced builders—to guide the county on code updates.
- Councilmember Viegas supported the bill, recalling the difficulty of past building code adoptions and the value of practical knowledge.
- Councilmember Onishi supported, sharing examples of past code amendments that reduced costs (e.g., combining fire and home catchment tanks, allowing a reinforced room instead of a separate safe room). He suggested the commission also monitor state-level code activity.
- Councilmember Kagiwada proposed a friendly amendment to broaden “building material supply” to include all building material expertise; Councilmember Kirkowitz accepted.
- Councilmember Kimball provided legal analysis: state law (HRS 107-28A and 46-1.513) does not explicitly require more restrictive codes but only that local amendments not defeat the intent of state codes. He suggested adding insurance expertise to the commission and noted that the board of appeals already handles variance denials.
- Councilmember Inaba clarified that the commission’s role in reviewing “interpretations” by the director is meant to mirror planning director memos, not to overlap with appeals.
- Councilmember Kirkowitz said she would work with Corporation Counsel on a memo clarifying state code restrictions and requested that the Department of Public Works provide representation at future readings.
Key Outcomes
- Motion by Councilmember Kirkowitz, seconded by Councilmember Houstis, to forward Bill 127 to the full council with a favorable recommendation. Vote: 8 ayes (Kimball, Galimba, Viegas, Inaba, Oneshi, Kirkowitz, Kagiwada, Houstis), 0 nays, 1 excused (Councilmember Kleinfelder). Motion carried.
- The committee will send a letter requesting DPW attendance at council readings.
- Friendly amendments regarding building material expertise and potential addition of insurance expertise were noted for further refinement before final passage.
Meeting Transcript
Aloha, welcome to the ninth session of the policy committee on public works and mass transit. I am your chair and presiding officer James Houstis. We are here in the Hilo chambers at 10 30 a.m. joined by members Kimball, Galimba, Viegas, Inaba, Oneshi, Kirkowitz, and Kagiwada. Absent today is Councilmember Coniley Kleinfelder. Mr. Clerk, do we have any testifiers for today's committee? No testifiers for your committee this this morning, Mr. Chair. And thank you, Mr. Clerk. Before we move to the on the only item on the agenda, I'm gonna pass the chair roll over to Councilmember Inaba for further discussion. Thank you. Thank you. I assume chairmanship of the committee, and we can proceed with Bill 127. Last chance if anyone would like to testify in Bill 127, please speak up now. Hearing and seeing none, Bill 127 amends chapter 5 of the Hawaii County Code 1983, 2016 edition as amended relating to establishment of a construction code commission. Establishes a construction code commission to advise the mayor, county council, and director of public works on the adoption, updating, amendment, and interpretation of the county construction codes introduced by council members Kirkowitz and Hustis. Chair motion set forward bill 127 to the council with a favorable recommendation. Second. Moved by Councilmember Kirkowitz, seconded by Councilmember Houstis to forward Bill 127 to council with a favorable recommendation. Councilmember Kirkowitz. Thank you, Chair. Earlier this term, Councilmember Houstis and I had advanced a charter amendment related to creating a department of building. There was also a component related to a building commission that folks on the on the dais had an appetite around. And so just because the building department idea did not move forward, we still wanted to advance on this commission because I think that there's a lot that members of our community can share with the with the county in the review and adoption of various construction codes. So this is not new. We're looking for everyone's continued support on this, and we certainly want to make sure that we're able to move forward on this particular language. We don't want to be excluding anyone with any kinds of experience in the construction related field. We certainly want to keep it open to folks with licenses with folks that have actual experience in building to weigh in on the codes as they come through the county. So looking for everyone's support on this. Thank you. Councilmember Houstis. Thank you, Chair. And thank you, Councilmember Kirchowitz, for this, you know, continuous dialogue here with the body with some good discussions about the department building earlier this year and part of last year, rather. But yes, this was a piece that I think everyone kind of was interested in and having a further discussion about this piece establishes it in code. So unlike the charter discussion before, this will be in code and really providing that advice to this body, to administration, from community members that have those specific skill sets in the construction trading industry on a variety of different sectors. So it's it's definitely shared there. Really wanted to have that insight provided to this body when we consider changes or updates to the code, construction code. So curious on other questions that maybe you might have, and happy to have that conversation here. So thank you. Councilmember Views. Yeah. Thank you for bringing this forward at a time. Um God. I remember going through the adoption of the building codes and how traumatizing that was. Um so I think that it it would be helpful for us to have the expertise uh from those that live and work in our communities in the fields and to bring some of that simple wisdom and knowledge versus um just the book side of things and the number crunching side of things, but the actual hey the we can make this for this and it's safe. So yeah, thank you. I'll be in full support. Councilmember Onyishi.
openpublica.com