Committee amends bill to create farm-animal control contractor after high bid responses and budget constraints

The Honolulu City Council Committee on Government Efficiency and Customer Services on Aug. 21 amended Bill 5 (2025) to the posted proposed CD1 and adopted a verbal amendment specifying that “the Department of Customer Services or another department designated by the mayor may enter into” contracts for farm-animal control services. The committee then reported the bill out for passage and second reading and scheduled a public hearing after the chair called for objections and none were voiced.

The measure, as posted, would repeal Article 4 in Chapter 3 of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu (ROH) 2021 related to pound masters and add a new article to govern duties and functions of a farm-animal control contractor. Council Member Valerie Tupelo, a co-contributor, and other committee members said the bill creates a pathway for contracting to handle stray farm animals.

Kim Hashiro, director of the Department of Customer Services, told the committee the department began procurement last fiscal year with a $100,000 budget proviso. The department issued two requests for information (RFIs) and then a request for qualifications; only one contractor submitted a proposal. Hashiro said the overall price in that response was “quite high.” She initially cited a per-incident price example of $12,000 and later corrected the amount, saying, “I need to correct myself. It was 15,500 Okay. Was actually, the amount.” Hashiro said the contractor’s estimate included response and capture services, daily and extended shelter care, disposal or humane euthanasia, and provisions for extraordinary emergency transport, such as a helicopter with an hourly rate.

Hashiro said the department expected market pricing closer to the “2 to $3,000” range per incident and that the RFIs returned different information from the final proposal. She also said the department preferred per-incident contracting rather than a standing monthly fee. Hashiro said there is no funding budgeted for this service in the current fiscal year but that the department will pursue the fiscal 2027 budget cycle to request funds and could reissue a procurement if money is allocated.

Committee members pressed for practical and legal considerations. Council Member Weier asked about long-term sheltering and legal limits on euthanasia or return-to-owner timelines; Hashiro said she was “not aware of a certain amount of time to return” and that these incidents have been rare. The chair said the department structured the solicitation to distinguish responses within five days and extended care beyond five days, with five days intended as a reasonable threshold for return-to-owner versus extended sheltering.

Council Member Cordero asked whether wallabies would be covered; the chair replied that wallabies would not be covered because they are not defined as farm animals under the bill. Council Member Tupelo said she would work with the Cattlemen’s Association and local ranchers to increase outreach if the city issues a new RFP.

The chair proposed and read a verbal amendment to page 1, subsection (a) of the CD1 to replace the phrase “the city” with “the Department of Customer Services or another department designated by the mayor may enter into this,” and with no objections the committee amended the bill to CD1 and reported it out for passage and second reading with a public hearing to be scheduled.

Next steps described in the meeting transcript include the department working with the budget chair to seek funding in the fiscal 2027 cycle, the department potentially reissuing a procurement based on market information, and the council scheduling a public hearing on the amended bill.