County approves MOA with Department of Hawaiian Homelands to clear derelict vehicles

The Hawaii County Council on Nov. 18 approved Resolution 167-21 authorizing an intergovernmental memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Department of Hawaiian Homelands (DHHL) to remove abandoned and derelict vehicles from DHHL properties.

Juliana, the county’s derelict-and-abandoned-vehicle (DAB) coordinator, told the council the previous MOA had been implemented without realizing it required council approval, and described the operations used on the Makuʻu project. “Last year we towed 383 cars from … Makuhu Hawaiian homesteads,” she said, adding that DHHL previously hired a contractor with heavy equipment to move vehicles into towable positions so county contractors could hook and tow them more efficiently.

Brenda Yokepa Moses, deputy director with the county Department of Environmental Management, and Nina Fisher of DHHL’s East Hawai‘i District Office said the updated MOA clarifies responsibilities and funding: DHHL will cover towing and terrain-preparation costs from a capital improvement project (CIP) fund and its contractors, while the county DAB section will cover disposal costs through the county CA fee fund. Juliana gave specifics on cost differences: disposal on the East side currently runs “$297 per vehicle,” while towing last year averaged about “$40 a hook and $3 a mile.”

Council members pressed departments for clarity on scope, timing and finance. Councilmember Kirkowitz asked why a formal agreement was needed when county and DHHL staff had coordinated cleanups in the past; Juliana and Brenda said the scale of this effort is larger and HRS section 46-7 requires council consent for intergovernmental agreements. Councilmember Connelly Kleinfelder asked about contract terms; staff said the prior project was treated as a one-year effort, and the draft MOA leaves the period flexible but can be set for a year from approval.

Juliana described the operational approach: DHHL will make derelict vehicles accessible in rights-of-way or will have contractors reposition them so county towing vendors can remove them. Vehicles meeting derelict criteria — for example missing major components, unregistered for 12 months, lacking plates or VIN, or where the owner disclaims ownership — will be towed directly to the county’s recycling and disposal contractor. Vehicles that are not clearly derelict will follow the county’s abandoned-vehicle process (sticker, 24-hour wait, police report, owner notification under HRS) before disposal.

Council members expressed broad support for the partnership but asked staff to return with a clearer operations plan and accurate counts for each site. The council adopted the resolution by voice vote; the clerk recorded the motion as approved (6 ayes; several members excused at the time of the tally). The adoption instructs staff to meet at sites, produce an operations plan and return with more precise numbers and an implementation schedule.

The MOA does not authorize county crews to go onto privately leased DHHL parcels to remove vehicles; any arrangement involving leaseholders would be handled between DHHL and its leaseholders. Department staff emphasized beneficiaries are not directly paying towing costs and that these funds come from CIP and county disposal fee sources.

The council asked for follow-up reporting on implementation timing and the projected weekly towing capacity staff estimated — roughly 5–20 vehicles a week depending on stacking and available vendor labor — and asked departments to address beneficiary consultation and legal/financial boundaries in the next update.