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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/13/2015 Civil Defense Agency 4/13/2015 DEPARTMENTAL BUDGET REVIEWS 2015-16 CIVIL DEFENSE AGENCY Civil Defense Agency Honorable Mason K. Chock (present at 9:03 a.m.) Honorable Gary L. Hooser Honorable KipuKai Kuali`i Honorable JoAnn A. Yukimura Honorable Mel Rapozo (present at 9:01 a.m.) Honorable Arryl Kaneshiro Excused: Honorable Ross Kagawa The Committee reconvened on April 13, 2015 at 9:00 a.m., and proceeded as follows: Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Good morning would I like to call back to order the Budget&Finance Committee and Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Departmental Budget Reviews. On the schedule for today, we will be hearing from the Civil Defense Agency, Office of the County Attorney, and the Office of Economic Development. As we do each day, we will take public testimony at the beginning. Seeing no one in the audience, we will get to skip that. For today's review, let us start with the Civil Defense Agency and Elton will providing a brief presentation. We will let him do his presentation and then we will ask questions later. Elton. ELTON S. USHIO, Civil Defense Manager: Aloha and good morning. Elton Ushio, Civil Defense Manager. What we have here is our overview which contains some of the information in our original submittal, but far less detail. We added some photos just so you can see some of the things we have been up to. Our mission statement and our vision statement as you can see, have been slightly modified and updated to be more consistent with the current terminology models used by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and our other emergency management Nationwide. If you want a chance to review, you can look at it. Our goals. In our submittal last year, these were the five goals, maintain and improving operating efficient for the Emergency Operating Center (EOC), all the way down to our operation ready status and efficacy of emergency management and communication, interoperable communications, et cetera. (Council Chair Rapozo was noted as present.) Mr. Ushio: For those Fiscal Year (FY) 15 goals, we provided more information in our prior submittal which shows in each one, some of the achievements. I will show you a very brief photo overview. This here is all our hazards incident management team training course where people from all disciplines, County, State, Federal, and some non-governmental assisting core operating agencies. They took a course that formalized or kind of made us go through the process of using our Incident Command Management system in a setting, which was in this case our EOC, but it can be used in EOC. It can just as easily be in a field command post. We continued with our Annual Multi-Agency Hazmat Exercise with the civil support team. It is a military unit under the guard that assist with hazardous material and Weapons of Mass Destruction(WMD)types of scenarios. So, we multiple things with this like fit-testing for our first-responders from Department of Health (DOH) to Fire to Police to make sure their gear fits and having them practice the command-post scenario, actually going in and making entry into a hazardous materials scene, et cetera. Outreach and educational activities. We do a lot. Our agency will very often have visits from students, like Wilcox School here. We will do the Mayor's show so the public can April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency (aa) Page 2 see some of what we are doing at Civil Defense in different areas. These are outreach meetings with the public where we are going out and discussing the development of the community wildfire protection plan. (Councilmember Chock was noted as present.) Mr. Ushio: Mark Marshall who is on our staff, goes to the schools and observes their evacuation drills. He and I do career days, speaking to the students, et cetera. A very popular area is our Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). We have been active in the current fiscal year. We have graduations here. This is the Lihu`e class, this is the Kapa'a class, and Kilauea just a couple of weeks ago. We had our blessing, our dedication of our Phase 1 completion of siren modernization project, which is a phased project. We are working with the State of Hawaii, State Emergency Management formerly known as State Civil Defense and Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS) to replace our aging siren systems with these very new composite posts buried in the ground with concrete sirens around the island. Phase 1 was completed. Phase 2 is kicking off this month on the 16th. Tsunami evacuation signage. Here is a dedication where you will see these signs around the island now indicating the evacuation routes and when you are entering and leaving tsunami evacuation zones. We had two full-scale activations during the fiscal year. One for Tropical Iselle, second for Tropical Storm Ana. When the Emergency Operating Center (EOC) goes into full activation, we have representatives from all the various County, State, Federal, and non-governmental partners in their doing our best to keep tabs on the situation and take action as necessary. Flash flood warning. This one, I put in the picture of Glenda's. She retired this year. We did not want to send her off without an activation. On December 23rd Hanalei River exceeded the floor threshold,water came on the highway, had to close it, and we went through our steps. That is normally our most frequent type of activation. But this current fiscal year, we have been having below average rainfall. So, we have had only had three flash-flood warnings this fiscal year. Moving on. Our FY16 goals and objectives. These are reflected also in the prior submittal. I will not need to read through them,but I will put up each slide for a few seconds. These are similar to our FY15 goals and objectives, but with some updates. Continue with our outreach and awareness. Continue with operational-ready status. Leveraging grants. Then our budget overview. Our prior submittal contains a lot more information on our budget. All I did was some of these summary graphics, pie charts, and the bar graph comparing current fiscal year to our upcoming proposed operating budget. That is it. Very brief. We will go right into your questions. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Any questions on the presentation? If not, we can just move straight into the budget. Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: Good morning, Elton. This is your first budget as Civil Defense Director. I want to commend you on your mission statement, which is very clear and we have had some discussion with other Department Heads. But you really capture the core of your work and your beneficiaries. Thank you for that. Just a curious question April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency (aa) Page 3 about your slide on the All Hazards Incident Management Team (AHIMT) Training. Why are they wearing these vests? Mr. Ushio: In Incident Command Systems or Incident Management, it is a means of organizing your response that originally was developed by the fire service. It has since then been accepted nationwide as the standard means of operating and organizing. The vests, what they indicate are the various positions that people are in. For example, if you have a red vest that will usually indicate that they are in the operations side. If they are blue, that could be a planning. Yellow could be logistics. Green could be finance. White might be command staff. So, in this case in this slide that you are talking about, which is our slide 4, retired Assistant Chief Quibilan was the Incident Commander in their scenario. He is wearing white, which indicates that. It just allows other people to quickly identify who is who and what roles they are working in. Councilmember Yukimura: Very interesting. That is a far cry from what we did after Hurricane `Iniki. Mr. Ushio: We have tried to make incremental improvements as we can. We were fortunate that we had a very robust hurricane exercise called the Makani Pahili. 2014. We tried to make our improvements where we could. Soon after that was followed by Tropical Storm Iselle. In between Iselle and Ana, we actually had this AHIMT, All Hazards Incident Management Team Training. Ana was where we first time where we formally tire dot go through the process. We required everyone to learn incident command systems and we have gone ahead and purchased our own vests instead. Henceforth, that is how we will be operating. Councilmember Yukimura: You found that the training was helpful in a real-life situation? Mr. Ushio: Yes, definitely, In the past, the Fire Department were the main users of ICS. Councilmember Yukimura: ICS? Mr. Ushio: Incident Command System. Because it came from the fire service nationwide suitable for incidents large and small, fire had traditionally been the discipline to implement it most frequently. By spreading this training out to all disciplines, it helped us to practice what we had been trained on previously but do not really get the chance to implement all the time because the Fire Department will get calls every single day and they will have larger calls. EOC, we do not activate all that often by comparison. If we have even once per month, that is a lot unless we have an ongoing disaster or significant weather event. Councilmember Yukimura: So all hazards incident means the kind of training you need whatever the hazard may be? Mr. Ushio: Yes. It could be weather, it could be hazardous materials, and it could even be for a large accident. You could use it for a large gathering, like an offset event at the stadium. All kinds of different situations. The all-hazards approach, you will hear from FEMA because they feel we cannot just focus in one particular area. Like in the Homeland Security grants that Chelsie manages, for example, they do not April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency (aa) Page 4 only look at anti-terrorism because those same skills, same equipment can be used for a police incident, a large fire incident, hurricanes, et cetera. Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Chock. Councilmember Chock: Good morning, Elton. I am sorry I was late this morning. I had a meeting with the Mayor and Managing Director, and it ran late. I was wondering in terms of the goals that you talked about, do we have any response plans when it comes to evacuation, specific to traffic mitigation? It becomes more of a concern as we see that our roads need care and upgrading, but not having the infrastructure in place. I just was wondering if the Civil Defense has taken on any of those issues in terms of evacuations. Mr. Ushio: We do try to address evacuation and need for evacuation contingencies like alternate routes, et cetera. However, from a long-term planning perspective, we do not directly address traffic mitigation. In our response, we have established roadblocks and checkpoints that police would set up. We know the timelines for wave arrival, when to do things if a hurricane was coming, et cetera. The closest we get to what I think you are asking me about is when our partners, in say the Planning Department are working on a community plan like Kapa`a. Recently, I was allowed to look at the draft for comment. We will go over our tsunami evacuation zones, our roadblocks, and some of our concerns in that area where hopefully they can integrate that into their planning process. But as far as taking on traffic mitigation directly, it is generally not our mission. Councilmember Chock: Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Follow-up question, Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. I am glad the question was asked. I remember in 1986, I think there was a tsunami warning and the schools were closed and parents were told to come and pick up their children in the middle of the day even though only those in low-lying areas were affected, that creates a huge traffic jam such that I think right when the tsunami was supposed to hit, there was huge lines right in front of Coco Palms. I hope the learning was not to close schools and tell everybody to come pick up their kids, but you just ask people in low-lying areas to move up if necessary, not necessarily get in your car and drive someplace. It is partly about how you make the announcements and decisions directing people. Do you folks have that kind of planning in store? Mr. Ushio: Yes. I think it also starts off since 1986 the science has advanced considerably. Their capability to detect an earthquake that could create a tsunami, the deep-ocean buoys that could give them the first reading of what is on the open ocean, a lot of advances since then. I do not want to jinx us, but I believe in all of our recent tsunami warning activations, we have been able to clear out our coastal populations in a more than adequate timeframe including remote areas where we will fly civil air patrol and make their announcements. Hanalei and Ha`ena area, where there is only one way out. All areas I think we have been relatively successful actually. Councilmember Yukimura: Without creating traffic congestion. Mr. Ushio: There is traffic, but it has not been an issue where people are stuck in traffic in the evacuation zone when wave arrival was supposed to happen. April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency (aa) Page 5 Councilmember Yukimura: Okay, good. Do you folks get involved in determining emergency bypasses? Mr. Ushio: We get involved in planning and trying looking for potential alternate routes. We will give input if the opportunity presents itself. Councilmember Yukimura: But you do not have to make sure from the emergency planning standpoint, that there are working exits wherever they are required? Mr. Ushio: We are not required by law to do that. For example, Hanalei. We have one (1) way in and one (1) way out. We are not required to find an alternate. We can have contingencies should that river area flood and not be available, but we are not required to find an alternate way. We try. We try that for all areas of island when available when the resources are there. Councilmember Yukimura: I mean, the only problem that would occur in Hanalei is if there is a traffic incident that clogs up the highway, right? As long as there free-flowing traffic it should work because with tsunamis, for example, you get sufficient warnings unless it is an earthquake, yes. The kinds of contingency plans we need are when there is a traffic snarl or traffic accident somewhere. Mr. Ushio: Yes. It is a multi-disciplinary approach where Police, DOT Highways, County roads, Fire Department and to a lesser degree Civil Defense gets involved whenever they have discussions about possible alternate or emergency routes. Councilmember Yukimura: In the case of an emergency where there is a real urgency, the police say they have to do measurements and they take some time to do all their post-accident responsibilities, which is why often they have to block off or block a lane. In times of emergencies, can that fall to the side for the bigger crisis? Does somebody have the power to make that decision? Mr. Ushio: I am not certain. I would have to defer to our Police Department or County Attorney to make that call. I would hope from an emergency management standpoint, I would hope that a traffic investigation would not impede a tsunami warning evacuation. Councilmember Yukimura: Can you check on that because it would seem to be important? Maybe it will not come up, but we have seen how traffic accidents can hold up traffic for hours. If there is no emergency exit, it seems to me we should know for sure that somebody was that power say, "This is urgent and we need to move ahead." Mr. Ushio: Okay. Will do. Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i. Councilmember Kuali`i: On the budget,top line"salaries." I did see in your narrative, which you provided us in advance, you talked about the realignment of positions and the filling of the Grant Coordinator position. When I looked at the Human Resources vacancy report, Quarterly Report, from the end of March, I saw that there is a Position April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency (aa) Page 6 No. 9201 "Civil Defense Manager" Exempt, $75,000, that the new hire date was February 1, 2015. But I do not see it in the list here. What is that position? Mr. Ushio: Civil Defense Manager position is the position I am occupying at this time. Councilmember Kuali`i: So you are not in this budget? Mr. Ushio: It is grant-funded. Councilmember Kuali`i: Grant-funded. So, 9201 is a position there, but it is grant-funded, and we have these grant funds indefinitely? Mr. Ushio: Nothing is indefinite, but this grant has been around for over a decade. The amount has been very stable. All indications are that it continues to be secure for now. Councilmember Kuali`i: So relatively stable? Mr. Ushio: Yes. Councilmember Kuali`i: The EM3 position 2500, that is also in their report as a reallocation that was scheduled for start at the new reallocated position on February 16th. In their report, they put from Emergency Management Officer to Emergency Management Administrative Officer, from EMS, to EM3, but they list the salary as from $95,088 to $95,088. There is no change there. I wonder if it is a mistake on their part because in the budget position 2500 shows line item of$98,637. Why is that amount different and higher than the other? Are there steps there? What step is at? Is that position filled with an incumbent and since when? Mr. Ushio: What that was in the reorganization or reallocation, they changed the EM5 position to the Emergency Management Administrative Officer, EM3, but because there was an incumbent, which is Mark Marshall who is in the room, as well as my old position, 2501, there was an incumbent had I stayed in that position. As civil servants, you have to stay pretty much on par and that is how we are doing it budget-wise. You see a change in the EM rating, but the salary is shown as stable. Councilmember Kuali`i: Then maybe the next question is kind of answered in what you just said. Because the 2501 position is dollar-funded and my original question would have been why was not it eliminated? Is it because you we are now in this grant- funded position and if the grant was to go away, you would have to go back to the other position and we would have to fund it? Mr. Ushio: That is a possibility. But what we are doing now is in the short-term to try achieve salary savings for the County, I am used to doing my old job. So, many of my prior projects have been retained by me, my prior areas of work. With some areas, thanks to our staff, some areas I am getting relief where other people on staff are picking up some of those duties. We will need to keep that position. We want it in the future, but just for this year, we are willing to dollar-fund it to achieve the short-term salary savings. April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency (aa) Page 7 Councilmember Kuali`i: The final question on positions and I will be done, is 2504 Grant Coordinator, you said it was filled? When was that as of new-hire? Mr. Ushio: I believe that was filled in October of last year. Chelsie Sakai, who is in the room was selected for that position. Councilmember Kuali`i: Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Again on the budget. Council Chair Rapozo. Council Chair Rapozo: I apologize. I actually had a question about the full activation. I know in your budget you show $15,000 in overtime. But what does it cost the County in total with all of the Departments, and do we get any type of reimbursement from FEMA for those funds? Mr. Ushio: Activations of EOC, it really depends event to event. If it is a prolonged activation, costs could really go up because you are paying for staff, overtime, night differential, meals, et cetera. If it is a very short brief activation or partial activation with just a hand of people, not too much as well. As far as reimbursement, that depends on the magnitude and if we meet the FEMA thresholds. If it is not a declared disaster and we are not going to be getting FEMA relief, unfortunately, the County would absorb those costs. Those activations where we have damage but it just does not add up, we are not going to get the FEMA public assistance. All costs are borne by the County and our State, Federal, and private partners. Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. If you do not have the number, that is fine, but on the full-blown activation, you said you had two (2) activations for tsunami warnings, do you have any idea what that cost is? Mr. Ushio: We had two (2) for tropical system warnings. I would not have those figures in front of me right now, but if need-be, we do track costs.. They created a code for the overtime associated with that and other expenses just in case we got close to the FEMA thresholds and we could document what our expenses were. But we did not approach if for Kauai at least. So if need-be, we can pull those numbers up. Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Will send that over. Thank you. The other point was as far as the emergency evacuations of traffic, you cannot have an alternate route if you do not have a road. So, I do not know what you do. I think we go through this every year, the north shore corridor, I do not know where they go. If they are stuck in traffic on the north shore and I am not sure who to go to. When I was in Congress this year,I spoke of this. But if you have a tsunami, where do the people go? They have nowhere to go from Ha`ena. There is a lot of stretches of land out there that there is no path up to the hills. I am not sure if that is something that we can get some federal help with. I just do not know what we would do except see what happens like that big tidal wave in Thailand or wherever it was and you just watch the people die. Io am not sure. Yes, we have some time, but they are stuck in traffic. They are not going to go anywhere. I can answer the police question because obviously I was there. If there is an eminent threat of human life, then obviously they will evacuate and they are not going hold up the traffic to do the investigation. But as far as the just waiting for something bad to happen and the law of averages are not on our side anymore because we have had so many warnings. Just something to think about as we go forward and maybe check with our Federal agencies if there is any way to get these people to safety. Thank you. April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency (aa) Page 8 Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Other questions from Councilmembers? Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: In your education, this is somewhat of a follow-up of the Chair's question. People know it is getting close to the time a tsunami will hit that they need to walk up to the highest place. I mean, people know that, right, or is that something that although you know, in 1986, they were in their cars sitting there in traffic. I mean, related to this,just like people have fire evacuation plans out of their houses, do people in low-lying areas have tsunami evacuation plans in case the notice is very short to figure out what is the fastest way to high ground? Mr. Ushio: In our community outreach, the materials that we produce, brochures, presentations, et cetera, we most definitely want the public to be prepared ahead of time and preparedness starts with awareness. When we came out with our updated tsunami evacuation maps we made sure we did a lot of outreach, put them in all the phone directories, put them on the websites, and did a lot of community presentations because the public needs to be aware whether or not they reside or work within a tsunami evacuation area. With that said, normally yes, we do have adequate clearance time or adequate warning. So, we craft the message in such a way when we put things out during the warning where there is urgency, but not panic. However, if we were to have a Big Island generated tsunami, the wording that we use is"urgent local tsunami, move to higher ground immediately: and the reason why is the travel time is less than an hour from the Big Island to here. The message will be different. We do our best to educate the public, but ultimately it comes down to the individual and family to make themselves prepared and ready to evacuate. Councilmember Yukimura: I have the same question with respect to fire prevention and all of the different educational efforts. How do you know that people are actually getting the message? Do you do an evaluation of what percentage of the population knows that it would be helpful for them to figure out an exit plan, like they do for their house in a fire? An exit plan for short-term warnings or whatever the information you are trying to convey. I know we usually measure and I saw in fire prevention how many contacts that we make with people. Do we know how many people are actually getting the information so that it is usable in time of need? Mr. Ushio: We never polled our population. There was a study a couple of years ago regarding hurricanes, but we have not done any studies on tsunami awareness and evacuation per se. But I do know that after every warning and every warning activation, we go through and have what we call an after action of all agencies, all responders. At least in the recent ones, in the past few years, we have not had issues where clearance times have been a problem. But yes, we do not actually reach out to the public to determine their level of awareness. Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. The Mayor is doing some surveys annually. I know Information Technology (IT) is doing surveys. You might want to put a question or two in it to get some. It is notice scientific or statistical, I think, and maybe one of these days we will get to a point we actually can do statistical surveys. I bet we are pretty good in hurricanes and we are probably pretty good in long-term tsunami warnings but we probably do not know how to handle short-term Big Island type of warnings just because we have had to do it before. I have other questions. April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency (aa) Page 9 Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any further questions? I know I get a warning on my cell phone. So, I am not sure how it happened, but I know I get warnings on my cell phone. I know that is a pretty big reach and pretty informative when you get it. Any other questions from the members? Councilmember Kuali`i. Councilmember Kuali`i: On the electricity line item, there is this breakdown for repeater sites. I am just curious as to why it varies so much from site to site? From as little as $600 to as much as $29,000? Mr. Ushio: That question I will call up your Telecommunication Officer, David Miyazaki, who is in the room. DAVID MIYASAKI, County Telecommunications Officer: Good morning. David Miyasaki, Telecommunications Officer. As far as the sites, I guess the $600 was a small site with a single radio. We have 5 major sites with multiple repeaters that handles the main communications for Police, Fire, and ambulance. They generally ran the same with the exception of Kokonono. We had the air conditioning people look at their air conditioners and try to determine what it is working so hard. So, what we are doing right now is we are having them look at it and come up with more energy-efficient unit. Councilmember Kuali`i: That is what I was going to ask because when you say generally the same, Koke`e, Kalepa, and Kilauea are all in this $16,000-$17,000 range, but Kukuiolono Gold is at $29,000 and Anahola is at $22,000. So if we can find what is working well in some versus the other as far as the volume of electricity. Mr. Miyasaki: We have a lot of problems with the salt. Councilmember Kuali`i: Salt? Mr. Miyasaki: The condensers corrode and they are not as efficient. So, they take quite a bit of maintenance. Councilmember Yukimura: Follow-up. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: I noticed in your three-year actual expenditures the electricity line item went from$2,871 in 2012 to$106,800 in this budget. Can you explain that? Mr. Ushio: Yes. In the earlier years you are citing, Telecom and the 800 Mhz radio was not in Civil Defense and it was transferred to Civil Defense. With it, came David and his budget. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Have we explored any...what do they call it? Site renewable energy whether it is photovoltaic or even hydro that might be close by or whatever? (Councilmember Hooser was noted as not present.) Mr. Miyasaki: We are usually on the top of the mountain tops. So, there is not a whole lot of water flow. April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency (aa) Page 10 Councilmember Yukimura: Right. Mr. Miyasaki: Wind, definitely not because of the bird situation, the turbulence. It is just not kind to birds. As far as solar, we do not have enough land on each site. We basically have a 24 x 10 building on each site and that is as about as much rood space I have. (Council Chair Rapozo was noted as not present.) Mr. Miyasaki: If anything,it would be very minimal. We did look into that, but I do have a couple solar sites that are stand alone. We are expanding that, but as far as the main sites, no. It is not really economical for us to do that. Councilmember Yukimura: So you have some sites that are being fed by photovoltaic? Mr. Miyasaki: Right. We have the Moloa`a site and we are trying to convert one of our mountain top sites because of the power problem. But all I have there is a single unit that draws very little power. Councilmember Yukimura: And you have been in consultation with the Energy Coordinator? Mr. Miyasaki; Yes, with Ben. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay, very good. Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any further questions from the members? Councilmember Kuali`i? Councilmember Kuali`i: Well, I noticed that there were a few line items, like "Other Services," "Special Projects," and"R&M building" that were cut by 50% or more. So, starting with "Other Services," what are we giving up? Is this line items of contractual services for siren maintenance/repair, mass notification system, 21,000? (Council Chair Rapozo was noted as present.) Councilmember Kuali`i: How does that compare to what we had last year and are we reducing services in some way? Mr. Ushio: On the mass notification end,we are not reducing. Currently, I cannot give all the information. But we are currently in a competitive procurement process. Based on our projections, with more competition in the industry, it looks like our costs will be less than it has been in the past. So, that is what that budget item was based on. As far as some of the other issues on"Special Projects,"we had reduced funding to Civil Air Patrol rather significantly and we had also added a little bit for Surfrider out in Hanalei, $2,500. So, a slight change there. David, did you want to discuss (inaudible)? (Councilmember Hooser was noted as present.) April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency (aa) Page 11 Mr. Miyasaki: As far as the R&M equipment, we had about $50,000 in there for small projects as far as the radio communication systems. We reduced quite a bit of that in an effort to reduce the budget to meet the budget constraints for this year. Councilmember Kuali`i: On the Civil Air Patrol, what have we given up? What are we not paying for and not getting now? What does that provide us? Mr. Ushio: Civil Air Patrol provides assistance with the notification of tsunami warning, severe weather, and they even have assisted with search-and-rescue in the past. They will fly across the coast across to Ni`ihau. As you saw in the paper, there was some internal reorganizing of the Civil Air Patrol. End result now is we recently met with the Regional Commander, Multi-State Commander, and they assure us of operational readiness, they have pilots and planes available here; however, they have also secured State funding and so far this year, not even partially utilizing our funding. We have a smaller amount$10,000 there. We do not want to lose the amount because in future if they rebuild and get more active, we may need that funding again. But at the current time, we are told that their funding situation is pretty good. We just have that reduced amount. We came to agreement that that would be sufficient. Councilmember Kuali`i: You mentioned it briefly. I am just curious as far as the Hanalei Watershed Hui Surfrider. What is that providing? Is it a grant? Mr. Ushio; It is an organization and our understanding is that they are intending to apply for matching grants. Hanalei/Ha`ena community has done some very proactive things in their planning. Maka'ala has worked with a private consultant to develop their own resiliency plan. Part of that includes pre-staging emergency disaster supplies in 10 locations along the North Shore assuming that they might be cutoff in a flash flood warning type of situation. These areas are going to be outside of the tsunami evacuation zone is our understanding. They have been very proactive and this is just a proposed match for the grants that they will be seeking. Councilmember Kuali`i: Along the lines of understanding that, is CERT, the Community Emergency Response Team, is that budgeted in your budget anywhere? Mr. Ushio: On CERT, we normally fund that on our end through the Homeland Security Grant Program. If you have CERT-specific questions, I do have a resource. Chelsie Sakai, our Grants Coordinator is present. Councilmember Kuali`i: Can you repeat what you just said? Mr. Ushio: It is normally grant-funded. If you have more specific questions about CERT funding, we have Chelsie Sakai in the room who can help us answer the question. Councilmember Kuali`i: I just want to know what if available to our community. I mean, we are going public now. So, I asked questions about that because it is not shown here. I think the community wants to know about it. Mr. Ushio: Chelsie can give you an overview on the CERT funding. April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency(aa) Page 12 Councilmember Kuali`i: Total funding, what is available, and if communities are interested. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Please state your name, Chelsie. Councilmember Kualii: And the likelihood of the grants continuing? CHELSIE SAKAI, Grant Coordinator: Chelsie Sakai, Grant Coordinator. Every year we come in when we receive our grant to receive and expend and get approval from you folks. Roughly every year we get $15,000 to $20,000 for Citizen Corps. In recent years, we have split part of that with Neighborhood Watch as that is part of Citizen Corps as well as CERT. The stability of the grant has been pretty good. It is gone up a little bit, very little, each year. Roughly, we are looking at about $15,000 to $20,000 a year. But I do know that Fire leads the program. They also have some in their County budget beyond what we have in grant because there are certain things that we cannot pay for within the grant that they use that for. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: Chelsie,hi. About how much do we spend in grant moneys for the CERT program? Ms. Sakai: For Cert? Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. Ms. Sakai About $15,000 each grant year. Councilmember Yukimura: $15,000? Ms. Sakai Yes. Councilmember Yukimura: The Fire Department also spends some amount and has some responsibility as well or does that go to the Fire Department? Ms. Sakai We manage it through our office, the $15,000. I am not sure what their amount is in their budget. But I know that they have some and they manage that on their own. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Councilmember Kuali`i: I have a follow-up. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i. Councilmember Kuali`i: I am not sure and hopefully they probably do, the Fire Department having a grant position as well. In one of your goals, Goal 5, talks about implement and manage other sources of grant funding as feasible. I was just Remembering that when we recently had the Hawaii Wildfire Management Non-Profit organization come through and they talked about funds being available. There is probably communities that would work towards getting those funds. So, they would work also with you auburn the Fire Department? April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency(aa) Page 13 Mr. Ushio: Communities who choose to organize can most definitely work with us, even if only for research, information, statistics and things like that. This example of our $25,000 line item is a cooperative endeavor between the County and our local community. So, we would be welcome to at least having discussions with various communities and assisting as feasible. Councilmember Kuali`i: Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: This is on another topic. Sirens, are they all working now? Mr. Ushio: Sirens, we test them monthly. This last test we have 4 that did not work. But we are in the process of getting special maintenance trip by our State technicians because the State actually owns the sirens. We have done on-island a local replacement of batteries for the Kealia sirens. So, that is operational again. However, at the Wailua sewage pump station by the Brick Oven Pizza Restaurant, that one we need to have the technicians come done and check it out. We also have older siren units at Wailua Homestead Park and one at the Waiakea Canal or the Lihi Boat Ramp next to Hongwanji. That one, the siren head was actually severely rusted, and in our last high-wind event, it fell. Councilmember Yukimura: It fell? Mr. Ushio: Yes. It is an old rusted unit that fell down. We removed it. The State has gone out to seek emergency procurement to get it replaced. Quotes came back very high, but now that one of the contractors is scheduled to be on-island to start Phase II of our modernization project on the 18th, the State strategy will be they will try to seek quotes again at that time and see if they can come in under that small purchase threshold. Otherwise, I can tell you that those 2 sirens, Homesteads Park and Waipouli/Waiakea Canal are slated to be on our Phase II of our modernization project which will be completed this calendar year. So, if not an emergency repair, we should have a completely new unit from ground-up before the end of the year and because those are not functioning now, I am willing to put those 2 as our top priority within the listing of the ones that are supposed to be put up this year. Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you for a very detailed answer. I mean, is it unrealistic to think that we will ever have all sirens working at the same time? Mr. Ushio: We had 1 perfect test. Councilmember Yukimura: Oh, good. Mr. Ushio: I do not know what month, but it was after the completion of our Sat/Cell conversion, which was activation by satellite or cellular signal. Prior to that, it was by readio system off of the 800 Mhz and when we first converted, we had one test where every single unit worked. Councilmember Yukimura: Wow. April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency (aa) Page 14 Mr. Ushio: As we get more and more along in the modernization project with all new components, I am confident that our failure rate will be extremely small. Councilmember Yukimura: Then it would just be a matter of ongoing maintenance? Mr. Ushio: Yes. Councilmember Yukimura: Right now you are doing a lot of replacement that is what your modernization project is about? Mr. Ushio: Yes. The modernization project, what it is, we are replacing older siren units and we are also establishing new ones in areas that were previously underserved like Aliomanu Estates, Shipwreck Beach Park, et cetera. Councilmember Yukimura: I see. So, you are adding to the inventory of sirens on the island? Mr. Ushio: Yes. Councilmember Yukimura: And you have an ongoing maintenance program. I mean to think that there was a siren that fell, is that not a huge risk factor? Mr. Ushio: Yes, and it is something that we acknowledge and want to do something about. Councilmember Yukimura: I mean, the question is could that have been anticipated and prevented? Mr. Ushio: Sometimes if a technician will note that the siren looks rusted, we will do our best to get State to respond ahead of time, yes. But this was a high-wind event. Councilmember Yukimura: High-winds, I see. Okay. I want to ask you about the Phase III of the 800 Mhz, but that is changing the subject. So, if there is follow-up. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Follow-up from Councilmember Kuali`i. Councilmember Kuali`i: No, new question. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Oh. We will let Councilmember Yukimura go and then we will go back to you. Councilmember Yukimura: So you say on page 3 of your detailed presentation that we have completed Phase II and that we have a funding challenge with Phase III, which needs $1,000,000. You have proposed an interim solution, but it is not really a long-term solution. So, it appears the best condition would be to get that $1,000,000 to just power through and finish Phase III, is that correct? Okay, and you indicate that is a request before the legislature right now. Is that part of the regular share that our delegation would get from State? I mean, is this for General Fund moneys in the State or is there a pot that is specialized for Civil Defense? April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency (aa) Page 15 Mr. Ushio: I do not know the full answer to that question, but I do not a pot specifically for Civil Defense or emergency management. Councilmember Yukimura: So, it is probably in the whole... Mr. Ushio: It was part of the CIP package and a certain bill. I forget the House Bill (HB) number, but the proposal went in as that. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Mr. Ushio: In that, we requested for $2,100,000 from the legislature. Councilmember Yukimura: Your request is for $2,100,000? Mr. Ushio: Yes. Councilmember Yukimura: Because we have $1,000,000 somewhere else? Mr. Ushio: David can answer. Mr. Miyasaki: No. David Miyasaki,Telecommunications Officer. What it is, is Phase III is $2,100,000. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Mr. Miyasaki: The total cost is $2,100,000. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Mr. Miyasaki: We requested a $1,000,000 as critical work that needed to be done within Phase III to ensure the integrity of the system. So that is where it came from. It is part of$2,100,000,but within the $2,100,000, we had a million dollars'worth of work that needs to get done right away. Councilmember Yukimura: That needs to get down right away? Mr. Miyasaki: Right. Councilmember Yukimura: If for some reason we have additional funds coming from whatever source and we do not get the State moneys, hopefully the Mayor will include it in his supplemental budget. Mr. Ushio: That is a possibility and something we are already in discussion about. Councilmember Yukimura: Because this is critical, right? It is health and safety. Yes. This is a high-priority in the total budget of the County because it has to do with our communications system. Alright, and our emergency communications system. I wanted to know what the whole thing about interoperability and our ability to communicate between and among different agencies and at different Louisville's levels and so forth. That will be the result of finishing our 800 Mhz project and completing Phase III. Is that correct? April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency (aa) Page 16 Mr. Miyasaki: Correct. The final goal of the entire project would be to get to what we call P25 in operability. Councilmember Yukimura: Right. Mr. Miyasaki: P25 is the community standard among Federal, State, and local government agencies. Councilmember Yukimura: Which you have being working towards for the last 4 or 5 years. Mr. Miyasaki: Correct. Councilmember Yukimura: Right. So, this is a really important completion of this Federal requirement. Mr. Miyasaki: Right. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. If you get $1,000,000, that will be enough to get us through the critical piece? I mean, we can get $2,100,000 in phases of$1,000,000 and then $1,100,000, is that what our strategy is? Mr. Miyasaki: Correct. Councilmember Yukimura: And that can come perhaps in a subsequent year? Mr. Miyasaki: Yes. That will finalize our Phase III completion. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. But we really need this $1,000,000 for this year's work? Mr. Miyasaki: Right. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i. Councilmember Kuali`i: Thank you. In the report you provided us in advance, both Roman numeral IV, Fiscal Year 2015, Challenges. It says you purchased a large tent shelter for the supplemental tsunami refuge holding area for west Kaua`i, but suitable locations still being pursued. Your targeted completion was by June 30, 2015. I am curious as to what your space needs are in and how far mauka you have to go? Mr. Ushio: As far as space needs, we do not have a specific square footage that we are targeting, but I could give you the details on the tent. We just wanted something a little better than people staying in a pavilion or staying in their vehicles. So we got this tent shelter that can be assemble by a team of people. As far as how far mauka? To us, as long as you are you free and clear of the tsunami evacuation area and will not impede traffic in/out of the area, that is fine. One of the primary locations that we were looking at, Mark has been spearheading this, had been up at Kokee State Park. Councilmember Kuali`i: Kokee State Park, okay. April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency (aa) Page 17 Mr. Ushio: But there are other areas that we could consider along the way up out of the evacuation area zone. Councilmember Kuali`i: If it was at the park, that would be ideal because there are bathrooms there already. But it is a pretty far away for everyone to drive. But in an emergency, I think maybe half of the people will just go up the immediate hill and sit in their cars like they do now. I just wanted to bring to your attention, I know that the West Kauai Homesteaders Association is looking at utilizing some of Hawaiian Homelands to establish some kind of dual purpose area, whether it be like a non-profit campground, that could dual as an evacuation area. As far as working with the community, I think you should talk with them. Mr. Ushio: Yes. We actually have been in dialogue with them on that issue for a while. It is just a matter of them securing the location, the funding, et cetera. Councilmember Kuali`i: Okay. Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, coming back to the 800 Mhz, there are no FEMA or Homeland Security grants for this? Mr. Ushio: Actually, we have committed significant amounts of Homeland Security funding towards it. Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, we have. Mr. Ushio: Chelsie can give you more information as can David. Why do not you 2 of you come up? Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, both of you. Mr. Ushio: Just in case. Councilmember Yukimura: Both of you. Ms. Sakai: For the Homeland Security Grant we have, I would say in the past 6 grant years, put a considerable amount of money towards Phase I and Phase II. Right now, we have an estimated $300,000 still unspent targeted for the project. But prior to that, I would say we have put in well over $1,000,000 towards this project of Homeland Security Grants money. Councilmember Yukimura: A large amount of Phase I and Phase II was done by grant money? Ms. Sakai: Yes. Councilmember Yukimura: So, $300,000 left means that we actually need $700,000 for the $1,000,000 or not? April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency (aa) Page 18 Mr. Miyasaki: Unfortunately, no. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Mr. Miyasaki: The portion of the system that we are still finishing up. Councilmember Yukimura: It is part of Phase III. Mr. Miyasaki: Yes. Councilmember Yukimura: That is going to be completed? Mr. Miyasaki: Right, because what we did is we took some projects and we moved them aside to get the system stable. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Very good. Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any further questions from the members? Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: Our Committee Chair mentioned the ease and convenience of having notification on cell phones. Is it now the vision for our emergency notification system to have both the cell phone component and the sirens or do you have, in your plan, are those the two (2) main components or are there others? Well, you have radio and telephone. Mr. Ushio: There are actually many different means of informing the public. The emergency mass notification system will do land line phones that are on the 411 directory and that is updated regularly. Current case, it is monthly updates. In addition, people can sign up with their cell numbers, their text message devices, and E-mail accounts and they will get notification when we want to send those out. There is another Federal initiative called the "commercial mobile alerts" or the "wireless mobile alerts" and compliant providers will send a message and it is not generated by us. But if a warning is issued, your phone would give a very loud obnoxious tone and it will alert you to your tsunami warnings, flash flood warning, hurricane warning, et cetera in your area within the range of the cell towers in that particular area. Councilmember Yukimura: That is a Federal notification program? Mr. Ushio: Yes. So, that is why people will say, "Oh, take me off your system," and they are not on our system. They are getting it through their wireless carrier. Councilmember Yukimura: I see. Mr. Ushio: We have ours, there is a Federal one, we also do Emergency Alert System (EAS) which will cut into the radio and television broadcasts, we have the siren outdoor warning system, and our Public Information Office will send out press release and do updates to the County web page and County Facebook to get it out by social media. So, there are multiple means by which we get information out. April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency (aa) Page 19 Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Alright. Very good. How do people sign up for the phone notification County system? Mr. Ushio: The County system? If you go to the... Councilmember Yukimura: Cell phone notification? Mr. Ushio: If you go to the County web page, kauai.gov, on the main page you will see a little icon that says"Sign up now." That is our current provider, Blackboard Connect. Click on that and it is an easy user-friendly online registration process. If they have difficultly or they do not have web access, they can call our office and staff will work them through it or assist them. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Thank you. I hope people watching use that as information. Our Chair does not know how he got it. Council Chair Rapozo: I removed it. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: But I appreciate having it. Council Chair Rapozo: Well, I took it off because it was calling for everything. At 2:00 a.m., it would tell me that. So, actually I unsubscribed. Councilmember Yukimura: Interesting. Council Chair Rapozo: I do not recommend that. I recommend everybody have it, but for me, my dog barks when she smells the wave coming. Councilmember Yukimura: You better clone that dog. Okay. Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i. Councilmember Kuali`i: Earlier I asked about the variation of the electricity on the 800 Mhz radio sites. I have the same question with regards to the other rentals or leases. I guess maybe more data would help me understand this better. If you were to follow-up at some later time and provide the size of each of these 5 sites, then the rates of what we pay per square foot or whatever, and who the arrangement is with? A private landowner or the State or what have you. Also, I think, even though it is not a lot of money, maybe the highest one is $45,000 and the other is $30,000. It is an annual amount and I would imagine that these are towers or facilities, whatever they are, there is going to be in place indefinitely, repaired and continuing to serve the public. I cannot imagine what is more obviously a public purpose, serving the public. Maybe these private landowners could have the generosity to either lease this at dollar a year or something along those lines or donate it to the County especially if it is very small pieces of land? You said something about 24 feet by 10 feet, is that what we are talking about? How much land are we talking about? Mr. Miyasaki; The land is slightly larger because it includes the tower. So, it is not that much bigger than that. Yes, we are revisiting the leases, looking at them, and coming up with a plan as far as getting a preferred rate for public safety. April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency (aa) Page 20 Councilmember Kuali`i: If you could just provide details on what I just asked, the size, the rate, and how long we are in the agreement for already and how long more? Mr. Miyasaki: Okay. Councilmember Kuali`i: Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any further questions from the members? I have a question. You provided a grant worksheet. Elton, you are the only position that is funded by a grant or is there another position in your office? Mr. Ushio: Currently, I am the only position that is funded by a grant. However, we have a position that is not filled at the current time, which is a Grant Support Position. Prior to getting selected for her current position, she was in the grant support position. We are going to be attempting to hire a Grant Support Position, but right now, currently on staff, I am the only grant-funded. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: And the Grant money is available for that position? Mr. Ushio: Yes. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: I was just looking at the numbers because in the past like in 2013-2014 it was around $40,000 and 2013 it looks like it bumped up. So, I thought it was accommodating for your pay. Also, in past the training amount was a lot higher. Are they incorporating the training with the salary or are they just providing a certain amount of grant moneys? Mr. Ushio: On the County budget side,we reduce our training slightly. But the vast majority of our training and exercises are funded with Homeland Security moneys either locally or through our State, the Grant Office at the Department of Defense. There are also Federal contractors who are already on contract with FEMA to provide training.courses. So, we try to leverage those as much as possible to bring them in, minimizing costs to us, to more like people that have to come in on overtime, et cetera. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: And those do not show up on the spreadsheet until after you actually get the grant? Mr. Ushio: Some of them, because it is not a direct award to us, they are already contracted separately. The trainers just show up, they give their course, and it is not recorded as our expense because it is under the State or directly between them and FEMA. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Then I also noticed the equipment and public safety, we used to get a lot of money in that account. Is that particular asks, like if we were to get the money from State that would come in on that line item? It is the very last line. Equipment and public safety on the grant itemized. Mr. Ushio: We are looking at our grant spreadsheet here. FY13-FY14. Public safety equipment will vary by year depending on how we choose to April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency(aa) Page 21 allocate the grant funds. Those amounts, Chelsie could give you a breakdown of what they were used in 2013-2014 grants. Chelsie, why do you not come up and... Committee Chair Kaneshiro: I do not need the breakdown, just an estimate if we are going to be receiving this type of money in Fiscal Year 2015 or this money is all dried up and we are not going to be expecting this type of money. Mr. Ushio: We are anticipating receiving the funds again and Chelsie can give you an overview Ms. Sakai: For the homeland security grant for Fiscal Year 2015, overall, the State received a $2,000,000 increase statewide. But that does not necessarily mean it will funnel down to us, that size of an increase. The grant guidance was just released a couple weeks ago. So, we are still in the process of figuring out what it is we that we are going in for. Our increase is from Fiscal Year 2014 to Fiscal Year 2015, we are probably going to see about a thirty percent (30%) bump from what we had last year, which is substantial for us. Again, a lot of it we are directing towards the radio system because in our initial plan, we were looking to try to fund $500,000 forwards towards some of David's projects. But that has yet to be finalized. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Okay. Thank you. Any other questions from the members? I think you folks are good. So, thank you. Oh, Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: When will you know about grant amount? Ms. Sakai: For Fiscal Year 2015? Councilmember Yukimura: Oh, let us see... Ms. Sakai: 2015 is the one that we have not received yet, that I am working on right now. Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, for that year then. Ms. Sakai: We will receive that award probably around October is when we will receive that amount. Councilmember Yukimura: Oh, the Federal year. 2015 Federal year. Ms. Sakai: Yes. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Just one question about shelters. Do we have sufficient shelter space or is that one of our goals? Mr. Ushio: Shelter space, I do not think any jurisdiction has enough square footage and facilities to house every single person on the island. We do try to expand as feasible. We work in collaboration with the State of Hawaii because State Civil Defense or Hawaii Emergency Management will come out and test the sites for suitability and we often do joint assessments with us and then Red Cross. A majority of our sites are currently at Department of Education (DOE) Facilities. We do our very best, as new opportunities become available, to see if we can increase our capacity. April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency (aa) Page 22 Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. Mr. Ushio: And additional shelters. Councilmember Yukimura: For small incident, it is not a problem, but for large natural disaster such as Hurricane `Iniki, then it becomes more of an issue, I presume. Mr. Ushio: Yes, the more serious the disaster, especially if it is a large hurricane, more people would chose to seek shelter at a Civil Defense facility rather than shelter in place at home. So, yes, it would be more of an issue. Councilmember Yukimura: Do you goals for an all-island serious hurricane that you would have shelter space to accommodate 10% or 50% of the population? Mr. Ushio: We do not have established concrete goals as far as what percentage or what kind of numbers. We just try to make it as high as possible. Councilmember Yukimura: Is that standard Civil Defense practice to just kind of have a vague highest possible number? Mr. Ushio: I would not say it is a standard practice. I think it is reality of what is available in terms of hardened facilities that can withstand tropical cyclones. They will use facilities rated for what they can withstand Categories 1, 2, or higher. You really do have a limited number of facilities that are available that meet that criteria on-island. Councilmember Yukimura: Do you do an inventory of all of the hardened facilities on the island and try to make agreements with the ones that might be appropriate? Mr. Ushio: That is part of the process where we work with the State and they come out and do the assessments with us. But we do not have an inventory of all facilities on the island. For example, I do not have plans for every hotel. I mean, something that we could look at in the future. There are not many other private facilities of significant size other than perhaps there have been some churches, the Veteran's Center that has gone through assessment, and things like that. So, that would be an area that we could work on. Councilmember Yukimura: I mean, it seems that it is more likely than, well, knock on wood, a terrorist attack or something like that and that it would be logical to have it as a goal that we would work toward over time because when it does hit, I guess I remember calling Princeville Hotel the night before`Iniki and saying, "Will you be a shelter on the north shore?" They were so gracious, but they were not set up to be a shelter. Then later, had that incident with the water system breaking. But you sort of want to prevent having to do it that way. Mr. Ushio: Yes. In the example of hotels such as Princeville or any other majority major hotel,we hope that feasible and safe, they can shelter their guests in place. Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency (aa) Page 23 Mr. Ushio: At the same time, prior dialogue with opening up these facilities as a public shelter open to the general public, I think there has not been much success there. In the spur of the moment, in the case of Hurricane 'Iniki, the fact that they were willing was commendable. Councilmember Yukimura: It was life-saving. Mr. Ushio: With the liability and other considerations, I think it is a more difficult hurdle. They are primarily going to be concerned about their guests at the time. Councilmember Yukimura: Hopefully we are working with the visitor industry, so we are aware of how many of their guests they can take care of in time of a hurricane and I guess of tsunamis, too. But have that kind of calculation and maybe even in place some policy incentives whether it is real property tax or additionally insured or some kind of coverage so we can do quick agreements so that we can shelter as many people as possible because it is a real issue when it happens. Mr. Ushio: Yes. We are working closely with Kaua`i Visitor's Bureau, Sue Kanoho. Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. Mr. Ushio: Also with our Office of Economic Development in an initiative regarding visitor evacuation and sheltering. It is actually a Statewide committee that we participate in meetings regularly with Sue and us and going in by video teleconferencing or by phone bridge. I can tell you with a high degree of confidence that on Kaua`i, we have experienced more than the other Counties. So, at least the relationships and the frameworks are in place to a larger extent than it would be in our other Counties in the State. It is an area that we recognize is a need and we are continuing to work on that. Councilmember Yukimura: With that kind of relationship, we should be able to establish accommodation levels in each hotel for their guests and make sure they are taken care of and then see if there are other opportunities. I mean, even the building here may be a shelter. I know the Convention Hall is being looked at. So, those kinds of things. That will be great to have that kind of planning. Lastly, I just want to ask that you consider making percentage of people aware, one of the indicators as you measure your education and outreach efforts to see how they are actually getting to the outcome of people who are aware and knowledgeable about the Civil Defense issues. Mr. Ushio: Okay. We will look into that. I am not sure of the mechanism. Councilmember Yukimura: Yes, I know. Mr. Ushio: I am assuming it would be some type of survey. So, we will look at cost or integrating it into another survey when we are doing a Countywide one. Councilmember Yukimura: Right. Thank you very much. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i. April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency (aa) Page 24 Councilmember Kuali`i: Just some quick questions about the grant spreadsheet. On the State grants, what is "ERRF?" State Revolving Grant. It has the acronym ERRF. Mr. Ushio: That is the Local Emergency Planning Committee of LEPC grant that primarily supports hazardous materials planning and response. Councilmember Kuali`i: Okay. Then the HSGP, it that Homeland Security Grant Program? Mr. Ushio: Yes. Councilmember Kuali`i: And what is EMPG? Mr. Ushio: That is Emergency Management Performance Grant. Councilmember Kuali`i: That is all Federal? Mr. Ushio: Yes. Councilmember Kuali`i: Where would be any State CIP grants? Would they be listed here anywhere? Mr. Ushio: We do not have a listing on these because we are not the recipients of State CIP funds in Civil Defense at the moment. Councilmember Kuali`i: For this year not, but in past there has been and there may be in the future? No? Mr. Ushio: I am not aware of having that in your budget in the past. I would need to go back and check. Councilmember Kuali`i: Okay. Then the only other thing along those lines is R&M equipment clearly, as Councilmember Yukimura was asking about the radio system and the need for still $1,000,000. In this year's budget from the General Fund, you have a line item of$323,000, and it says "Year 3 of C9004." What does that mean, Year 3 of C9904? Mr. Miyasaki: This is a multi-term contract we have with the vendor to maintain the system. So, we are in year 3 of the multi-term 10 year contract. Councilmember Kuali`i: It is maintenance? Mr. Miyasaki: Right. Councilmember Kuali`i: This is maintenance. The only other thing I saw, along the lines of the funding, are we and will we utilize our own County CIP funds for these expenses? We are not really constructing anything. They are already in place? Are we constructing, reconstructing these 5 sites? Mr. Ushio: We are in discussion about possibilities of utilizing CIP funding. April 13, 2015 Civil Defense Agency (aa) Page 25 Councilmember Kuali`i: In the future. Okay. Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any further questions from the members? Okay, now you folks are done. Mr. Ushio: Thank you very much everyone. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you again for coming out. Next up we have the Office of the County Attorney. Council Chair Rapozo: Mr. Chair? Why do not we do a caption break now, it will take to us 10:30 a.m., and then we have the whole 2 hours until lunch? Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Okay. Yes, let us do that then. We will do a 10 minute caption break. There being no objections, the Committee recessed at 10:20 a.m.