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OCT-16-01 04:30 PM HIHS 8083294618 P. 02 m HAWAif ISLAND + ~ ~_~i - ~ ()et®ber I0, 8001 , 7°0: Constance 1~Ir1u91Legislative Aasdltor ~ ~ . r..,;a Frown: gays®>ra l~asblda, l~a~astfve Detector S NACA lMJvislssatlon We appreciate the opportunity to respond to the NACA report as well as the extension granted to us by Your office. if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to give me a call. ;The NACA evaluators have produced a thorough report that includes a great deal of useful infoertsation for both the I~avvaii Island Humane Society (HIHS) and the County. HIHS sasl?ports the ,vast majority of the report's recommendations, which form a blueprint for estate-of the alt animal control pr®g As v~ill obvious to even the casual reader of this mport, hodvever, fialfiling most ®f these reconarriendations will require a dramatic incr in staffing and fending, Ac the report notes in l~xecutive Suas~snary, `"I'he employees of HIHS are striving to provide an acceptable lzv+dl of service to the citizens they serve, insufficient staffing levels and funding-rotated pa•oblems have affected pr®ductivity and psrfos~a,nance." NACA recommends itscreasing the ntamber of HIHS officers and kennel workers from 16, our ,current total, to 25, plus adding a despatcher for each shit. As the cvalisators conclude in tp~ear discussion of animal control Feld operations, "~fowever, an increase iri service cannot Ise if~troduced at current masspoe+ver levels." (pg. Ss4} Fulfilling the many of recomme~latioris covered ir;< the shelter operations and facilities chapters of the report will require major ispgrades of both the Kona and Waimea shelters. ARer ~sumeiating the numerous defsciencies of the Kona shelter in Claap~r t&ae report concludes, "VVhik iiIH4 should be commended ors its fundraising et'orts directed to provide facility improveia~ents, the Study Tcarii dots not believe that any major u e of the ICailu~ Kona shelter should be the sole respoissibility of HIHS. The facility is county owned. It is ridicasloiss for taxpayers and government officials alike to assume that flee cost of Basch inrprovernents should be borne entirely by the contractor... " (pg. 9- .10). ,Many of the recommendations pint forth by NACA in this report have already been recognized by HIHS and igrtprovernerits ate in process. For instance, HII33 supports NACA's suggestion that the Standard ®perati:rs$ Procedure bo updated (1-1) and we have actively been working on this project. 74.5225 Queen Kaahumanu Hwy • Kailua-Kona, hiI 96740 • Telephone (808) 329.1175 • Fax (K(18) 329.4618 %>~y ~ 1 Keaau (808) 966-5458 • Kalnuela (808) 885.4558 Collzm. No. r File No. Ref, fior ~ ~ Inf. T~r~t~ _ ~ ~ _