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DATE: July 6, 2011 Re: Comm. No. 235/Bill No. 62 <br />PLACE: Council Chambers <br />Hawaii County Building <br />25 Aupuni St., <br />Hilo, Hawaii <br />TIME: 1:44 p.m. <br />Council Chair and Members <br />Hawaii County Council <br />Hilo, Hawaii 96720 <br />Your Committee on Planning, to which was referred Bill No. 62, reports as follows: <br />Bill No. 62, transmitted by Mayor William P. Kenoi, via Communication No. 235 dated <br />June 2, 2011, is an Ordinance amending Chapter 25, Article 2, Division 4, Section 25 -2 -46 of the <br />Hawaii County Code 1983 (2005 Edition, as amended), relating to addition of Civil Defense sirens <br />to concurrency requirements. <br />Hawaii County Civil Defense Administrator Quince Mento stated that this legislation is <br />groundbreaking and that the County of Hawaii might be the first in the state to make sirens a <br />concurrency requirement. He expressed thanks to the Planning Department and the County Council <br />for their part -in this legislation. <br />Councilmember Smart stated that a testifier questioned why legislation was necessary and asked if <br />Mr. Mento would ex plain the need and give an update of recent situations where sirens were not <br />heard that would support the need for this legislation. <br />Mr. Mento explained that sirens represent one method of notification and are a very important piece <br />of the overall plan. He stated that sirens are mainly used for tsunami warnings, with an emphasis on <br />coastal and other high risk areas. He also explained that if one siren goes off they all do. but they are <br />looking into future upgrades that would allow regional alerts. He also noted that mass notification <br />messages are another important method to warn the public and help to notify areas where sirens <br />cannot be heard. <br />Councilmember Ford stated this is a public safety issue and asked the status of the state's plans for <br />new siren. installations. <br />Mr. Mento did not know the exact status but stated that it is still active. <br />Councilmember Yagong noted that this bill would amend the concurrency section and asked if it <br />would be redundant if existing sirens were in place. <br />PC Rept. No. 23 <br />