2006-07-20 Cost of Government Commission Minutes

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accordingly. Some years have many emergencies, and some years very few. This year, for example, they did not anticipate having 21 straight days of rain. Mr. Sakaguchi asked what would happen if there was a big emergency like a hurricane, since they have limited resources. Mr. Nakasone said they have a plan. Mr. Sakaguchi asked where the money was. Mr. Nakasone said his Division has about $500,000 set aside for emergencies. They learned to do this as a result of the flooding in Ka`u in 2000. At that time they did not have a contingency fund but were fortunate that it happened in September, as their new budget started in July. When there is a big emergency, you also need to go to the federal government for disaster reimbursement. They established the fund to help pay expenses in case of an emergency. Mr. Sakaguchi asked how Mr. Nakasone's employees felt about the four -day work week. Mr. Nakasone said they took a poll and it was liked. However, they have some new employees now and would need to poll them again. Mr. Joseph asked what the current work hours of employees are, and Mr. Nakasone said from 6:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Mr. Joseph asked whether there were any provisions to do resurfacing at night, and Mr. Nakasone said they did Palani Road in Kona at night. If they were to have a new crew, the work hours and schedules would need to be changed, and the union consulted. They would need to be very careful, because if it rained, the workers would not be able to do regular maintenance. Safety is also a concern at night. If they were to go to night resurfacing, they would need to be sure of the weather. They would not be able to come back during the day time, as maintenance would be scheduled during the day. A lot of factors and variables would need to be considered in the planning. However, he felt it was possible. Mr. Joseph said he was thinking about traffic and congestion and doing the resurfacing during the off -peak hours. He said if they went to the ten -hour workday, they would hit the peak driving schedules, whereas with the current eight -hour day, they finish work before the rush hour. Mr. Nakasone said there is both good and bad on the issue. It tends to be after 3:00 p.m. when they are called out for an accident and need to clean up the oil, glass, or debris on the road. When the ten -hour day was presented to the union, the plan was to do it on a six -month trial basis. One can only guess at how it will actually work, but you will not know the impact unless you try it. Mr. Joseph asked who was responsible for the maintenance of the federal highways on the island. Mr. Nakasone said the federal people come and evaluate the roads and determine what roads could belong to their "T" program, which makes them eligible for federal assistance. Of the 1,000 miles of road the County maintains, about 170 miles qualify for the "T" program. Mr. Joseph asked whether the federal government pays for the maintenance of the roads in the "T" program, and Mr. Nakasone said no. The federal government will identify the roads they believe could be under their program. It is then up to the states and the counties to lobby if they want money from the federal government. They need to sell themselves and show they need the money. Every state lobbies for this money. 5