2015-COH - Comprehensive Annual Financial Report

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Public Works - The Department of Public Works faced the challenge of dealing with the threat to the County and its citizens from lava flow and numerous hurricane/tropical storm threats. The Department implemented the first emergency protective measures response for the year when Tropical Storm Iselle hit the island on August 7, 2014 and required its involvement with all aspects related to infrastructure repair, recovery, and clean-up. The Department was then tasked with constructing alternate emergency roads for the communities that would have been isolated should the June 27, 2014 Lava Flow on the Northeast Flank of the Pu'u 0'o have crossed the State Highway 130. Other projects that were initiated included the opening of La'aloa Avenue Extension, the beginning of construction for the southern section of Ali'i Drive, Manono Street, Kapi'olani Street Extension, Hamdkua Road Resurfacing, Ka'iminani Drive Roadway Improvements, Kamehameha Avenue Reconstruction, Ponohawai Street Resurfacing, green stripes for bike lanes (by the UH -Hilo and Kuakini), and the continuation of LED Streetlight conversion installations. Public Works awarded ten construction contracts for its projects and 24 construction contracts for other county departments, with a total dollar value of $76.7 million. For the Future Public Safety —The Accreditation Section assisted in raising the bar on professionalism within the Police Department and at the end of the 2015 fiscal year, the Department submitted its documents to the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA ®) and hopes to receive reaccreditation in fiscal year 2016. In August 2015, the department will once again be under review by independent assessors to retain accreditation, which the department earned in November 2012. The Fire Department looks forward to the opening of the new Haihai Fire Station in Hilo in 2017. The Department's Emergency Medical Services Bureau will be expanding into the concept of community based paramedicine, which will put paramedics into the community to provide health and safety education and assistance, thereby reducing the burden on the 911 emergency ambulance service. Other Financial Information Internal Control The management of the County is responsible for establishing and maintaining an internal control structure designed to ensure that the assets of the County are protected from loss, theft or misuse and to ensure that adequate accounting data are compiled to allow for preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. The internal control structure is designed to provide reasonable, but not absolute, assurance that these objectives are met. The concept of reasonable assurance recognizes that (1) the cost of a control should not exceed the benefits likely to be derived; and (2) the valuation of costs and benefits requires estimates and judgments by management. -4