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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN CRCOC 2023/04/04 (2022-2024) Committee on Communications, Reports, and Council.Oversight 6t'' Session Hawai`i County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawai`i April 4, 2023 - CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Communications, Reports, and ORDER: Council Oversight was called to order at 1:01 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Acting Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Chair Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Vice Chair Ms. Cindy Evans, Member Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Absent and Excused: Mr. Matt Kaneali i-Kleinfelder, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Item. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: (There were none.) COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 161: REQUESTS AN UPDATE BY THE CIVIL DEFENSE AGENCY REGARDING THE COUNTY'S COMPREHENSIVE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PLAN From Council Member Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, dated March 16, 2023. Motion to Close File: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to close file on Comm. 161. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. VILLEGAS: With that I'll go ahead and turn the floor over to you. CRCOC-6 April 4,2023 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair, appreciate it. Last Council term, this body worked really, really, hard to update Chapter 7 of our County Code, the Civil Defense Agency section. So our office, in partnership with Civil Defense, Corporation Counsel, numerous community partners, did a realignment and a refinement based on changes to statute, Hawai`i Revised Statute 127(a). And one of the things that we highlighted was opportunities for county government to work in better partnership with communityduring times of disaster and where we can ensure that in times of crisis, making sure that communication gets out to affected parties,because when we are informed, we—our households can make best decisions to keep our properties and our families safe. And so under Section 714, Emergency Management Plans, we've identified a number of plans that we felt were necessary for Civil Defense to be developing and updating on a regular basis. And I remember having conversations and Council Chair David at the time,just asking Civil Defense these are a lot of plans and the deadline is pretty soon, you sure? Yes, you made assurances that you could get it done. And so that's the intent of today's conversation is to get an update from Civil Defense leadership on our County's Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan or CEMP. When we think of comprehensive this is everything from mitigation,preparedness, response, recovery, and resilience. So with that, want to turn it over to Administrator Talmadge Magno and-Barry Periatt from Civil Defense, and call attention to your pinkie folder where they have provided us with slides for a very brief presentation. Gentlemen,handing it over to you. (Note: At this time Administrator Talmadge Magno and Administrative Officer Barry Periatt came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. MAGNO: Good afternoon, County Council. Talmadge Magno, Hawaii County Civil Defense Administrator. I'm just going to kind of give a brief introduction, and Barry got the lion's share of the presentation. So that Chapter 7 update rewrite, you know that kind of came us into cohesion with the State Law. This now kind of brings us more in line with the Federal National incident management system requirements. And so everything we talk about,preparation, response, and recovery, we're trying to align with what the Federal Government has laid out. Every community, especially the ones that are expecting to receive federal monies, has to comply with this. So that's part of the motivation,but also the whole plan that the Federal Government has put together to better our nation and our communities down to the community level. This makes us a stronger nation. And so this next plan, cut the CEMP is part of that work towards the National Incident Management System. So with that I'll turn it over to Barry, he'll go through the details. Page 2 CRCOC-6 April 4,2023 MR. PERIATT: Good afternoon. I'm Barry Periatt, Administrative Officer with the Hawai`i County Civil Defense Agency. Bring the slides up here. (Note: At this time, Mr. Talmadge Magno and Mr. Periatt provided a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of the presentation, see the DVD copy of the proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office, or online by navigating to the Council's video archives from the County's homepage at www.hawaiicounty.gov.. A copy of the presentation is made a part of the record, see Comm. 161.1.) MR. PERIATT: That's all we have left, we're free to answer your questions. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Talmadge did you want to add anything? Don't be shy. MR. MAGNO: Barry pretty much laid it out, like I previously said, that our sequence, you know, aligning with the State law and now definitely locking down all the requirements we have from the Federal side. It lays it out pretty much streamline, it's going to take a lot work and a few more bodies. But we got a map basically to follow, and I think it'll take a few years to get to this point. But if we follow this we'll get there. And some of the plans have been developed already. If we don't get any more activations and continue to finish what we're doing, you know, I think it will be good. Activations help us out anyway with experience. But you know, I think we got a good plan here that would help the County out. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you so much for your hard work on this. Really appreciate the high-level sketch. I'm assuming there's much more robust detailed document that you guys have, that you refer to. MR. PERIATT: Yes, there is. And I thought I sent you a copy. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Maybe you did, I'll double check. Is that something that we are able to share with members of the public on Laserfiche? I just want to understand the sensitivity of the document, so we're not putting ourselves at risk. MR. PERIATT: Yeah; the comprehensive emergency management plan is not sensitive. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Y MR. PERIATT: And yes, it can be shared. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Page 3 CRCOC-6 April 4,2023 MR. PERIATT: When we start to get into the continuity of operations,plans, those are pretty sensitive. Because now that's oh, how do I disrupt the County? Ah, got it. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yeah, thank you. Appreciate the clarification. MR. PERIATT: The CEMP (Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan) we'll send you if we haven't already. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Please send it to all members of the council. I think that's most appropriate, so we're equipped with that information. I appreciate all the hard work that's gone into this. We've, as you say,have had to activate our communities for multiple disasters. So we have a lot learning experience that can form and help shape these plans. I like the fact that it's an ongoing process that is very clear around what government's responsibility is with businesses and non- profits responsibilities is. But also, how we can empower individual households and community to be part of the preparation and response process. I think if we are working in silos, we saw how that is to the detriment of our community. So I just appreciate how we're working in closer partnership. I just had a couple of questions about how all of this is going to roll out. You had mentioned something about exercises within the POETE (Plan, Organize, Equip, Train, and Exercise) framework. Where are we with that? Are these exercises that are going to be happening on a regular basis? Can Council Members participate in these exercise scenarios? MR. PERIATT: Well, the exercise is—in fact, we have a meeting on one tomorrow, the annual hurricane exercise, Makani H. That's actually run by the State,but we haven't put in what we want to do, how we want to respond to it, what things we want to work on. And so on May 4th and 5th the OC (Operations Center)will actually be partially activated for that exercise, in participation with Makani Pahili. And then in the following week we have different workshops that take place port restoration, debris management, and then there's a senior leader workshop as well. So that exercise is in there. Most of the exercises become part of the Integrated Preparedness Plan(IPP). Right now, at our level, at our stage FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) in their Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program, HSEEP, uses a building block approach,meaning you crawl, walk, run. Right now, we're still crawling. So big level exercises like what's happening with Makani Pahili, are right now beyond our capability. Because we don't have the proficiency or • the plans in place to be able to exercise those. So what we will be doing is workshops, seminars, to develop these plans. And in fact, that's how we're developing the tsunami evacuation plan right now. We started that process almost three years ago, a lot of things got in the way of it. Page 4 CRCOC-6 April 4,2023 So in answer to your question, is there a schedule? There is a schedule of workshops and seminars. We put that out, and that's part of the integrated preparedness plan. We haven't moved into larger scale exercises,because like I said, we're not capable of doing that right now. But yeah, the last time we did a large-scale exercise was actually 2014, that we actually put one together and operated and we did invite the Council to come out and experience that. We used the KMR facility, Keaukaha Military Reservation, and they were very accommodating to us. We actually ran a team with HECO (Hawaiian Electric Company), Public Works, Parks and Recreation, through a road that had downed trees and powerlines down on it and everything. And they had a lot of great experience doing that, and oh, turns around, Hurricane Iselle, or actually it was a tropical storm when it hit us. Not several months later hit, so the teams they understood, they worked together, and they were able e to respond much better. They felt they responded much better with Iselle. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: That's great. I mean plans are great in theory, you have to put them into practice. And so I appreciate this deliberate action to set up these exercises and go through the motions to see if the plans that we have designed, they work and to identify any potential gaps or vulnerabilities in the process, and where there are areas for improvement. Just want to mahalo you guys again. We will see for budget next week, and so we're taking all of this in. And I'm assuming, it's not just the two of you guys and Bill implementing all of this. So if there are needs, resources, personnel in order to make sure you guys are able to. carry this out, please let us know next week. Thank you so much for your time, and for being here today. Thank you, Chair, I yield. CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you so much. Council Member Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you. As we continue to work on these, what is it 16,how many plans? MR. PERIATT: There's actually four plans in Chapter 7. The Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan, the Multi-hazard Mitigation Plan, the THIRA (Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment), the Integrated Preparedness Plan. We completed the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan. The Integrated Preparedness Plan is completed as far as what we need to do to train our staff,but the exercise piece is what's lacking in that Integrated Preparedness Plan. The Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan expires September 2025. July of this year, we're going to start working on that revision so it's ready to go when the old plan expires. With the threat hazard identification and risk assessment, right now, we know what the hazards are in that we need to go through the business process analysis, work through the different hazards to identify what we need to be able to do in those 18 core capabilities that we've said we need to focus on. Page 5 CRCOC-6 April 4,2023 MR. INABA: Okay. And then I know each of our counties and islands are different. When we look at the plans that the other islands and counties have, are we borrowing certain aspects if they've met whatever requirements set forth for federal funding? Have we been looking at those? How are we coming up with these plans? Just creating them ourselves based on what our County needs or what's been the approach? MR. PERIATT: In the case of the Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan, all the counties contract that out. We have plans in the future not to have to contract it out, we're going to contract it out this next go around. But when we look at every plan we communicate with our peers and that we bounce ideas off of them. We go to the mainland looking for different things as well, we don't limit ourselves. In fact, like with CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training we adopted the University of Utah CERT training,because they have an effective program that can be done online and then you just come up and do your certification. So it's less time consuming for individuals, oh no, you have to be here on this date to be able to do that. But yes, we do collaborate, if another county has something that works for us, we take it and adapt it to ourselves. MR. INABA: Okay, thank you so much for providing the updates. Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz, for the work on the chapter and for bringing us this update today. CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you, Council Member Inaba. Council Member Galimba or Evans, I'm not sure—go ahead, Council Member Evans. MS. EVANS: Thank you. Just love this stuff, this is my favorite topic, actually has been for years. Emergency Preparedness is my thing, so this is really great. A couple things you said that I just had some questions on. One is you said that some communities are not as receptive to having Emergency Response Plans as others, and what struck me is the face of the community that I represent, north and south Kohala, the leaders are changing. The ones that are older or dying unfortunately, they're moving because of physical health issues. We have a lot of new people that want to be leaders of the community. So when you said the community doesn't want it, how do you determine who's the face and the leadership and the voice of the community when it's a changing community? MR. PERIATT: We normally engage the community associations, that's the vehicle we go through since we're the lowest level of government. They're de facto, the municipality government, and we've had varying degree of success with the community associations. And one of the things we've noticed is the community association doesn't always speak for the community, and so there's a lot of disjoint there. And so that's why we're excited about the resilience hub and what's happening there, and that's where we looked to use as a vehicle to get in there and develop those plans, develop that capability. Page 6 CRCOC-6 April 4,2023 MS. EVANS: So having said that, there's quite a few communities in north and south Kohala,but the resilience hubs are in only three of the communities of a very, very, large geographic area. So is that going to be your go to so I can tell the community this is kind of where people need to go to the people that are extremely active in the resilience hub to get their voices heard? Because again, a lot of people have concerns about emergency preparedness. And so who's going to be the voice? MR. MAGNO: So Barry's right as far the hub's that are being created, and it continues to grow. But we also have CERT teams that are building but we still have contacts from that group that kind of dwindled. But we look from all levels for feedback to us as far as how people want to organize, CERT being one of the previous big ones, the hubs being something new. But people can always just contact us directly, and then we'll kind of see which group they fit into or we can work with them that way or create something new. But we're always looking for ways to reach out to the community to get them ready. MS. EVANS: Yeah, that's why when you said response plan it sounded a lot more thought out, more official, more targeted, more continuity of who do we contact in the community? Who's going to show up and help the police and the fireman? It kind of sounded like it was a lot more organized, which means staff for you so that you can reach out to the individual communities, right? So, it sounds like a lot of work. MR. MAGNO: Well yeah, it is. And you know, I usually ask Barry to do it because there's actually a template from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) to do an actual community plan. But not all folks want to go to that level, so we see what their motivation is, you know, how enthusiastic they are about something, and you know, like CERT training, lot of people think that if you go to CERT training you got to join the CERT team. But no, we'll say if you're not that motivated just get the training so you can help yourself at least. MS. EVANS: I don't know about my colleagues,but I'd love to see that template and make sure that people in the community know. Like I said, my communities are changing. It's growing and there's a lot of people moving into north and south Kohala, lot of new people, and the leadership is definitely going through a major shift right now. So the new people in town, you know, maybe we can get this information out somehow. MR. MAGNO: Sure. And you know,besides all of this,just to the general population, we always preach preparedness and so we take every opportunity to go out into the communities and share this and that kind of starts the ball rolling if they want to get organized. Page 7 CRCOC-6 April 4,2023 MS. EVANS: Okay that's good. The second question I had is, I know you're coming in from the budget and I know we're talking about emergency preparedness,but I for one, given what exercise we went through just now, and spreading out the grant-in-aid funding around the island, I'd really like to look by district, where you're going to be puttingYour money on things like emergency sheltering, sirens, CERT training. I'd like to see a graphic possibly, maybe that's too much to ask,but I'd like to see how you're spreading the money around the island. MR. MAGNO: Right. I think we can put that together. There's not much so you know, a lot of our stuff just goes for operations,but I think we can come up with something that shows you where the money is going. MS. EVANS: Well, I think it's important because a huge part of what we're talking about is training and preparation and exercise and equipment. You know, I'm thinking the equipment part, you know,because our CERT people—I know that some of us, possibly through our grant-in-aid, has given money to resiliency hubs and CERT teams. So we're starting to hear them saying we don't have enough, can give us, you know, as council people? So I'd be curious how you may identify, and how you're looking to spread the—potentially, what we need to be more prepared. MR. MAGNO: Sure, so we can put that together definitely for the budget hearings and then— MS. EVANS: Thank you, appreciate it. CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you, Council Member Evans. Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: A couple of questions. I guess the first one on the—let me see what page. It's the Comprehensive Emergency Management plan page and you talk about a departmental structure and a market format, and I was just wondering what does that mean? Like what is the alternatives to a market format? MR. PERIATT: Okay. A format like this they would call the stadium. MS. GALIMBA: Okay. MR. PERIATT: Or if you looked at, what is it, war games the movie where they have the big system set up, you know, those are different formats. They have a concenter green format where your decision makers are in the center and moves out. None of those—we've never operated like that. We've always operated with I'm sitting across from the people I need to coordinate with. So the four tables in the OC have always been you have a first responders' table, you have a Public Page 8 CRCOC-6 April 4,2023 Works, which is a transportation table and that, then you have a mass care table, where you have Parks and Rec and Red Cross and everyone, and then you have an administrative table. So anything that needed to be talked through, if they needed to coordinate response, you know, there was the first responder's table. If you needed transportation or a road cleared, you know, you had the Public Works table you would go talk to. So that's how we do it, vice having individual chairs assigned and people just looking forward at a screen and going about their business. We've always operated with that communication there in the market format. MS. GALIMBA: I see. Okay, so it's almost like decentralized and sort of where everybody is on the same level rather than it being like— MR. PERIATT: Correct, correct. And that feeds right into the departmental structure. So it's an ICS structure, an Incident Command Structure. So instead of saying okay, Director of Public Works, you're the operations section chief, come up with a plan. Well, the Director of Public Works understands what he has with highways and the different departments he has and how to employ them, and he does that. And if he needs to coordinate with another department, if he needs additional resources, DEM (Department of Environmental Management) and Parks and Rec provide him a lot of those resources. And so they're sitting at the same table with them,hey I need 10 guys that need—or I need three guys with commercial driver's licenses. Whatever they need they talk and discuss, and they coordinate, and it all gets taken care of instead of somebody saying oh I wish we had this, let's go requisition it. Let's go put in a request for three guys with commercial driver's licenses when we got 30 or 40 at hand. All you would need to do is coordinate to get them. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. Better idea what the lingo means. The other question I had was, I was kind of talking with you a little bit beforehand about Ocean View. With the threat of Mauna Loa, there was a lot of angst in the community about not feeling like they were understanding what was going on. And I know we had a couple of meetings out there, in which he explained some of the options. So I was wondering, I guess my main question is did you see an. uptick? Did people actually take up some of those options? Are there more people on Everbridge, et cetera, or not? MR. PERIATT: With the Everbridge we're up to 60,000 subscribers, which is incredible, we were hovering around 40. So I don't know when that actual expansion took place because I don't dig in Everbridge on a daily basis,but I do know we're up to 60,000 there. I do know I took a lot of phone calls from people in Ocean View in the early stages of the eruption, and the issue was they were always told if it's coming down, you see the glow, you need to go. But that was a incomplete understanding of the whole eruption process on our part, and we've Page 9 CRCOC-6 April 4,2023 since, talked with HVO (Hawaiian Volcano Observatory) and we got a better understanding of what happens because Ocean View is never a threat. The eruption, when it left—first it was in the caldera and when it left it migrated ' to the northeast, but they could still see a glow. MS. GALIMBA: Big time. MR. PERIATT: Yes. And based on the understanding of how the caldera is, it's actually, you know, there's not a big lip on the southern end. And so the lava that was erupting within the caldera was coming out, and I understand that's fairly normal thing for it. You see it, it's coming out,but it doesn't go beyond that half mile outside of the caldera. But it's very visible, okay. And so that was very hard for people to understand when we've been telling oh you see the glow, you need to go. And then saying well no, that's just the caldera you're okay. And so I think that was one of the big issues there. But we did get a lot more people who have signed up for Everbridge and that, an iterative process. It has helped us refine what we need to be—public information we need to be putting out to people so that there is a complete understanding of what's happening. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. Yeah, I mean it's—we have, as Council Member Evans was sort of alluding to, you know, we have very different districts. So I guess an emergency plan for Puna would be different from Hilo, from Kohala, from Ka`u, South Kona. Yeah, so in some ways we almost have to have district plans because the infrastructure available to service the people is very different in those different districts. MR. PERIATT: I understand the thought,but one plan,because we're doing the same thing but it's just in varying degrees. And so one of the things that I need to revise and get into theCEMP (Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan), this was in the EOP (Emergency Operations Plan), and I just laid out by district. And I did this okay, what's the geography like in each district? What's the weather pattern in the district? Okay, what are the major threats in the district? So laying it out. So it gives us a better idea of how that district is going to be impacted, gives us a better idea of what we need to do with the community engagement, what we need to educate people on in that particular district. So yeah, I understand where you're coming from. We don't need multiple plans; we just need to have an understanding of where the threats are and to be able to respond to them. MS. GALIMBA: Thanks. One last question. You brought up sort of being on a military base, I just wondered—and there was the Pohakuloa Chief was talking about, you know, Taiwan'and China. So I just wondered do you folks interact Page 10 CRCOC-6 April 4,2023 with—is there a military part to our Civil Defense operations at all? Do you talk to the military or does it just—if something like that goes you just say military take over? Yeah, wondering. MR. MAGNO: So we're connected to State DOD (U.S. Department of Defense). And so the Adjutant General, General Hara,he briefs the leadership every time we meet at least quarterly. And pretty much we get the same sentiment that you guys probably heard recently. You know we've got, I guess our responsibilities if it goes to that point to answer you, yes, we're briefed on the situation. MS. GALIMBA: Okay, and probably it'd be very similar to another natural emergency in some sense of basically people needing to have plans and the kit and be able to get information, right? . MR. MAGNO: Right so preparedness, making sure they got their individual and family plans, communication plans. And then, you know, depending on what the incident is, the short comings, we've got our usual plans that we, or operations that we'd fall back to. MS. GALIMBA: Thanks. Hopefully we'll never have to ever go,but yes, it's probably more of a threat than it's ever been,yeah. Thanks, I yield. CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you so much, Council Member Galimba. Yes, Council Member Kimball. . MS KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. Thank you both for being here today. Just wanted to start by saying, you know, when we had the most recent Mauna Loa flow, we had the opportunity come into incident command a couple of times and really see you guys inaction, and I was really super impressed. I just want to say that. I mean clearly, unfortunately, all the experience you guys have had with incident response, you got it dialed in, I think. Obviously, a little room for improvement in the communication sector,but I just want my colleagues to know that there's,a good system in place, in my mind in terms of response. I will say that you guys are no good at.acronyms. I mean these are just nuts. They should at least sound out something that rolls off the tongue, but I did want to ask about this. With respect to the Emergency Management Plan and this emphasis on preparedness, you know, a couple of things that you had talked about is making sure individuals and business and county employees are prepared from the standpoint of their own personal needs as well as having these CERT teams and resilience hubs and things like that. My question was more about the coverage, and maybe this is more of a conversation when we get to budget next week. But when you're thinking about preparedness, like is there a portion of it that also has to do with like mitigation efforts,.and county infrastructure, and things like that, that you're including in the plan at this point? Page 11 CRCOC-6 April 4,2023 MR. PERIATT: The short answer is yes. But that's more focused for the mitigation piece and the Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan. And unfortunately, what I've discovered with the Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan is, you have somebody new doing it every five years, and so any idea, oh this is what this plan is actually supposed to do, is lost.. So we think we've got that, and we think we can really capture what the needs of the County are, the mitigation needs for the County, the different departments are in this upcoming plan. So we're excited about that because we think we've captured what the plan is about. MS KIMBALL: Yeah, I think you've highlighted something which you phrased much better than I think, which we got this multi hazard mitigation, which identifies mitigation efforts. And I'm wondering where is the tasking component where Civil Defense--is it within this comprehensive emergency plan? Where is it that we start to have you guys making budget recommendations or tasking the departments with actual activities to get us closer to the preparedness from the mitigation respective? MR. PERIATT: From the mitigation perspective it's in the Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan. There's a chapter about actions. And so we have several actions Civil Defense is responsible for, and there's a lot of actions for Public Works, some for DEM, some for Parks and Rec. There's—differentdepartments have different actions that are in there that they're responsible for. And so the point being if you get it in your Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan, now it's eligible for mitigation grant funding. And so a lot of that's us pursuing grant funding to try and put those into action, or the other avenue is the Capital Improvements Plan. MS. KIMBALL: Okay. I'm trying to understand like this—how the emphasis on preparedness in the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan is rolled up. There's this grant funding that is—and my colleagues may have more expertise on this,but when we were last in DC (District of Columbia) it looked like a lot of the federal grant funding was really directed towards the preparedness end, more so than the response end, and I think that's intentional with the current Administration. So I'm just wondering like how does it roll up within this comprehensive plan so that we're showing the Federal Government and even HI-EMA(Hawai`i Emergency Management Agency) that this has become a priority for investment for us? MR. PERIATT: In the comprehensive plan, you won't find it per se in the base plan of the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan. It shows up in the integrated Preparedness Plan as far as training, what we're looking for. It shows up in the Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan in these are projects that are going to make or mitigate, make us safer, and then it's part of our community engagement. So our overall planning in the community engagement piece and getting out there, that's where the major piece of preparedness comes through. The preparedness grants, which the Homeland Security Grants are preparedness grants, the Page 12 CRCOC-6 April 4,2023 Emergency Management Program Grant, EMPG, we always forget EMPG, but those are all preparedness grants. MS. KIMBALL: This is not a good acronym, you know? MR. PERIATT: It's not. Yeah, it doesn't flow nicely. But through—we received both of those. We actually manage the Homeland Security Grant Program, and so in that, what we do is pick out a theme we're looking at each grant year and we've got a lot of things. It's for the information management piece that we focused this coming Emergency Management Grant, Homeland Security Grant on. The other grants, the mitigation grants with the advent of the social vulnerability index score, we're becoming more competitive for those grants. Those are—you compete nationwide whereas Homeland Security grant, here's your money, figure out what you're going to do with it. So we haven't had a whole lot of success in getting these mitigation grant funds across the nation. So that's whywe because we just haven't been competitive focus, fortunately or unfortunate) however you want to look at it we've had Y Y� enough incidents here where we do get mitigation grants that are directed solely to us. And that's where a lot of the programs or the acts in the Muti-Hazard Mitigation Plan are funded through that. MS. KIMBALL: Okay. Alright. So just to make sure that I'm 100 percent clear, in terms of mitigation and preparedness, the key things are the Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan, the IPP, and you feel like at this point, those are robust enough that we're well positioned to go after those potential mitigation fund sources? MR. PERIATT: Under the current plan I would say no, but we do have the actions and we have them going after them and they have been getting funded. So we have had some success, that's why I'm excited about—we actually have an understanding of what we need to do with the plan. So when we start the revision process, we'll be able to focus more of that into what's actually needed out there in the County. So we don't end up with something like the Wastewater Treatment Plan again. We're looking at it, and we can focus on where we need to be going in the future as a county-wide effort. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you for your time, and thanks Chair for a little bit of leeway in the rest of the conversation. I just wanted to ask you one final question, and I don't want you to get into trouble with anybody so if you can't answer,but how's the relationship with HI-EMA ? I understand that actually for a lot of this, they're the pass through. Are you guys getting the support for these operational type activities from HI-EMA ? MR. MAGNO: So HI-EMA just underwent leadership change. And we've been meeting with them, and it looks promising. Page 13 CRCOC-6 April 4,.2023 MS. KIMBALL: Good. MR. MAGNO: They understand thatthey are there to support the counties, and you know, I think—with what I'm seeing I think it will be a better relationship. You know, we work together. We've made it through all the events that we had to, but we didn't see eye to eye,on some of the programs,but Ithink this group, this new Administration is willing to work with us. So I think it'll be good. MS. KIMBALL: Good, I'm really glad to hear that because some of the feedback I've gotten externally was our City agency was not always aligned with what we were trying to do in the county. So I'm glad to hear that there's a greater effort on that. Thank you both again, and thank you Chair for the time, I yield. CHR. VILLEGAS: Fantastic, thank you, Chair Kimball., Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, so much Chair. Gentlemen, thank you for being here, and really my appreciation to Council Member Kierkiewicz for advancing this conversation. Couple of just some foundational things, General Hara,just love that relationship that we have with him-as a Waiakea alumni. I think we'll be okay with that relationship. You know on your graph as far as resilient communities—and April is autism awareness month which is why it's very top of mind for me right now. Where in these plans do our special needs community plug in to help develop response, and you know, that emergency kind of space very unique to them on that side of the chart? MR. MAGNO: I know our current programs, we rely on both on our private side, the non-government organizations that are dealing with this special population, and then we have on the government side, the programs, the departments that care for this population. So you know, enhancing the relationship more with the non- government side,but during events, planning and so forth, we're always working with the County departments. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, and I'm asking that question because as my fellow colleagues mentioned these are a lot of plans, and we're going to be going out to refine them and even contract some of that work out. But I'm also looking at possible funding opportunities from that space, right? If we can partner with organizations that take good care of that community to help partner with Civil Defense to help write those plans, I think that's a really wonderful relationship to start to develop,and then we can really, when we talk about equity all over, these plans will include that. Is that something we could look into? I mean we are coming up on budget, and I'm just looking at sources of funding that we may not Page 14 CRCOC-6 April 4,2023 have necessarily touched because we're so busy in the mechanics of talking to Police and Fire, and Public Works. MR. MAGNO: Yeah, I think it's a—there is the need. We want to make sure that we're comprehensive in all the work we do, and so it'll start first with conversation, and then meeting to see how we can move this forward. Just yesterday we met with a group that's been doing some work, a DOD group that's been doing some work for Kauai. They want to expand to the other counties, and they provide a pretty wide amount of resources that they can do, from construction to just doing plans and so forth. So you know, we're looking for where can we plug this group in? So already we're seeing possibilities. So we should continue the discussion. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, great. I think if we don't mention it then everybody will kind of take care of their piece. I just want to make sure that we're even looking beyond the typical mechanics. And thank you for highlighting that policy group and how it's kind of shifted from where it was to with the Mayor and the Managing Director, Finance Director. But maybe Barry and Talmadge, we can have a conversation offline because I've heard you mention the Public Works Director a number of times, and they sit in this policy group and in that incident command space. And earlier this year, this body looked at a Charter amendment about that Chief Engineer, Public Works Director piece. And I'm seeing that the continuity of services works really well because our Police Chief and our Fire Chief have longevity in those spaces, which can continue the management plan and emergency response piece, whereas our Public Works Director cycles. And I'm not saying that they can't do it, but I'm just wondering out loud if that was a nice hard corner where you could rely on a Public Works Director for beyond an Administration, if that's helpful for the development in these plans and maintaining the continuity of government services, which is kind of reaching that resilient government piece. Just say yes Talmadge, we'll take it offline. MR. MAGNO: Well, you know, on their side, I think all of the departments, even though the directors are cycled out, based upon the Administration, they've got a lot of continuity within their operations. And so based upon that experience they're usually able to function in that role in the policy group. MS. LEE LOY: Perfect. I think the other thing I started to think through is you mentioned, hey we need three CDL drivers; right? And as we go through the budget and we look at new positions, wanting to make sure that we have not only the need to do the work that they're assigned to do within that department,but have flexibility with other skills, like a CDL license or the ability to speak a second language if we have that roster of employees that we could lean on too. Just thinking that through a little bit out loud. Thank you, Chair. Thanks Page 15 CRCOC-6 April 4,2023 gentlemen, really do—I love these plans. The work that you guys do is exciting, but it's the plan piece that gets me really excited. So thank you, Chair, I yield. CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. Yes, Council Member Kierkiewicz. \ MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Just one final thing. Talmadge, you mentioned Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), or agreement with Vibrant Hawai`i and the resilience hub network. I think it's important when that MOU is established, can there be a presentation to Council about what that entails and the county's working relationship with the hub network? I don't know if Council Member Evans or Kagiwada or, I think Michelle knows,but I was heavily involved in architecting the resilient hub network when I was a volunteer board member, leading the resilience hub stream with Vibrant Hawai`i. I've relinquished that kuleana,but we've built a really incredible infrastructure. And that was all predicated upon experience I hadduring the eruption where I saw community as a real powerful partner in serving as a response team,but also as an information conduit because we were on the ground and felt that we could have a good working relationship with local government. And so that kind of catalyzed the hub network that was established during the pandemic. And it's just kind of grown over time, but I think because we have hubs in so many communities around the island and there is still an opportunity for folks to start one in their community. There just has to be interest, but there's infrastructure in framework for folks to plug in. But I think we're all curious as representatives of our community to understand what that working relationship looks like especially if Civil Defense is making a decision to be working, not just with CERT teams, right,but with resilience hubs in the community. Is that something you can help facilitate, a presentation to Council when that's finalized? MR. MAGNO: Yes, absolutely. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. MR. MAGNO: I think that'll be good, you know, we want to share. This is most people, if not the whole island. So that folks are aware of what's available, what's out there, what folks are doing, and you know, if it's not their cup of tea maybe do something on their own,but definitely work towards planning preparedness and being ready. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yeah, we're all in this together. So thank you for helping to facilitate that. Thank you, Chair, I yield. CHR. VILLEGAS: Great. If no one else has anything else to say, I just have a couple of questions. Thank you, gentlemen, for being here. I just wanted to refer Page 16 CRCOC-6 April 4,2023 to a testimony sent in by a constituent, Cory Harden. She always has a great perspective, and she had a couple of questions I wanted to bring up here. She wanted to know if the emergency plans for Puna Geothermal are updated. She didn't think that they'd been changed since the eruption and thought that the roads for evacuation routes were affected by lava. Is that something you could clarify for us? MR. MAGNO: I was trying to think back of when—we just met with PGV (Puna Geothermal Venture) earlier this week, or last week. So we communicate with them. I think it was probably before we moved out of the EOC (Emergency Operations Center) that it was last updated, so probably a couple of years ago, but it was definitely after the eruption that it had been updated. CHR. VILLEGAS: Okay, so you're ensuring that it has been updated? MR. MAGNO: Yes. CHR. VILLEGAS. Okay, great. yOka , thank you for that. Then the other question was that the Local Emergency Response Planning Committee, have they met recently and is that federally mandated? MR. PERIATT; I don't know if the LEPC (Local Emergency Planning Committee) is federally mandated to meet, my assumption is they are. But yes, and they actually meet at our facility. So I think it was last month that the—yeah, they meet quarterly, I think they just met last month, and they met at Aunty Sally's since that's our facility right now. Yeah, and we—when they get their tier-two reports, we have a copy, we keep a copy on file and then of course, another copy goes to the Fire Department. So they are regularly active. for confirmingthat and clarifying, I CHR. VILLEGAS: Fantastic. Thank you think that's going to be really helpful. And then my last comment, as we talk about resilience hubs and your guys' office and a lot of these plans being really connected to the different resilience hubs. I suppose I have my own concerns because District 7 doesn't really have a lot of, in my experience, very active resilience hubs. And Vibrant Hawai`i has done an incredible job standing up that terminology which was new a few years ago, and now, is very prevalent all over the place. I just—and perhaps that may have been what Council Member Evans was communicating as well, is that I don't—there was one resilience hub for the west side during the eruption and when the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act) funding was coming, sorry, not the eruption, when the CARES funding was coming. And so I just have interest in wanting to make sure that there's an equitable connection and distribution. We have, you know, a number of different agencies and organizations on the west side and in District 7. So I am hopeful and confident, and cautiously optimistic that you guys have all those networks connected as well, but I don't know that specifically, resilience Page 17 CRCOC-6 April 4,2023 hubs in District 7 would be the best points of connection, at least in my experience with trying to kind of navigate and connect with those being in existence in our area. MR. MAGNO: Yeah, I hear what you're saying, and that's why we take every opportunity because not all the communities are going to be the same, and so, you know, I've met with a number of rotary groups in Kona, so we look for those kinds of clubs as well. CHR. VILLEGAS: Great. MR. MAGNO: So, any opportunity—if we had more capacity, we actually identified a community resource officer within our building that would be doing that, all full time. So, you know, we're trying to build up the capacity. CHR. VILLEGAS: Gotcha. Gotcha. I thank you for that, and yeah, as you said, the rotaries, we have had quite a few very active rotaries and Lion's Club and so those may be opportunities there. But thank you for your service, and wow, what a couple of years it has been and full of challenges and near misses. But you guys have risen to the challenge and identified the support services, the templates; that are already in existence on a national and state level and are bringing them into effect here in our County so that as we move forward, we know there will be more,but that we are better prepared, not only just from a County government standpoint,but as a community as a whole. And it really is a part of our own personal responsibility in a time of crisis to make decisions for ourselves and our families and to look to government for guidance. But boy, my face but blew up after the lava eruption with people's frustrations, which I can understand, but I also think that there's personal kuleana for when we make choices and whether or not we are prepared to activate ourselves and our families in a time of crisis. So, thank you for providing what could be humanly possible from an external standpoint to provide that guidance. I appreciate you guys being here today and I would say with that, I yield,but I'm supposed to be chairing this committee. So if there's nothing from anyone else—go ahead, Talmadge. MR. MAGNO: No, I was just going to say thank you for your comments. CHR. VILLEGAS: Alright. My pleasure, my pleasure. Thank you. And with that, we'll go ahead and take the vote to close file on Communication 161. All those in favor? Page 18 CRCOC-6 April 4,2023 Vote on Comm. 161: The motion to close file on Comm. 161 was carried by the (Filed) following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, and Chair Villegas—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1. Excused: None. ADJOURN- Therebeing no further business, at 2:24 p.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn the MENT: meeting. Seconded by Mr. Inaba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba . Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, and Chair Villegas-8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1. Excused: None. CHR. VILLEGAS: With that, we bid you kind gentlemen, adieu. Approved: i Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Chair (Date) Communications, Reports, and Council Oversight Committee RV/rk Page 19