RES 204 Draft 01 2022-2024 - Laserfiche WebLink

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J�Tv.oc N<,y COUNTY OF HAWAII t.' :+ STATE OF HAWAII SOLUTION NO. 204 23 A RESOLUTION STRONGLY URGING THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE TO EXPAND POST OFFICE INFRASTRUCTURE FORT E DISTRICT OF PUNA, HAWAII. WHEREAS, in the 2020 United States Census data, Hawaii County saw the largest percentage population growth among the other Hawaii counties, with Kea`au to Mountain View having the largest single-region change in the County at 20.3% growth from 2010; and WHEREAS, as Puna is a rural district with many underdeveloped subdivisions, a number of residents are unable to receive postal delivery directly to their homes and therefore must rely on post offices for all mail services; and WHEREAS, Puna is prone to natural disaster, which requires postal service adjustments to attend to residents who relocated due to evacuation, including the capacity to expand a post office's client base when another post office is forced into closure; and WHEREAS, the 2018 Kilauea eruption forced all evacuated Puna residents to redirect mail services to the Pdhoa Post Office, further inundating already limited services in a time of crisis; and WHEREAS, the Puna community has expressed longtime frustration with excessive wait times, locations that are both inaccessible and too small for the population served, and waitlists for postal box availability at a standstill; and WHEREAS, possible infrastructure improvements to be considered are the expansion of an existing post office, the creation of a new post office facility, or the relocation of an existing post office to a larger building; and WHEREAS, as a rapidly growing district with already limited infrastructure, Puna needs improved postal facility infrastructure; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that it strongly urges Louis Dejoy, United States Postmaster General to prioritize the expansion of post office infrastructure for the District of Puna, Hawaii. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council encourages Senator Brian Schatz and Representative Jill Tokuda to support and actively pursue post office improvements for the District of Puna, Hawaii.