HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0684.014 1998-2000 J~tYIOF ,r,~
William G. Davis
Managing Director
Stephen K. Yamashiro
Mayor Henry Cho
' •i~,• o•~~~` Deputy Managing Director
?tE OP•Nr'it
~IIft2~~~ II~ ~ti~tttt
25 Aupuni Street, Room 21 S Hilo, Hawaii 96720-4252 (808) 961-8211 Fax (808) 961-6553
KONA: 75.5706 Kuakini Highway, Suitc 103 Kailw-Kona, Hawaii 96740
(808) 329-5226 Fax (808) 326-5663
June 2, 2000
The Honorable James Y. Arakaki, Chairman
And Members of the County Council
County of Hawaii
Hilo, HI 96720
SUBJECT: Testimony---Bill 218, Draft 3, Capital Budget for FY 2000-2001
Good morning and thank you for the opportunity to discuss the reinstatement of
the project identified as EastlVVest Hawaii Office Renovations, Phase II with an
appropriation in the amount of $6,000,000 in the Capital Budget for Fiscal Year
2000-2001. I believe you have copies of my letter of May 24, 2000, which
outlines a number of reasons why we should proceed with this important project
for the efficient and effective operation of our County government.
At the current time, our County offices in East Hawaii are spread out around the
City of Hilo. This is inefficient for government operations and very inconvenient
for the public. We need to consolidate our operations and offer the public a
better system of delivering services.
The first and immediate benefit of our consolidation plan would be the
establishment of a permanent Fire Department administration office at the
Penney's Building. There would not be a need to build the proposed separate
administration building that was projected to cost $7 million. We must establish a
permanent facility for the proper administration of the Fire Department.
Another benefit would be the consolidation of our permitting functions into one
building on one floor for the convenience of the public. We will reconfigure our
Planning Department and Department of Public Works (side-by-side) to enhance
interdepartmental cooperation and efficiency for such functions as subdivision
approvals. We will also consolidate our Parks and Recreation Department
administration and accounting offices into one area for greater efficiency. These
offices are now in two separate locations.
Comm. No0 _(~`t34.0~4
File IvTo. ~l.~n
P.ef, To: ~ ~~u~~
Ref. Date.,, ~~i~.~.~ .......t
Page 2
June 2, 2000
Capital Budge Testimony
For the efficiency, safety and the convenience of the public, we plan to relocate
the Real Property Tax Office to the government center. We will provide our Real
Property Tax Office with expanded facilities to accommodate a new computer
system. The new facilities will provide greater security for our tax operations.
This move also will offer the public a central location near other government
agencies to conduct property tax business and obtain Tax Map Key information.
We will also consolidate the Motor Vehicle Registration and Driver's Licensing
functions, which will not only better serve the public, but will also relieve the
Police Department of driver's licensing duties, thus freeing officers to concentrate
on protecting our community.
This consolidation will move us closer to our goal of one-stop permitting, and will
alleviate the need for the public to go from building-to-building, office-to-office
and floor-to-floor to conduct business with the County.
Moving forward with the renovation of the Penney's Building will afford us an
opportunity to make some very necessary repairs and upgrades to the County
Building with minimal disruption of services.
If we are to keep pace with modern technology and telecommunications, we
must upgrade the electrical system in the County Building. We are overloaded
now, and we are starting to experience electrical shutdowns. These electrical
problems have resulted in down-time for our employees and disruption of service
to the public. We can't continue running an efficient operation when lights,
computers and even telephones are periodically out of service.
Under our proposal, 60,000 square feet of the Penney's Building space will be
used for County government offices, and 20,000 square feet will be reserved for
the Judiciary. A lease with the Family Court of the Third Circuit has been signed
and the judges and staff are awaiting the completion of renovations to the
Penney's Building.
I have distributed for your information a breakdown of the renovation costs and
the revenues to be derived from this consolidation proposal. We will begin to
recover our costs by liquidating our property at the Hilo Lagoon Centre and
receiving lease revenue from the Judiciary.
Page 3
June 2, 2000
Capital Budget Testimony
The County Building is over 30 years old and must be modernized. Permanent
Fire Department administration offices must be established. We are not doing
our best to serve the public if we do not make every effort to consolidate,
streamline and centralize our offices for efficiency and the convenience and
benefit of the public. The longer we wait to make these necessary
improvements, the more they will cost us in the long run.
urge you to reinstate the East/V1/est Hawaii Office Renovation, Phase II in the
Capital Budget. Thank you for your serious consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
u~ o
Stephen K. Ya ashiro
MAYOR