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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES 042 Draft 01 1972-1976 County of Hawaii-State of Hawaii Resolution No. 42 WHEREAS, the agricultural industry is one of the major contributors to the economy of the Island and State of Hawaii; and WHEREAS, the agricultural development of the Ka'u District of the Big Island is an attempt to attain a diversified and balanced economy in the State of Hawaii and reduce the State's dependence upon tourism as the mainstay of the Hawaiian economy; and WHEREAS, agricultural experts agree that the Ka'u District is especially well suited for the development of agriculture and project a bright agricultural future for the area; and WHEREAS, the Ka'u District as a whole, and the agricultural sector thereof in particular, is presently suffering from a drought and has received only 500 of the average annual rainfall for the district for each of the past four years; and WHEREAS, the drought conditions have caused the Ka'u sugar cane crop to become parched and withered up to the 2,000 foot elevation, have caused cattle to die, and, if permitted to continue, immediately threaten the lives of numerous cattle, the entire sugar cane crop, and the lives of macadamia nut trees, including mature ten-year old trees; and WHEREAS, the Council of the County of Hawaii is deeply concerned over the health of the Big Island agricultural industry and strongly believes that immediate action is necessary to prevent further deterioration of what already is a serious affliction of the Ka'u District and the Big Island; and WHEREAS, the Mayor of the County of Hawaii is now conducting an emergency investigation of the existing drought conditions of the Ka'u District, County of Hawaii, to determine the extent to which the health of the agricultural industry and the welfare of the Ka'u District is threatened thereby, now,therefore, BE IT RESOLVED that the Mayor of the County of Hawaii is urged to forward the findings of the investigation to the Governor of the State of Hawaii so that the Governor may have a basis on which to declare the Ka'u District to be a disaster area and that the Governor be urged to take whatever steps he deems necessary to alleviate the effects of the Big Island drought, including, but not limited to authorizing the use of government lands for the grazing of cattle, authorizing the use of State funds to provide feed for cattle, authorizing the expenditure of State funds to provide irrigation water for sugar cane fields and macadamia nut orchards, and doing everything within his power to see that the agricultural industry of Ka'u District be provided with assistance in the form of tax relief under Chapter 234, Hawaii Revised Statutes. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County Clerk be and is hereby instructed to forward copies of this resolution to the Honorable John A. Burns, Governor of the State of Hawaii; the Honorable David C. McClung, President of the Senate; the Honorable Tadao Beppu, Speaker of the House; the Honorable Stanley I. Hara, the Honorable Richard Henderson and the Honorable John T. Ushijima, Senators from the County of Hawaii; the Honorable Wing Kong Chong, the Honorable Joseph R. Garcia, Jr., the Honorable Archie Hapai, III, the Honorable Stanley H. Roehrig, the Honorable Jack K. Suwa and the Honorable Yoshito Takamine, Representatives from the County of Hawaii; the Honorable Shunichi Kimura, Mayor of the County of Hawaii; Sunao Kido, Chairman, Board of Land and Natural Resources; Fred Erskine, Chairman, Board of Agriculture; Benjamin J. Webster, State Adjutant General and Director of Civil Defense; Teiji Kagimoto, County Executive Director, U. S. Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, Hilo; and M. O. Isherwood, Sr., Administrator, Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency. Dated at Hilo, Hawaii, this 21st day of March, 1973. INTRODUCED BY: COUNCILMA COUN HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL ROLL CALL VOTE AYES NOES A/E County of Hawaii Carpenter X Hilo, Hawaii De Luz X I hereby certify that the foregoing RESOLUTION was by the vote indicated to Farias X the right hereof adopted by the COUNCIL of the County of Hawaii on. Fuiii X Hisaoka X March 21, 1973 Kawahara X ATTEST: Yadao X Chr. Yamada X Reference: Robert M. Yamada Tadashi Suzuki CHAIRMAN & PREk'DING OFFICER COUNTY CLERK ~ M.B. No. 4 RESOLUTION NO. HPL