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Home My WebLink AboutRES 640 Draft 02 2016-2018tY•oF N. 44.0 COUNTY OF HAWAIII•= S.W:1•1i STATE OF HAWAII RESOLUTION NO. 640 IS DRAFT 2) A RESOLUTION URGING THE STATE BOARD ON GEOGRAPHIC NAMES TO CONSULT WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO HAVE DIRECT TRADITIONAL, CULTURAL,AND FAMILIAL TIESITO THE AREAS OF PUNA AND KA`U THAT HAVE BEEN IMPACTED BY THE RECENT VOLCANIC ACTIVITY,IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH APPROPRIATE NAMES FOR THE FISSI RE 8 VENT OR ANY OTHER FEATURES OF THE 2018 ERUPTION OF KILAUEA VOLCANO. WHEREAS, Section 4E-1 of the Hawai`i Revised Statutes states that the State Board on Geographic Names shall be composed of the chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, the chairperson of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the chairperson ofthe Hawaiian Homes Commission, the director of the Office of Planning,the president ofthe University of Hawaii, the state land surveyor, and the director of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum, or their respective representatives;resentatives; and WHEREAS, Section 4E-3(a) of the Hawaii Revised Statutes states that the State Board on Geographic Names "...shall designate the official names and spellings of geographic-features in Hawaii and provide for circulation thereof to the appropriate state and other agencies. In its deliberations, the board shall solicit and consider the advice and recommendations of the appropriate county government officials, and, should the board desire, other knowledgeable persons."; and WHEREAS, following a magmatic intrusion into the East Rift Zone of Kilauea volcano, the first of two dozen fissures erupted on May 3, 2018, near Mohalu Street in Leilani Estates; and WHEREAS,the eighth fissure,known as Fissure 8, opened on May 5, 2018, near Luana Street in Leilani Estates, and briefly erupted lava fountains an estimated 230 feet high, sending a slow-moving lava flow approximately 0:6 miles northward and covering many homes in the subdivision; and WHEREAS, Fissure 8 reactivated on the night of May 23, 2018, sending a fast-moving flow northward that crossed Pohoiki Road, surrounded Puna Geothermal Venture, crossed Highway 132, covered Noni Farms Road and Railroad Avenue, inundated papaya farm land, crossed Highway 137, entered Ka Wai a Pele (Green Lake), burned hundreds of homes in Kapoho Farm Lots, Kapoho Vacationland, and Kapoho Beachlots, filled in Kapoho Bay, and destroyed the Wai`opae Tidepools Marine Life Conservation District, Kua 0 Ka La New Century Public Charter School, and 'Ahalanui Park/Mauna Kea Pond; and WHEREAS, eruptive activity from the 23 other fissures have become concentrated at Fissure 8, where a gushing fountain has built a broad cone approximately 180 feet high; and WHEREAS, the U.S. Geological Survey defines a volcanic fissure as an "elongate fracture or crack at the surface from which lava erupts," making "Fissure 8" an inaccurate name for the large tephra cone located on the East Rift Zone within Leilani Estates; and WHEREAS, the ongoing eruption is creating numerous other new and unnamed volcanic features, including but not limited to the enlarged crater or nested caldera at Halema`uma`u, the collapsed crater at Pu`u `O`o, the line of fissures and steam vents extending through Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens, the ocean entry at Malama Ki Forest Reserve, and the channelized lava flow to the ocean at Kapoho Bay; and WHEREAS, the naming of a volcanic feature in the Hawaiian language may encode information about its physical characteristics, historical events associated with its formation, ecological surroundings, geographical location, or related oral histories; and WHEREAS, the U.S. Geological Survey uses informal names to identify and communicate information about volcanic features, but defers to the local community, including Hawaiian elders, for formal names; and WHEREAS, the global community of amateur lava watchers have suggested many names for Fissure 8, but the names for this and other new volcanic features associated with the current eruption should be provided by community members with direct traditional, cultural, and familial ties to the district of Puna; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that the State Board on Geographic Names is urged to consult with community members who have direct traditional, cultural, and familial ties to the areas of Puna and Ka`u that have been impacted by the recent volcanic activity, in order to establish appropriate names for the Fissure 8 vent or any other features of the 2018 eruption of Kilauea volcano. 2 BE TI' FINALLY RESOLVED that the County Clerk shall transmit a copy of this resolution to the Honorable David Y. Ige, Governor; Suzanne D. Case, Chair of the Board of Land and Natural Resources; Colette Y. Machado, Chair of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Jobie Masagatani, Chair of the Hawaiian Homes Commission; Leo R. Asuncion Jr., Director of the Office of Planning; David Lassner, President of the University of Hawai`i; Reid K. Siarot, State Land Surveyor; Melanie Y. Ide, President and CEO of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum,the Honorable Harry Kim, Mayor; Tina Neal, Scientist-in-Charge of the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory; Kuha`o Zane, president ofthe Edith Kanaka`ole Foundation; and Pi`ilani Ka`awaloa ofthe Aha Moku Advisory Committee. Dated at Kona , Hawai`i, this 22nd day of August 2018 . RO.t CE Fr BY. 44, COS` ~ MEMBER, • u 'V > OF H• WAI`I COUNTY COUNCIL ROLL CALL VOTE County of Hawai`i AYES NOES ABS EX Hilo, Hawai`i CHUNG X DAVID X I hereby certify that the foregoing RESOLUTION was by EOFF X the vote indicated to the right hereof adopted by the COUNCIL of the VKANUHA^ XCountyofHawai`i on Auus 2 r 2018 d LEE LOY X O'FIARA X ATTEST: POINDEXTER X RICHARDS X RUGGLES 7Q(42 J 8 0 1 0 Reference:_C-985.8/GREDC-8 COUNTY CLERK CHAIRPERSON&PRESIDING OFFICER RESOLUTION NO.__ 640 18 DRAFT 2) 3