HomeMy WebLinkAboutFifth Supplementary Emergency ProclamatonHarry Kim
Mayor
Orountv Pguati`i
Wil Okabe
Managing Director
Barbara J. Kossow
Deputy Managing Director
®ffre of the Algot
25 Aupuni Street, Suite 2603 • Hilo, Hawaii 96720 • (808) 961-8211 • Fax (808) 961-6553
KONA: 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Hwy., Bldg. C • Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i 96740
(808) 323-4444 • Fax (808) 323-4440
FIFTH SUPPLEMENTARY EMERGENCY PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS, Chapter 127A Hawaii Revised Statutes, provides for the
establishment of County organizations for emergency management and disaster relief
with the Mayor having direct responsibility and authority over emergency management
within the County.
WHEREAS, Chapter 127A Hawaii Revised Statutes and Chapter 7, Articles 1
and 2 of the Hawai'i County Code, establishes a Civil Defense Agency within the
County of Hawaii and prescribes its powers, duties, and responsibilities, and
Section 13-23 of the Hawaii County Charter empowers the Mayor of the County to
declare emergencies; and
WHEREAS, on May 3, 2018, the Mayor of the County of Hawaii and the
Governor of the State of Hawai'i issued respective Emergency Proclamations declaring
states of emergency due to active lava erupting along the East Rift Zone in Lower Puna,
County and State of Hawai'i; and
WHEREAS, on May 9, 2018, the Governor of the State of Hawai'i issued a
Supplementary Proclamation expanding the scope and application of his Proclamation
in order to provide further emergency disaster relief by suspending additional sections
of the Hawaii Revised Statutes; and
WHEREAS, on May 22, 2018, the Mayor of the County of Hawaii issued a
Supplementary Emergency Proclamation suspending Hawaii County Code, Chapter 19,
Section 19-47, related to real property tax assessments to those parcels that suffered
uninhabitability or isolation due to this eruptive event in those areas described as Leilani
Estates, Lanipuna Gardens, Pohoiki Bay Estates and Kapoho Estates; and
WHEREAS, on May 30, 2018, the Mayor of the County of Hawai'i issued a
Second Supplementary Emergency Proclamation suspending several County Code
provisions related to the preparation, set-up, construction, or installation of temporary
emergency shelters for residents displaced or voluntarily evacuated due to the active
lava eruption; and
WHEREAS, on May 30, 2018, the Mayor of the County of Hawaii issued Mayor's
Emergency Rule #1 restricting access to the area containing Kapoho Beach Lots,
Vacationland and Kapoho Farm Lots; and
WHEREAS, on May 31, 2018, the Mayor of the County of Hawaii issued a
Mandatory Evacuation Order for identified areas within the Leilani Estates subdivision;
and
WHEREAS, on July 2, 2018, the Mayor of the County of Hawaii issued a Third
Supplementary Emergency Proclamation providing additional real property tax
adjustments and relief; and
WHEREAS, on August 31, 2018, the Mayor of the County of Hawai'i issued a
Fourth Supplementary Emergency Proclamation continuing the state of emergency and
issuing a prohibition from people entering or remaining on the lava fields, including a
fifty (50) yard safety buffer area; and
WHEREAS, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Hawai'i Volcano
Observatory (HVO), cannot project WITH ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY AN end date to this
eruptive event and has noted that previous eruptive events in the area have continued
eruptive activity after lengthy periods of lull; and
WHEREAS, the USGS HVO has identified many hazards when traversing over
lava flow fields, including subsurface residual molten lava and gases that may not be
visible; due to the hazards involved, the USGS HVO and Hawaii County Civil Defense
Agency have noted that injuries while traversing over lava flow fields are common and
deaths have occurred.
WHEREAS, some evacuees of the eruptive event remain in temporary shelters
provided by non-profit entities where the operational costs of maintain these shelters
are mounting and becoming a hardship; and
WHEREAS, section 127A -13(b) provides that in the event of a local state of
emergency the Mayor may relieve hardship, inequities or obstructions of public health,
safety or welfare by suspending county laws in whole or in part; and
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Harry Kim, Mayor of the County of Hawaii, do hereby
proclaim and declare that a state of emergency due to this eruptive event continues to
exist and continues to pose threat of imminent disaster on Hawaii Island and that all
provisions of my prior Proclamations, except for the fifty (50) yard buffer surrounding the
lava flow field shall remain in full force and effect, effective, October 30, 2018, and
continuing thereon until December 29, 2018 or unless terminated by a separate
proclamation, which ever shall occur first.
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I FURTHER DECLARE, that due to the aforementioned hazards that continue to
exist, entry to and remaining on the lava flow field remains prohibited unless authorized
by Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency. No physical modifications to the lava flow
fields are allowed, including but not limited to, clearing, crushing or the removal or infill
of the lava flow field surface with the intent to establish roads, trails, driveways or
clearings for any purpose.
I FURTHER ORDER that pursuant to Section 127A -13(b)(1) of the Hawai'i
Revised Statutes, the following section of the Hawaii County Code be suspended:
Chapter 21, Article 4, Section 21-29.1, as it applies to fees charged to private
haulers discharging wastewater into a municipal facility, when the organization
requesting a waiver of septage discharge fee(s) is a nonprofit organization
operating a temporary emergency shelter site for the sole purpose of sheltering
lava event survivors, and the organization's private hauler possesses a current
septage discharge permit with the County.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of
the County of Hawai'i to be affixed. Done this 30th day of October, 2018 in Hilo, Hawaii.
Harry Kim
Mayor
County of Hawaii
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