Aloha ahihihi kako. Welcome to the public hearing for our county operating budget and our capital improvement budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. We're meeting this evening at our Hilo County building, our Hilo chambers. This meeting is being held pursuant to section 10-4 of the Hawaii County Charter. This meeting is a hearing where no decisions or discussion will occur. We simply are receiving testimony on the two bills for both the operating budget, bill 31, draft two as well as bill 32, draft two, the actual budget hearings with discussion and opportunity for amendment will be happening this Thursday, May 22nd, starting at 9 a.m. here in our Kilo Council chambers. With that, are there any testimony for our public hearing? Thank you so much, Chair. We do have a couple of testifiers. The first of which is on Zoom. Jennifer Halley testifying on both bills 31 and 32. Jennifer, if you could please reintroduce yourself as you begin. You'll have three minutes per agenda item. If you clearly transition, we can reset your time. Oh, let me send you the notification if you could just hit that button. It should allow you to unmute. There you go. OK, thank you. Can you hear me? Yes, we can. OK, thank you. Aloha. My name is Jennifer Holley. I'm a full-time resident and homeowner in Waikoloa Village for for 20 years and I'm here this evening to ask you to support communication 159.41 to amend bill number 32 draft 2 to fund initial engineering of Y-Coloa's second arterial road. I'd like to start by talking numbers. 60 minutes to evacuate driving from Malena Street to Y.C.O.R.O.D. a distance of only two miles in bumper to bumper cars moving mere inches at a time in the August 1st 2021 evacuation. $807.5 million dollars House bill 1 0 0 1 enacted to fund the settlement of claims related to the Maui wildfires. 115 precious souls lost their lives in the Maui wildfires. Council members and committee members please send a clear message to why Kaloa Village residents. That our lives are worth more to the county of Hawaii alive because we were able to safely evacuate a fire. of our lives being assigned a dollar amount upon death as reflected in House Bill 1-001. I implore you please send a clear message to Mayor Alameda that amending the county's budget to conduct engineering the first step in getting a second arterial road for Waikaloah is of utmost priority. Please cast your vote to begin funding the second road as if your lives depend on it. I'm certain my life does. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you so much for your testimony and chair your next testifier is Stephanie Bat here in the Heelow Chamber. Stephanie again, if you are testifying on Bill 31 and 32, you'll have three minutes each. Yeah. If you just reintroduce yourself as you begin, Stephanie, you'll have your three minutes. Aloha, I'm Stephanie Bat, resident of Curtis Town and District 5 for 44 years. A lot of your faces are familiar. I'm very, very, very supportive of a police and fire station, somewhere in the vicinity of Curtis Town and Mountain View. As you know, Poon Out got an influx of residents from Lower Poon a district six during the Lelani event and we did not get any of the resiliency funds to my knowledge to develop infrastructure. Now I've sat before some of you fresh, you took a break and came back. You remember me possibly talking to you about connectivity years ago. I've been advocating for connectivity locations in Upper Puna for over 17 years. The woman just testified for like Waikelowa getting some connectivity. It's fortunate because Waikelowa got their connectivity. We've been waiting for 17 years. First responders can't get in and out. My written testimony came in late last night so if you can go back when you have time and read it. It's kind of like that Charles Dickens Oliver Twist piece where Oliver goes, please sir, can I have some more with his bowl out. The only thing is if you look at the figurative upper Poonah bowl, there's no real evidence of gruel ever being in it. We've been waiting and waiting and waiting. just to give you a quick scenario. Remember the last lava slow in from on a low and they didn't know which way the lava was going to flow. Imagine if the radial vents popped out in Hawaii and Ocean view states, your district and they had to evacuate to Hilo. Concurrently, we know that Hawaii County can have a number of disasters and hazards happening at the same time. So I imagined during this scenario that there was a large earthquake and just below Hirano store and Highway 11 cracks have opened up, power lines and trees are on the highway, and it shut down. Now,'s consider the visitor industry. Mom and Papa have been saving all their lives to come to Hawaii on that particular day. They want to get up to the volcano and then go down Punalu, spend a little money on the wind. 30 seconds please. And then come back to Hilo, and buy some Omigagi, and have a meal, and drive back over the saddle to the hotel in Kona. They can't do it. Please read my testimony. We really need to have $230,000 in the budget for inter subdivision connectivity. It will benefit Ka'u, lower Puna, and upper Poonal. At the time is now, it really is. Thank you all for serving. Thank you. Thank you so much, Ms. Bathou, your testimony. And share with that. Those are all the testifiers we have signed up at the moment. Thank you so much for the testifiers who participated in this public hearing. Again, the first reading of the budget will occur this Thursday, May 22nd, starting at 9 a.m. here in Hilo Chambers. We invite the public to participate. And observe if not participating with that, this public hearing is now closed. The time is 508 and we'll be heading back into the legislative approvals and acquisitions committee shortly. Model.