STAND. COM. REP. NO. 306

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: S.B. No. 667

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Higher Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 667 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN EMERGENCY APPROPRIATION FOR FLOOD LOSSES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to make an emergency appropriation of $25,000,000 to pay for unanticipated flood losses that were incurred as a result of the October 30, 2004 Manoa flood.

Your Committee received testimony in support of the measure from the University of Hawaii (UH) and University of Hawaii Professional Assembly.

This measure is intended to rectify the losses incurred and damages suffered by the UH in the recent severe Manoa floods. On October 30th, 2004 a flash flood ripped through the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus. A four-foot high wall of water hit the Biomedical Sciences building on the Manoa campus, flooding that building the physical plant (Auxiliary Services) buildings, the PBRC, Ag Sciences III and an adjoining warehouse. The Institute for Biogenesis research and first floor of Biomed were inundated with water – over the tops of lab benches – and the auditorium flooded. The main transformer blew, melting the main electrical supply cable to the electrical substation, and setting off sprinklers on the first floor.

The ground floor facilities of Hamilton Library Phases I and II – the map and photo collections, the government documents repository, and the Library and Information Science offices and classrooms - were completely flooded to the ceilings. Walls and wiring were torn out and the collections, books, and periodicals, housed there were destroyed. The library’s subbasement – where mechanical and electrical equipment was located – was submerged. In the worst parts of the flood path the landscape was gouged out and large holes were tunneled into the ground.

In all, power was interrupted to thirty five buildings, with Agricultural Sciences III, Biomedical Sciences, Sherman Lab and Hamilton Library sustaining enough infrastructure damage to require isolation from the main electrical circuits before the rest of the campus could be powered up again. Critical research and animal care areas were of paramount concern, while 3,000 pounds of dry ice was distributed to preserve samples and other materials that needed to be kept cold or frozen. The quick response of faculty and administration helped to stabilize the campus, limit losses, and restore operations in a timely fashion. Cleanup proceeded with faculty, students and community volunteers all pitching in. Library collections were placed in freezer trucks supplied by Matson and Horizon Lines, so they could be preserved. Humidity problems and mold blooms were addressed by removing wet and muddy carpet and with dehumidifiers and fans, but these had limited effectiveness in buildings that lacked power and air conditioning.

Temporary offices and accommodations for research faculty at alternate sites are currently a high priority while plans to restore the operational environment are ongoing. Mold has been a continuing problem with abatement a high priority in areas that did not receive priority during the immediate recovery. Rains the following weekend knocked power out again, requiring further emergency services for research areas, and emergency generation for several facilities on campus.

A specialist disaster remediation team was hired over the November 6-7 weekend to help reduce humidity and conduct an intensive cleanup in four power-isolated buildings. Some buildings were still without permanent power – including Biomedical Sciences and Hamilton Library. Classes scheduled in these buildings – and some others - have been relocated.

Your Committee finds that the catastrophic damages suffered and the loss incurred from the October 30, 2004 floods have had a major impact on the services the University is able to provide for students, researchers, and the public. In order to replace documents and books as well as restore and renovate the University of Hawaii, an emergency appropriation and an increase in the ceiling of the state risk revolving fund is vital. Without an increase of the ceiling of the state risk revolving fund, the fund will not be able to repay the general fund for the amounts provided to the University of Hawaii for the flood repairs.

Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting an appropriation of $25,000,000 general revenues for the cleaning, repairing, or replacing of damaged or destroyed university property and for reimbursing the University of Hawaii for funds that have already been spent for those purposes.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Higher Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 667, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 667, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Higher Education,

____________________________

CLAYTON HEE, Chair