KAILUA-KONA — A bill to fund lifeguards and lifesaving equipment at Kua Bay passed committee Friday in the state Legislature and now moves to a full House vote.
The bill proposes slightly more than $400,000 for four lifeguards and equipment at Kua Bay for fiscal year 2017-18. Of that, close to $322,000 would go toward the lifeguard positions while an additional $80,000 would go toward funding a lifeguard tower, an all-terrain vehicle, radios and rescue and protective equipment.
The bill also would fund lifeguards for the following year, with an extra $1,000 for protective equipment.
According to the bill’s text, there have been three drownings, three near drownings and 10 spinal cord injuries at the bay between 2008 and Dec. 14, 2016. That’s not to mention the numerous injuries ranging from minor to serious and distressed swimmers.
Testimony filed on the Legislature’s website was in unanimous support of the bill, with support coming from county leaders, public safety officials and others.
Among its supporters are Frank Sayre and Laura Mallery-Sayre, president and executive director, respectively, of the Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation, which assists the Hawaii Fire Department with the purchase of necessary rescue equipment and training not otherwise available through the county budget.
“For years, the state Finance Committee has chosen to not fund ocean safety officers for this dangerous beach and more lives have been lost,” they wrote in testimony to the House Committee on Finance, which advanced the bill Friday. “This is a state beach and therefore must be funded by the state.”
In an interview, Mallery-Sayre said the state bears a responsibility for the visitors who come and visit its beaches.
“I think that they should have ocean safety officers there or they should shut that beach down,” she said Friday.
Part of Kekaha Kai State Park, which is visited by 235,700 people annually, the Kua Bay area, also known as Maniniowali, attracts about 162,300 of those visitors each year.
“And yet there’s nobody there to protect people who are unknowing about the dangers of the ocean that exist there,” Mallery-Sayre said.
Mayor Harry Kim also noted his support for the bill.
“Kua Bay is one of the most beautiful locations in the islands, but its hidden hazards can prove deadly,” Kim said in testimony.
“I don’t imagine it will have any problem passing off the House floor,” said Rep. Nicole Lowen, D-Kailua-Kona, Holualoa, Kalaoa and Honokohau.
Rep. Cindy Evans, D-North Kona, North Kohala and South Kohala, who introduced the bill along with Lowen, said as Kona’s population grows, it’s important lifeguards are able to support any increase in the number of people who come to live here and visit local beaches.
She added that the proposal needs the community’s support and invited constituents in her and Lowen’s districts to write to them so they can collect letters in support of the bill.
Sen. Josh Green, D-Kona and Ka‘u, introduced an identical bill in the state Senate. That bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Ways and Means on Feb. 17. A hearing was not subsequently scheduled.
Email Cameron Miculka at cmiculka@westhawaiitoday.com.
