The City Council Budget Committee was poised Tuesday to allocate $3.5 million to expand lifeguard service hours at Oahu beaches, but Emergency Services Director Mark Rigg said his agency is not yet ready for a full-scale expansion.
Veteran lifeguards, surfers and others have recently called for longer lifeguard service hours. Currently the hours run from 9 a.m. to
5:30 p.m. Proponents maintained that additional service hours would result in fewer drownings and better-educated beachgoers.
Rigg told committee members Tuesday that it will take at least a year before his Ocean Safety Division can begin dawn-to-dusk service for basic lifeguard tower and patrol personnel.
The agency is now finishing a plan that aims to incorporate increased service across Oahu incrementally over five years, Rigg said.
The Caldwell administration budget for the coming year already includes expanding the hours for rescue ski crews islandwide. Emergency Medical Services spokeswoman Shayne Enright told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser after Tuesday’s meeting that expanded service will initially consist of longer hours for six two-lifeguard rescue ski crews, beginning this fall.
During the committee meeting, Rigg said he is scheduled to discuss implementation of the Ocean Safety Service’s five-year plan with city Managing Director Roy Amemiya on Monday.
“We feel the rescue skis are most important right now,” he said. “After that it will spread into the districts and to the towers.”
Expanding service for other lifeguards will take time to implement because it involves additional supervisors and lifeguards, Rigg said. That requires negotiations with the union that represents lifeguards. There are also equipment and supply considerations.
A lifeguard recruit class scheduled for the coming year is expected to be used to “back-fill” vacancies caused by retirements and promotions, he said. “It’s just hiring and putting people into the positions to continue current operations until we get to the point where we’re ready to implement, first of all, a 10-hour schedule.”
Councilwoman Kymberly Pine proposed the $3.5 million appropriation, an amount based on figures provided by the Emergency Services Department showing that implementing daylight service islandwide would require the city to bolster its existing crew of about 140 with 40 to 50 additional lifeguards. Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi endorsed the inclusion in Bill 14, the city’s $2.3 billion fiscal 2017 operating budget, which will be up for a vote today.
