2019-08-28 Meeting Minutes (EMC)

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Commissioner Pequeño reported that he had spoken to a few people and received several ideas: • One idea would be to reclassify a vacant position into a planner position, as he was informed that other departments have a planner position whose specific focus is to apply for grants. • Another idea is to contract with a part-time grant writer who would either seek grants or seek and apply for them. • The AmeriCorps Vista program is another possibility. They could do the research and heavy lifting, which could then be synthesized and utilized by a grant writer. • The last idea was to find ways to tie in to the Kīlauea recovery effort, since state and federal funds are coming in which can be used to address not only lower Puna but other emergencies or future issues expected to arise. It might be possible to leverage funds for a future issue such as problems caused by the sea level rise. Director Kucharski reported on several grants that were recently received. One was from the federal government’s Bureau of Reclamation for the R-1 project, and two were CIP grants from the state for joint dual piping for the regional park and for looking into all the options for Puakō. A consultant from Brown and Caldwell wrote the grant application for the department, as the firm was already under contract. If the department were to have a grant writer position, approval would be needed from both the mayor and County Council. He thanked the commissioners for their support, and Commissioner Pequeño for his efforts. Chair Bennett asked Commissioner Pequeño to draft a memo for the EMC and director, summarizing his report. Commissioner Pequeño said he would, and that he also wanted to continue with his research, as he had just scratched the surface. Chair Bennett suggested he contact Dana Okano, of the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, as she would have information on putting out RFPs for funds. b. Discuss ideas for identifying residences and businesses that are not connected to the county sewer but may be required to do so. Chair Bennett said he was interested to know the extent of those who are not connected to the sewer when they are required to be, and whether it is a minor or major amount. Two sources to aid in discovering this would be DEM’s billing roster and the Public Works Department’s data base on plumbing permits. A contractor who has data base management experience could merge the information from both sources to see if there are tax map keys that should be connected but are not.