2020-05-27 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Chair Pequeño explained that Director Kucharski and Deputy Director Noda had to meet with the mayor this morning, but the director did provide him some informal updates. He is hopeful they can delve deeper into this at the June meeting. Commissioner Gaffney wanted to emphasize the importance of organic material and compost on the Big Island, as it is young and made primarily of lava rock rather than soil. Composted materials are essential to successful gardening for those living in rocky areas. Multiple composting sites are needed in the long term so people can travel reasonable distances to acquire the materials essential for them to garden. Commissioner Fulton asked if Councilmember Richards could comment on this. Councilmember Richards said he is supportive and likes what he is hearing, but the budget situation is terrible right now and won’t get better soon. These are the kinds of ideas, however, he wants the commission to talk about. He would like them to help him flesh out these ideas going forward, but the money to accomplish things won’t happen this year. He is open to conversations with commissioners. Commissioner Fulton asked if the Council has resources to explore public-private partnerships and alternative sources of funding so the county doesn’t always have to take on more debt. Councilmember Richards said the short answer is no. He is hoping that through the CARES Act some assistance will be provided on infrastructure. However, he would like the commission to come up with ideas on alternative sources of funding and help him flesh them out. Commissioner Cardwell said that regarding mulch, it might be good if people had to pay a small fee for it. A fee might help decrease the cost of people having to haul mulch far distances, as she supports the idea of having multiple composting facilities. Commissioner Adams said there are projects out there for distributed compost collection systems, to bring them closer to people and cut out the transportation cost, and perhaps someone could touch base with Zero Waste and Recycle Hawaiʻi to make a presentation. Chair Pequeño said he would make a note of that and would keep this agenda item for the next meeting. 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Discussion on U.S. Supreme Court ruling on County of Maui vs. Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund and its potential impacts on the County of Hawaiʻi. Chair Pequeño noted the commissioners received a letter from Kona Waterkeeper written by Dr. Rick Bennett regarding the ruling, and also that a letter to the editor of the Star 4