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Chair Adams commented that when you are going for federal money, there are so many restrictions around what you can do with it, that it’s not free money. It takes a lot of effort and you have to be careful about how you ask for it. Commissioner McIntosh asked whether the County has money for the N‘lehu and Phala sewer upgrades. Chief Beck said that for Phala, she believed there is SRF funding. For Nlehu, there might be, but she was not sure what the status is. She does know that DOH’s ability to distribute funds is limited. Even at “X” amount of money, they can only reimburse a certain amount each year. For the details, she would have to check with Deputy Chief Takamura. 7.REPORTS/CORRESPONDENCE 9 Director’s Informational Report. (Note: the report is posted online with the agenda under www.hawaiicounty.gov>Our County> County Calendar> (Meeting date). a. Legislative update Chair Adams said wanted to provide a clarification on Resolution No. 239-21. It is her understanding that the resolution was about a topic that Council Member Kimball will bring to the Hawai‘i State Association of Counties. This opens the door to recognize that the whole State needs to look for innovative ways to fund wastewater, because we are not the only county that is suffering. It is a national or international concern. All this resolution says is that HSAC can include it in its discussion package to take to the Legislature. And we as a Commission are almost obligated to come up with some of those innovative ways to fund wastewater solutions. And in the testimony and the discussions that Vice Chair Gaffney has had, we are trying to look at some of the things mentioned in the solid waste funding options paper, including public private partnerships, and we are looking for ways to sell the reused water rather than treat it as waste. We could sell the compost from the sludge in the wastewater treatment plant. So it’s looking at it as a source of revenue, getting creative, looking at where we might need to eliminate some of the legal barriers, as well as just finding hard cash. b. Requests for updates: The commissioners have requested informational updates on the following: a. Nlehu/Phala LCC status c.Solid Waste Division Projects and Updates, including ISWMP Priorities Implementation and Recycling d. Wastewater Division Projects and Updates There was no additional discussion on 7-b, 7-c, or 7-d. 9 Director’s Informational Report: http://records.hawaiicounty.gov/weblink/DocView.aspx?dbid=1&id=112863 17