21-10-27 EMC minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Vote: The minutes were approved as presented by voice vote. Ayes: 7 (Adams, Burns, Fulton, Gaffney, McIntosh, Olson, Robinson); Nays 0; Absent 2 (Cardwell, Hoopii). Motion carried. 3. STATEMENT FROM THE CHAIR Chair Adams thanked participants for bearing with us. Hopefully we can get all the links straight next time. She acknowledged two representatives from DEM because the Director could not make it. We are lucky to get Mike Kaha, Acting Solid Waste Division Chief, and Dora Beck, Wastewater Division Chief. In addition,we have Sanne Berrig with the Recycling Program, who is always available to answer our questions. She is hoping for a good meeting. We got a nice lengthy report from the Director, so hopefully we can make some progress. 4. PUBLIC STATEMENTS ON ITEMS ON THE AGENDA Sandra Demoruelle: I’m Sandra Demoruelle in N‘lehu and I am speaking to agenda item 7-a, the legislative update, regarding Resolution 239-21 of the County Council, procuring $2 billion in innovative funding, State funding, for the DEM wastewater projects. Good morning, Chairman and Commissioners. Today I hope to bring to your attention that by withholding UIPA information, DEM is operating in the dark and contractors are accountable to no one. Factually, on August 25, this year, I sent a UIPA request for the financial information for the Phala wastewater project’s new design plan (and) fiscal information, which I never received. This UIPA request is just another example of DEM not providing transparency and accountability for current unbuilt projects. So I just have to ask, why hand another $2 billion to the same contractors for more design on the same projects? What if DEM is magically handed a blank check for $2 billion? A sum that makes me shudder, I must admit. Two billion dollars tomorrow – the problem of spending it wisely with public transparency and accountability remains unchanged. My suggested solution, which is in accordance with State and Federal law of environmental review, is just do a programmatic County-wide wastewater EIS, conclude reasonable considerations of all the proposed treatment alternatives. This would be from the Cesspool Conversion Working Group on the State level as well as all these proposed alternatives that have been emerging recently. But consider all these alternatives, and also provide broad citizen participation in the County’s wastewater decision process. Then you can supplement this broad programmatic EIS with site review for individual projects. This way, DEM can stop paying contractors on endless designs that are never built, like in Phala. How could Brown and Caldwell not see there was a slope there, and understand that the people were telling them that there are lava tubes? This is not a surprise. Mahalo for your attention to my suggestion to do a broad programmatic EIS for all the County wastewater alternatives before throwing good money after bad. Thank you. Jerome Warren: I’m Jerome Warren in N‘lehu. Item 7-b, my written testimony was published in the Hilo newspaper. Today, the Director is vague about the N‘lehu sewer project. I will talk to any Commissioner about the project. My number is in the phone book. I have letters telling me that the construction will start in 2011 and 2013. My communication with the EPA started in 2003. We still talk once a month. This project is supposed to be completed in 2023, not 2027. 2