2022-02-16 EMC minutes draft - Laserfiche WebLink

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water, because that means we'll get more MGDs coming to the plant. Until we get there, then you're right. Then probably we could tap to more customers. But 1 MGD per day, it's not enough R-1 water even for a golf course, because I think one of the golf courses we were talking to, they are almost in the range of 1.5 to 2.0 MGD usage. And the regional park may be able to consume all of the R-1 water that we're going to produce. So mathematically, we must work within what we got currently to work with. Vice Chair Gaffney asked what is the status of the regional park. There's been no public discussion about the regional park proceeding. Director Mansour said they are moving in with Phase 1 eventually. They are not going to build it all at once. I think it was like $220 million, similar to the R-1 water’s $162 million price tag, the one that currently was designed for, he said. So definitely they are trying to build it in phases. Eventually they're going to get there, but also it's driven by the need for water as well. We’re going to work hand in hand. We projected probably within three years at least Phase 1 will be in place. So that's an ongoing discussion with them and trying to figure out how they're going to fund it, and what have you. The big picture here, the bottom line really comes to funding. You guys all know the County’s general fund is only $500 million. So when you have a project like this it takes the entire county budget, it's not sustainable for the county to fund such a project, even if they float bonds or what have you because our debt ratio will go out the roof. But that's more for the Finance Department to talk about it. But as to the principle of financing, we need to look a different way to be able to deliver our projects. Vice Chair Gaffney asked if the County is going to pay DEM for use of the R-1 water in the regional park. Director Mansour said he didn’t know. We haven't gotten there yet, but he would imagine it would be a memorandum of agreement between us and them, he said. Chair Adams asked the Vice Chair to put this discussion on the agenda for the next meeting to get answers to specific questions and get some background from DEM. Commissioner Fulton asked that the Director share the Department’s priorities. It's very easy for people to grasp the need for repairs or replacement to the Hilo Wastewater Treatment Plant, because it's a concrete physical structure. If a wall collapses, we're going to have something visual and something really bad happening. What's a little harder for people to understand, I think, is the reality of what's going on at that Honokōhau Small Boat Harbor and the perpetual chronic dumping of polluted water into that sump. So that's an ongoing problem that is destructive to our water quality. Those waters on the west side are federally impaired. We know the Hilo plant is at the top, but could you share the next two priorities on your list? Do you have a 1, 2, 3? Hilo is No. 1, Director Mansour said, and it’s tied with Pāhala and Nā‘ālehu because under the Administrative Order on Consent, the EPA made it clear we could receive a fine up to $63,000 7