2022 Report of the Cost of Government Commission

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The contract, which is valid through 2036, guarantees Hawaii Earth Recycling a minimum annual payment of 40,000 tons at approximately $105/ton. Further, each year the per ton price will be increased by adding the Consumer Price Index (CPI) through 2036. In other words, even if the County provided only 5,000 tons to HER, the County would still be required to pay the 40,000 ton minimum. The certified funds amount for this year's contract is $4,751,900. According to DEM, the County provides 30,000-32,000 tons of green waste each year to HER. That would mean at the current price, Hawai` i County would be paying 8,000 tons over what was received and processed and paying approximately $840,000 more than should be paid for services rendered. While mulch is better than nothing, it is extremely wasteful to taxpayers to pay for volumes of mulch that is not being produced. Wastewater Processing /Kovno Decision Challenges PPP, particularly in regard to wastewater processing, water -recycling, and water treatment are areas where there may be an opportunity for private partnerships as well as networking between our County/State/Federal delegations to troubleshoot and rapidly address our island's crumbling wastewater infrastructure. DEM Director Ramzi Mansour has discussed this with the Mayor but still expressed hesitancy due to concerns surrounding the Konno Decision. Various groups have met with the Mayor and DEM, even on the day of our Zoom with Director Ramzi, but according to the administration there may be obstacles in the path forward that could get resolved by legislative amendments and union and political support. Our DEM Permitted Interaction Group has briefly explored the successes the City & County of Honolulu was able to achieve in their leverage of private public partnerships to address wastewater infrastructure upgrades needed, and we believe this is an area warranting more review by the administration and County Council members. Award winning projects that were done in spite of the Hawaii Supreme Court decision in Konno that keeps coming up as a roadblock. Our committee recommends that our County look to the examples elsewhere in our State as Konno has a loophole that allows leeway if the focus is not on customary and historic services. Honolulu did a 12 million gallons per day (MGD) water recycling facility in `Ewa as water recycling was not a historic service. The facility built with no taxpayers' dollars stood apart from the nearby Honouliuli Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) and impacted no union jobs. At the Sand Island WWTP, they met consent decree requirements in partnership with Synagro Technologies Inc., which put in a digester for solids management. A soil amendment product was produced for sale, which was not a customary or historic service. With Sand Island moving to full secondary under the consent decree, another digester is being installed to handle more volume. This resulted in no union lawsuit. Mayor Roth has been approached by a couple of wastewater companies with very large portfolios willing to invest in solutions for Hawaii County. We should find a way to say yes while operating within the current confines and exemptions, if any exist, of the Konno decision. One option to explore is lease to purchase. Hilo needs a new treatment plant and modular design could eliminate the long procurement and design process while quickly bringing the plant into compliance. Average daily flows are only 2 MGD and modular can go up to 3 MGD. A private 12 2022 Cost of Govemment Commission —County of Hawai'i - Final Report