2004-04-27 Water Board Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Mr. Tanaka asked Ms. Keehne and Mr. Levin about the possibilities of going back to the State Legislature for funding and what the next step would be. Ms. Keehne stated that Senator Kokubun has reviewed the plans and sees the need to write a Bill and try and get that allocation. The next step in going forward, if appropriation is given, is to start drilling and have the community simultaneously work with DWS in getting their CFD formed. In response to Mr. Tanaka's question of who would take the lead in lobbying the Legislature, Mr. Levin replied it should be a joint effort. There needs to be community buy -in if the next step should be a test well; and if so, where and estimated cost. Then the County, the DWS, and the community can join forces with district legislators to ask the 2005 Legislature to put in the necessary funds. Recognition that there is no federal money available for a test well, the source has to be proven first. Hopefully, that will be a winning argument at the Legislature. Ms. Scarr asked how the USGS tell will comes into this Plan. Ms. Keehne replied that it is a different type of well - -only 4 inches in diameter and only able to verify if there is water - -not the pumping data they would need. Also, the drill rig can only go as deep as 2,000 feet, and their projections show there is good water below that depth. Mr. Heck asked why they did not show the Wai`ohinu well and reservoir site as being phase one since that is already in the DWS' C.I.P. list. Ms. Keehne explained that it is because of engineering and costs. The pipeline cost outweighed the cost to having a well in Ocean View. This will allow the community to incrementally grow with their system and fund things little by little. Mr. Heck asked about the mention earlier of a moratorium on standpipes. Ms. Keehne explained that the moratorium on new meters at South Point is because the infrastructure there is limited. If you cannot even have a house hook -up, you would not be able to have a standpipe. She understood DWS may be studying the South Point system to make improvements, and the situation may change with those improvements. Mr. Heck asked for elaboration on the statement regarding the trench along the road, "shared utilities can cause danger or injury with workers not familiar with other types." The Manager explained that the DWS includes in its standards, trying to have waterlines at least 8 feet away from any other utilities for the safety of DWS personnel. There was previous discussion about putting the waterline in the trench with fiberoptics. Upon further review, it was found that there is a need to place a concrete jacket in between the two to prevent any injury. There is also the possibility of wiping out the entire fiberoptics system, thus the cost to repair. Mr. Heck mentioned the Department's standards and the Board's authority to change policy and asked to have this investigated further in the event that the trench ever becomes available. He also asked if Townscape reconsidered analyzing the population for the final plan and what that reconsideration is. Page 7 of 25 4- 27 -04min (Ocean View).doc