2001-09-05 Enviromental Management Commission Minutes

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Minutes for Wednesday, September 5, 2001Page 2 of 5 Hugh Ono expressed his concern with duplication of services between the Environmental Management Commission and the Solid Waste Advisory Committee. To some degree, he can see this is true. We review and provide recommendations on certain matters. After we are done with it, it goes to County Council. There seems to be a redundancy. Hopefully, the County can, to some degree, address that. We are adding more time to everything that we do and time is important. Curtis Tyler agreed with this. Part of the redundancy is because this is a brand new committee. The makeup of this committee is to have a wide range of professional expertise, which is perhaps different from other commissions. The government grinds pretty slowly. There is tremendous potential and liability involved in issues of the EPA. He envisions, as the charter provides, that the Environmental Management Commission might have decision-making abilities by ordinance. Dominic Yagong, Councilman, spoke on the process. Bill 57 should not have been sent to the Environmental Management Commission. That is something that Council should review since the final decision will happen at Council. He would hate to put the Commission’s energy into areas that we don’t know anything about. We need to determine what we want people to consider or do we consider everything? It takes too much time to address everything. The closure of the Hilo Landfill is the biggest thing we will have to deal with right now. There is a time frame as to the closure of the landfill. The best thing for the Council is if, as soon as possible, they had alternatives or options to look at. The Commission’s recommendations will go a long way as far as Council is concerned. We must have a clear direction. Carolyn Witcher expressed her frustration at being a member of the Commission and not being a member of the Solid Waste Advisory Committee. She is only allowed to speak as a member of the public. Another committee should not have been formed. It should have been handled right here. Requested again to be on the mailing list. Larry Capellas acknowledged her request and committed to including her on all future mailings. She would like everyone on Commission to officially be a member of the Advisory Committee. Peter Martin was astounded that another body would duplicate Commission. He doesn't want to be second- guessed by others when dealing with the same issues. Larry Capellas, Solid Waste Division Chief, shared his thoughts as to ensuring a more productive meeting. He was going to ask that committee members listen to the consultants first, and then give their input. There are five general areas that the Consultants are studying. They are going to follow the time allotted for each section. If interruptions continue, individuals will be asked to leave. The contract with the Consultants includes four SWAC meetings and then the Committee disbands. The discussions will then be between the Consultants, the Commission, and the Solid Waste Division. Peter Martin made a motion that the independent body of the SWAC should be disbanded and appended to this commission as a committee of this commission and that the people who have done the research should report directly to the Commission. Carolyn Witcher seconds. Peter rescinded the motion. Carolyn withdrew the second. Hugh Ono feels it is not necessary for every single member to be on the SWAC. Legislators cannot participate in every single thing. They rely on the reports that are written. They have opportunities to question the people who have put together the reports and make recommendations. He would hate to see something totally amended. There is a purpose for having the SWAC. Gerald Takase notes that this is not on the agenda. You can put it on the agenda and by the next meeting, we could probably research the relation of the SWAC to the EMC and advise you properly if it is within your right to dismiss them or not. Certainly, all of you can attend the meetings as members of this commission, but to cut them off here and now would be a little premature. He suggested that members of file://C:\Test1\minutes090501.htm6/22/2011