2001-09-26 Enviromental Management Commission Minutes

Home

Minutes for Wednesday, September 26, 2001Page 4 of 7 former Committee members to continue the participation with the Commission in the continued development of the County’s Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan. Mayor will make a final recommendation as to what to do with the SWAC. Hugh Ono feels that the input from the industry people is real germane to this matter. They are the stakeholders and it is important that they have their input. Barbara Bell mentioned that the language in Galen’s recommendation states "disbanding". Should we say "reconfigure"? Or "reorganize"? Gerald stated that you should suggest in this what you want to have happen to the members of the SWAC. Are they going to now become a subcommittee of the Commission? Riley stated that we are inviting them to participate in our meetings as members of the public, but the way our rules set us up, there are nine votes here. We are inviting the participation, but we are still the Commission. Gerald stated that the final vote will come from the Commission, but they can still have some form as a subcommittee or a special group task force. Larry Capellas stated that the SWAC was a loose committee with the intent of State Law to be advisory to the Consultants. The Consultants’ duty was to bring input to the SWAC. In turn, the SWAC would take that input back to the community and then come in and provide the Consultants the input from the different community groups. Mike Allen commented that he would like to stay involved in the process on more of an advisory capacity rather than a general public capacity. At the meeting in Hilo, SWAC members sat in the audience with members of the public. It got confusing trying to identify who was in the SWAC and who was in the general public. Those SWAC members that want to still stay involved in the process, should be treated as somewhat of an official committee. Then we can go ahead, within that group, identify one or two spokespeople that we would like to have our ideas presented to the actual Commission. We have a cross-section of people in the industry that have more experience handling waste and doing recycling. He’s afraid that the Commission will not have that important input. Riley suggested that Barbara Bell would head that subcommittee since her business is also affiliated with the SWAC. Mike Allen agreed. Barbara Bell stated that the SWAC meeting should be an agenda item. John Ray stated that the key is communication. If you continue to communicate in a timely fashion with members of the SWAC, make sure they have the information ahead of time, encourage their input, and it works fine. Stress the importance of putting things in writing and getting things out in a timely manner. He doesn’t see the need for a separate committee. Just communicate with the SWAC members and invite their participation. Margaret Pahio, a member of the SWAC, who doesn’t want to be just forgotten about. She put a lot into this. She does not want to be put on the side like they caused some problems at the SWAC meetings. She would appreciate if she could receive information before hand so she can give more intelligent input. Kristen will prepare a distribution list that has a title associated with the SWAC and make sure they get all information. Last minute information will not be received ahead of time, but will be available upon entering the meeting. Riley Smith stated that we still want to go through and acknowledge the proposed motion, but we should possibly have a committee that is comprised of members of the business community that are involved in this and identify them and that they participate in our meetings. Recognize them as a subcommittee. Need a new motion. Galen feels that as far as the Mayor is concerned, what you do with the old SWAC is up to the Commission now. All we are saying is don’t forget them. What you do with them is your call. file://C:\Test1\minutes092601.htm6/22/2011