2017-10-25 Environmental Management Commission Minutes

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Jerome Warren: Mr. Warren testified first on agenda item 5a, the General Plan. He said the Kaūʻ CDP, which ties into the General Plan, has an infrastructure chapter that includes roads and water, but there is no mention of wastewater. Two businesses in Nāālehu, the 76 Gas ʻ Station and Ace Hardware, recently installed septic systems. They’re doing their own. There was a large sewage spill in Nāālehu Sʻubdivision, where he lives. There are 160 plantation homes there. The spill was above the highway, and it was reported online on September 28 in Big Island News. The spill was over 1,000 gallons and happened on September 19. The County promised the EPA that a new $16 million sewage treatment plant will be built upwind from the Nāālehu Elementary School. ʻHe wants to know whether the properties that have septic systems will be required to hook into the sewer, and where the lines will run. He said the plan presented was very vague, and the department as well as the council members have been silent. Public meetings get scheduled after the property has been acquired and the blueprint done. The County’s promise to the EPA includes federal fines if certain deadlines are not met. What are these deadlines? How much will we have to cough up? Mr. Warren next testified on agenda item 6a, the Director’s Report, and specifically item I of the report, Sewer Rate Study Update. As gang cesspools are illegal, how can the County make somebody pay for something illegal? If an owner disconnects from a cesspool, will he still have to pay? The Nāālehu people are ʻupset because they’ve been ignored. Also, how did unpaid sewer bills reach such high balances, and how much is still owed? Has Country Club Villas, which owed $113,000 in unpaid sewer bills, ever paid? In closing, Mr. Warren said that during public testimony, commissioners should hold their comments. Comments and questions can be raised during the reading of the agenda items, and then the testifier should be given the opportunity to respond. Agenda item 5a: UPDATE BY PLANNING DEPARTMENT ON GENERAL PLAN April Surprenant introduced herself and Bethany Morrison of the Planning Department. Ms. Surprenant is the manager for long-range planning, and Ms. Morrison is a senior planner and project manager for the General Plan. They did a slide presentation entitled General Plan Comprehensive Review Project Update. Ms. Surprenant explained the General Plan is the big picture, long-range comprehensive plan for our island. It is broad in scope and deals with specific topics such as the environment, community, and economy. It looks ahead in the range of 25 years into the future. Its content contains overarching goals, specific policies or directives, and implementation actions. The actions often point to different departments in terms of what they are to do or take on. Implications of the process might be future rezoning, or changing the zoning as we see it today. There are also implications on public improvements such as roads, water, and wastewater, as well as on public access programs and other programs. The process started in February 2015 and is extensive. They have gone through a myriad of things, including researching existing plans and policies. They have spoken with all involved agencies in the county and state, as well as outside the government. They have been incorporating and researching CDPs. This is the first General Plan that incorporates the regional CDPs which are in place. With all the information gathered, they have done trend scenarios, looking at what life will look like on our island in 2