2018-04-25 Meeting Minutes (EMC)

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Commissioner Osborne said she wants the EMC to be reminded when it becomes time to submit the budget, as the EMC would recommend this be included as an item in DEM’s next budget. Director Kucharski said they are in the midst of the next budget cycle, which will be finalized at the end of June. Commissioner Osborne said if the ISWMP is due in December 2019, it could go into next year’s budget or they could each go to their councilmembers and see if they could use a small percentage of their discretionary funds to contribute to the study. Vote: Chair Bennett called for a vote of all those in favor of Commissioner Osborne’s motion. All commissioners voted aye. Commissioner Gaffney asked Mr. Hayducsko if the ISWMP would be looking at how to deal with emergency disposal, and Mr. Hayducsko said it could be an item in the plan. After the Kauai flooding, it has become a heightened issue. Director Kucharski said that since the Hilo landfill will be closing, any plan will have to be modified to go to one central location rather than diverse locations. It is an issue that needs to be studied and added to the management plan. Commissioner Osborne asked if there was a contingency fund for emergencies, and Director Kucharski that there are no contingency funds in DEM’s budget. 5. NEW BUSINESS a. Presentation by the Department of Environmental Management’s Recycling Coordinator regarding recycling education at the schools. Mr. Hayducsko spread out several bottles, cans, and other samples out on a table. He explained there is good news and bad news. The bad news is that staff are not going into school classrooms to educate students, as they do not have the sources or financing to do that. Years ago there were funds available to contract with a nonprofit organization which went into the schools to educate, but they do not have the funds for that now. They have, however, given presentations to teacher organizations, service groups, and the university and provide low-cost services such as press releases, ads, and tours. They did approximately 12 tours of the landfills and recycling facilities last year. They would like to be able to reach the children but at this point are not able to do that. They recently had the Earth Day event at the university, which schools also attend, and they reached several thousand. Education is needed, and it needs to be constant. He spoke about the various containers on the table, showing how some may look the same but are not, and are categorized differently. Some are recyclable and some not, and there are numbers on the bottom showing what the category is. Individuals who recycle can truly make a difference. He explained further on what is recyclable and what is not. Commissioner Osborne thanked Mr. Hayducsko for his presentation, saying how important it is to her because she is an educator. Part of the EMC’s spirit and intent is to support DEM in securing extra funds. She would like to have on an agenda an item on the portion of contracts dedicated to education, as every contract should have a percentage going towards education. She would like a future agenda item to discuss how the EMC can recommend that 7