2018-07-26 Meeting Minutes (EMC)

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that are harming the environment. As soon as that can be done, the better it will be for the community, the county, and the Wastewater Division. Vice Chair Olson whether new developers coming in to the area would be charged for their connection and use, and Director Kucharski said the county’s connection fee is zero for a new entity connecting to the sewer. However, the regular monthly charges would be applied. Vice Chair Olson said that years ago a fee structure was discussed for a new development, as the size of a system needs to accommodate some new development. Director Kucharski said currently the county will be paying the connection fee to go from the home to the sewer, and it will be paying for the people on cesspools to connect. It will cost over $1 million for all the connections. For others to connect later, it will be at their cost. 4. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Continued discussion on the motion that any contracts entered into with the Department of Environmental Management contain a percentage of the contract dedicated to an education and outreach component for waste reduction. (The motion is on the table from the June 27, 2018, meeting.) Chair Bennett said that as the two commissioners who were working on this to provide more precise language were not present, this would be tabled until the next meeting. b. Status report by subcommittee pursuant to its investigation on how to address implementing the Commission’s resolution approved and adopted on March 28, 2018, to adopt a proactive pollution elimination program consistent with the goals of the Clean Water Act. Chair Bennett said this matter has grown into something much larger than he had envisioned. He received information from the Planning Department and spoke to a planner, who was able to give him an overview of all the policies and regulations which have something to do with the General Plan. It was illuminating, as he did not realize the General Plan looked at things such as watershed management. There are significant holes in some county policies, and one that needs to be investigated is the functioning of the Public Works Department (“DPW”) and storm water management. He needs to talk to DPW to get their views on this, and he hopes to have more concise information next month. Commissioner Gaffney said there appears to be a unique filtration system being installed in the drywells at Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway at the bottom of Hina Lani Street, which he does not think are being installed in other drywells. He would suggest Chair Bennett ask DPW about this. He is curious about whether the federal government has unique requirements which the County should consider.