2019-01-23 Meeting Minutes (EMC)

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3. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS Cory Harden: If sewer fees are to be increased, the people who are doing the right thing are being penalized, whereas those on cesspools don’t pay anything. It would be fairer to increase property taxes than sewer fees. She passed out a flyer about a “Reinvented Toilet Expo” held a few months ago. She suggested they look into the different types of toilets, because waste should be seen as a resource. She would like Bill Gates to do a video presentation to the County Council to get the momentum going on sewer alternatives. 4. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Chair’s update on Water Sustainability Policy White Paper and plans. Chair Bennett said several things came up that took priority over the white paper, so he is still working on it. He deferred the matter to the February meeting. The intention is to have the draft out to the subcommittee so it can be discussed thoroughly at the February meeting. 5. NEW BUSINESS a. Informational discussion on the State’s Water Reuse Task Force Report. Chair Bennett said this was under New Business because the EMC had agreed as a commission to respond to the report, rather than to draft their own policies on water reuse. (1) Director’s introduction to the report. Director Kucharski explained he was a member of the task force, which was created during the last legislative session to look at water reuse in Hawaiʻi and come up with ideas on how to increase it. The task force came up with goals and looked at ways water could be reused and what the institutional barriers are. They identified ten top recommendations and also came up with several demonstration projects, which included the Kealakehe WWTP R-1 upgrade, with the focus on marketing the water and management of the resource. They also looked at funding for the design of the planned regional park in Kona to have a dual piping system. Public outreach is needed to start educating people about water reuse and how, if treated properly, it can be purer than water that comes out of the ground. (2) Commission’s input. Commissioner Gaffney was pleased that the Kealakehe WWTP is one of the demonstration projects. There are other possible users of the water that are not listed in the report, and one is the state ag park. Director Kucharski said the transmission costs far exceed what the County can recoup. The R-1 system was originally at $54 million and is