2019-03-27 Meeting Minutes (EMC)

Home

h. Review Chair’s proposed letter from the Commission to the Director of the Department of Public Works regarding adoption of the Uniform Plumbing Code. Chair Bennett said the purpose of his proposed letter is for the Department of Public Works to clarify for the County Council that the Council has the option to adopt the later version of the Uniform Plumbing Code and green supplements. A DPW employee had previously incorrectly informed the Council it could not be done; however, the Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes basically gives the counties the option to adopt these codes as they see fit. His letter asks DPW to clarify this for the Council, and it also invites the DPW director to come to their April meeting to discuss how DPW’s programs could be interfaced with the EMC’s interest in wastewater management and reuse. Commissioner Pequeño had some revisions he wanted to make to the letter, and Chair Bennett suggested he and Commissioner Pequeño work together after the meeting to wordsmith the letter. He would email the final draft to the commissioners, have it placed on letterhead, and send it to the DPW director. Motion, second, and vote: Commissioner Pequeño moved that they revise the letter and submit it to DPW, Commissioner Gaffney seconded the motion, and all commissioners voted aye. As engineers from Brown & Caldwell were present, Chair Bennett jumped to agenda items 6b(3) and (4). 6. REPORTS/CORRESPONDENCE b. Director’s Informational Report. (3) Status of the Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Plant effluent R-1 upgrade and Soil Aquifer Treatment (SAT) preliminary results. (4) Report on projected R-1 water users. Director Kucharski handed out demand estimates on the use of the R-1 system, and introduced Craig Lekven of Brown & Caldwell. Mr. Lekven said he is the project manager for the Kealakehe R-1 Upgrade Project. The EIS on the project is currently out, and comments are due by April 9, 2019. The EIS describes their projections for recycled water demands for the future, and the graphic that was handed out shows their plan for the facility as far as recycled water use, including initial and future use areas. He went through the potential users of the recycled water (the Old Kona Airport Park, Kohanaiki Golf and Ocean Club, the Makalua Project, Queen Liliuokalani Trust developments, the Kealakehe Regional Park, Honokōhau Harbor, and the Lanihau 6