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Testimony to Hawaii County Council - Finance Committee GommA014
April 15, 2021 DEM CIP BUDGET Meeting
COUNTY CLERK
COUNTY OF HAWAI°I
RECEIVED
Aloha Finance Committee Chair and Council Members, Time MblpWM• sl•c
Date APR 1 2 2021
Project FY No. 2021001 DEM- Naalehu Wastewater System re-
appropriation of$6,500,00 in State Revolving Fund Loans may be a violation of
SRF requirements, based on the US EPA Office of Inspector General audit of the
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) finding that SRF project delays
limit SRF spending and contribute to a problematic "unspent funds issue." (Report
No. 16-P-0218, June 28, 2016).
In other words, both the Naalehu and Pahala Wastewater System (formerly
LCC Closure project) have similarly tied up CWSRF funds since receiving
$5,715,000 CWSRF in 2008 (2008-09 CIP Page 11) as funding for two projects
that have never proceeded beyond the stage of environmental review and
preliminary design for 14 years!
The Naalehu and Pahala wastewater projects are open grants that have tied
up CWSRF for 14 years —with absolutely no end in sight!
Further, since environmental review and design are costs that are not
supposed to have received $6,500,000 (per the current CIP Budget "State
Revolving Loan Fund" on page 4), this use of CWSRF funds should place the
Clean Water Branch of the Department of Health, headed by Sina Pruder, P.E.,
under its own EPA audit scrutiny.
Lacking any DEM transparency as to what happened to the expensive
Naalehu Wastewater Environmental Assessment, which is a year late, the only clue
we have is what Director Mansour has asked for in the current CIP budget— a total
of$80,603,000 (or $566,150 for each of the 147 homes on the Naalehu LCC) and
demands for FY 2021-22 funding of$13,900,000 (CIP Page 13) for some kind of
wastewater project.
The solution to where the money has gone on the twin Ka'u wastewater
projects over the past 14 years is ASK for an AUDIT before the County engages
another "consultant" or spends another penny! Find "where the money
went" BEFORE deciding to spend any more, please!!
Thank you,
Sandra Demoruelle comm. No t/3144
Ref.To: 91 L CsP.Ft)
Ref. nate APR 1 5 2021
Oral Testimony to Hawaii County Council - Finance Committee
April 15, 2021 DEM CIP BUDGET Meeting - Agenda Item 7 DEM CIP
Good morning Finance Committee Chair Kanealii-Kleinfelder and Council Members,
For the last four years Bill Kucharski has pulled the wool over your eyes by promising
an $83,244,000 Naalehu Wastewater System — which was never delivered.
In fact, Director Kucharski never even delivered the Naalehu Wastewater
Environmental Assessment in April of last year that County taxpayers have already paid
about a million dollars for.
Now— under Director Mansour—this unknown Naalehu Wastewater System is the #1
CIP project of this year, using "re-appropriated SRF" loan funding of $6,600,000.
So much is wrong with this that I cannot cover it all in three minutes — so let me just
bring to your attention a few of the biggest problems:
First, SRF loan funds are given to the County to construct specific projects and
cannot just be "re-appropriated" willy-nilly to other projects. Further, it is funding
for construction and cannot be used for design and planning.
Second, no environmental review has been done and it will take many more years
to get an acceptable EIS done for this major project.
Last— and as I say I am ignoring many other major problems at present — building a
major infrastructure project like the Naalehu Wastewater plant at the end of a
County flood ditch is a known flood hazard breaking NFIP regulations which may
totally void the County NFIP insurance policy (which covers all of County
infrastructure).
Thank you for considering my concerns and addressing this with DEM later today,
Sandra Demoruelle