Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN CRCOC 2026/09/15 (2024-2026) DRAFT Committee on Communications, Reports, and Council Oversight 26th Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii September 15, 2026 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Communications, Reports, and ORDER: Council Oversight was called to order at 5:15 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Michelle Galimba, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Chair Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Vice Chair Mr. James E. Hustace, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba,Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder,Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Mr. Dennis "Fresh" Onishi, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: (There were none.) COMMUNI The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS.: Communications. Comm. 35.9: QUARTERLY AFFORDABLE HOUSING REPORT: APRIL 1, 2026— JUNE 30} 2026 From Housing Administrator Kehaulani M. Costa, dated August 27, 2026, transmitting the above report pursuant to Section 11-19 of the Hawaii County Code. Motion to Close File: Ms. Kimball moved to close file on Comm. 35.9. Seconded by Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. CHR. GALIMBA: Administrator Costa, would you like to say a few words about the report? It is getting late so everyone, feel free to be succinct. CRCOC-26 September 15,2026 (Note: At this time, Office of Housing and Community Development Administrator Kehaulani M. Costa came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. COSTA: Kehau Costa, Housing Administrator. No changes since the last report. CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Seeing no one wanting discussion, all in favor of closing file on Communication 35.9, please say"aye," Any opposed? Vote on Comm. 35.9: The motion to close file on Comm. 35.9 was carried by the Filed following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, , Kaneali`i-Kleinfel er, Kietkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas and Chaim Galimba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. , Excused: None. Comm. 999: REQUESTS A PRESENTATION BY PACIFIC ISLANDS CLIMATE ADAPTATION SCIENCE CENTER'S CLIMATE ADAPTATION PLANNER KAMUELA PLUNKETT, REGARDING "PROJECT WAO —LAND-USE SYSTEMS CHANGE FOR SOCIETAL WATERSHED STEWARDSHIP AND RESILIENCE" From Council Member Heather I;. Kimball, dated July 30, 2026. Motion to Close File; Ms. Kimball moved to close file on Comm. 999. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada. CHR. GALIMBA; Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. It is my honor to introduce Kamuela Plunkett from the Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center to provide an overview of Project Wao. I thought this was particularly timely, especially as we start to discuss amendments to the General Plan and incorporating potentially more indigenous land use frameworks into our general planning. This presentation was intended to happen before (Hurricane) Lala and then that happened and we had to postpone it. Which I think, actually, since we're talking about watershed stewardship and management and resilience makes this all the more pertinent at this time. I do know it's late in the day, but I do encourage you to pay full attention to this presentation because I think it provides some valuable insight for us as a body going forward, thank you. Kamuela take it away. Page 2 CRCOC-26 September 15,2026 (Note: At this time, Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Planner Kamuela Plunkett came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. PLUNKETT: Aloha, Council. Thanks for your time and for your service to our county. Thank you for letting me present an overview of Project Wao. I'm going to read, so sorry if it sounds impersonable but going to try and make sure get all the points in. So thank you for this opportunity to present Project Wao to you today. There's a lot of information in these slides, so I'll be reading a scripted narrative in hopes of hitting the main points. To outline this presentation, the context of Project Wao is to reintroduce the ancestral watershed districting strategy of these islands and the tenants of land administration to help our society today, plan for the future. Also,,to help the Council and the public consider the promise thatcurrent land use maps project a feature pattern of development that assume water withdraw rights. However, they may not factor in land cover change overtime,which has over a century or more affected the capacity to refill our aquifers. Also to convey the future scenarios of decreased rainfall and subsequent ground water recharge projections. Also, lastly, the intent of this presentation,is also to ask for your support in future engagements with county offices that are engaged with land. And so this is Planning, POC(Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources), OSCER (Office of Sustainability, Climate, Equity, and Resilience), and maybe Office of Housing. (Note: At this time, Mr. Plunkett came forward and provided a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of the subject presentation, see the DVD copy of the meeting proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office or online at http://hawaiigounty.gov.granicus.com. A copy of the PowerPoint presentation is made a part of the record, see Comm. 999.) MR. PLUNKETT: I think I'll stop. Thanks for letting me go over. CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Thank you very much. Council Member Kimball, do you want to lead us off? MS. KIMBALL: Yeah. I just want to mahalo you for coming in and providing us with this really great resource. Hopefully you guys have a chance to go through all of the slides in more detail. I think the most profound thing that you said today was that there was a point in time when the decision was made to structure the Page 3 CRCOC-26 September 15,2026 society around stewardship of the `aina. And if there was something that I would want to put up front of this body, there's an opportunity for us through the General Plan amendments and through our work on this board to make that decision to restructure around these sort of stewardship practices that are based in this historic understanding of how land use provided resources and that relationship based method of, you know, deciding where things happen. You know we are under a western model of governance with all the protections that exist under the Constitution and State Constitution for land rights and property rights. And one might consider that there's like a fundamental conflict between that and the traditional ways of land'management. I don't think there is. I think there's actually an opportunity for synthesis towards something that is better and I think our body is the entity;that can"provide that"with the input of, looks like, Kamuela. So thank you again for being here and,I hope you guys find this as interesting and informative as I do. Thank you. CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Villega . MS. VILLEGAS: Just really quick. I just have to thank you for being here and the synchronicity of the message even some of the images and the reports that were presented to us earlier today and you are once again presenting, hammering the message. But you're bringing an optiori'and I just so enjoyed working with you and learning about your work and so "wowed" and grateful that you're bringing together these solutions and options for returning to the wisdom of our host culture. Appreciate it. CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Now, I've never—I've heard, ahupua`a, but I've never heard'it broken up into a layered approach. It's always been mauka to makai.'It's not, you know, the model that you always see. So seeing you're broken into different eco-systems which actually benefit each other, which engrossectthe idea of better land management, not just, this strip was chief so- and-so districts with chief so-and-so, and this was their area. But broken in carefully to align with how to make the land better and work for the population over time, which seems so common sense, but we move so far away from that. I love this. This is amazing and, like Ms. Villegas said, we had a land use decision that's in front of us today, somebody saying maps showed up. The aquifer discussion and areas where classically it's dried and yet we're told the aquifers were fine and we can continue pouring three million gallons a day and it's fine, right. But the reality and the common sense doesn't equal that as we continue to clear and climate change and everything else that's going on. So, I love this presentation. Thank you very much. Page 4 CRCOC-26 September 15,2026 MR. PLUNKETT: Thank you. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah. Mahalo. CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you very much for coming in. Beautiful maps. I at least will definitely be looking at them again. So seeing no other lights on, all in favor of closing file on Communication 999,please say"aye." Any opposed? Vote on Comm. 999: The motion to close file on Comm. 999 was carried by the Filed following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfeldor, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas and Chair Galimba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Comm. 1061: FOLLOW-UP AUDIT .OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT'S ABANDONED VEHICLE PROGRAM—REPORT NO. 2024-02 From County Auditor Clare McAdam, dated August26, 2026, transmitting the above audit report, pursuant to Section 3-18(d)(3) of the Hawaii County Charter. ; and Comm. 1061.1 From County Auditor Clare McAdam, dated August 26, 2026, transmitting a PowerPoint presentation. Motion to Close File:_�.. Mr,Inaba moved to close file on Comm. 1061. Seconded by Ms. Villegas. CHR: GALIMBA: ,Please. Go ahead. (Note: At this time, County Audit Analyst Maxinne Pacheco came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. PACHECO: Maxinne Pacheco, Office of the County Auditor. And I've asked Tiffany Wallace, she is the Derelict and Abandoned Vehicle Specialist, to help me in navigating our PowerPoint presentation. Aloha, Chair Galimba and Members of the Communications, Reports, and Council Oversight Committee. Good evening, Maxinne Pacheco, Lead Auditor for this review. Clare McAdams is unable to attend today. We're here to brief the committee on the first follow-up review of the Department of Environmental Page 5 CRCOC-26 September 15,2026 Management's (DEM) Derelict and Abandoned Vehicle Program, also known as the DAV Program, Report number 2026-02 published on August 26, 2026. Thank you to the audit team; Melissa Duarte, Audit Analyst, and Clare McAdams, Review Supervisor. We also thank DEMs leadership, Director Girvan, Deputy Director Kawaguchi, Solid Waste Division Chief Rivera, and DAV Program Specialist Tiffany Wallace and her team for their exceptional cooperation. (Note: At this time, Mr. Plunkett came forward and provided a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of the subject presentation, see the DVb'copy of the meeting proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office or online at http://hawaiigounty.gov.granicus.com. A copy of the,PerwerPoint presentation is made a part of the record, see Comm. 1061;1.) MS. PACHECO: Thank you, Chair Galimba and Council Members. This concludes our presentation. We are happy to answerquestions. CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you, Ms. Pacheco.` Anyone have any questions, comments? Council Member Hustace, go ahead. , MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. Just a question on the auction process. No auction,has been held since 2024, December 2024. What does that mean in terms of a stockpile or a backlog of vehicles that are stored, kept, those sorts of things? (Note: At this time, Abandoned Vehicle Specialist Tiffany Wallace came forward to address the members of the Committee.) M : WALLACE: Tiffany Wallace, Abandon Vehicle Specialist. So it means that we der have some good inventory, not enough to create an auction at this point. I just came onboard in February. So now that I have myself and I have two other staff members, we are looking to increase our inventory so that it will be worth our while to der an auction; so that it would fiscally responsible for us to do so. MR. HUSTACE: Is there a certain number that would be that good threshold for you? MS. WALLACE: So in my mind if I had to come up with one right now, it'd be 55 to 60 vehicles. MR. HUSTACE: Okay. Thank you. Appreciate that. Page 6 CRCOC-26 September 15,2026 MS. WALLACE: Thanks. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thanks. Just really a quick thing. Actually, you have a nice little flyer on here, free junk vehicle removal. Can you send that out to everybody so I can include it in my newsletter? Alright., Thank you. That's all I have. I yield. CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Seeing no One else, I just wanted a quick question myself. When do you think the formalizing policies and procedure recommendation will be fulfilled? MS. WALLACE: Tiffany Wallace, Abandon Vehicle Specialist. So we're looking to get that finalized before the end of the year, - CHR. GALIMBA: Awesome. Thank you so much And thank you for your work on this, it's very important,to get those abandoned vehicles off the side of the road. Alright. Seeing no one else. All in favor of dosing file on Communication 1061, please say "aye." Any opposed? Vote on Comm. 1061: The motion to close file'onComm. 1061 was carried by the Filed following Voice vote: Ayes:, , , Committee Members Hustace, Kagiwada, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas and Chair Galimba—6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, and Kierkiewicz—3. Excused: None. Comm. 1062: A PRESENTATION ON THE WASTEWATER FACILITY PLAN AND CESSPOOL CONVERSION EVALUATION From Environmental Management Director Daniel Girvan, dated August 27, 2026. (Note: Comm. 1062.1, from Environmental Management Director Daniel Girvan, dated September 11, 2026, transmitting supplemental information for Communication 1062, was circulated) Page 7 CRCOC-26 September 15,2026 Motion to Close File: Ms. Kimball moved to close file on Comm. 1062. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada. CHR. GALIMBA: Go ahead DEM (Department of Environmental Management). (Note: At this time, Environmental Management's Regulatory Administrator Kelly Hartman came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. HARTMAN: Hi everyone. This is Kelly Hartman, the Regulatory Administrator with DEM. I'm just going to quickly open up the meeting. Pursuant to the AOC (Administrative Order of Consent), the department has been working on these two reports. The Wastewater"Facilities Plan,,which evaluates the condition of our existing facilities,ranks them,put costs to them, for our eventual long-term financial plan, that will be coming due in 2021,2028. Additionally, we have Carollo here to speak tee the Cesspool Conversion Evaluation report. I will invite Gary Deis and.Jason Nikaido up here to present. Before we start, I wanted to double check on'the time requirement and is it per presentation. CHR. GALIMBA: Fifteen minutes total. MS. HARTMAN: Say. CHR. GALIMBA: Fifteen minutes total, preferably. MS. HARTMAN: Fifteen minutes total for the two reports. CHR_. GALIMBA: Yes. MS. HARTMAN: We'll do our best. Thank you. (Note: At this time, Carollo Engineers Senior Client Services Manager Gary Deis and Project Manager Jason Nikaido came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR.,DEIS: Good afternoon, Chair and Members of the Council, my name's Gary Deis, I'm with Carollo Engineers. I'll be joined with my colleagues Jason Nikaido. Jason and I have been working with your County staff at DEM as well as Finance from the last three years on these two particular reports. This is an overview and a briefing of the work that's been completed, today. Page 8 CRCOC-26 September 15,2026 (Note: At this time, Mr. Plunkett came forward and provided a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of the subject presentation, see the DVD copy of the meeting proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office or online at http://hawaiigounty.gov.granicus.com. A copy of the PowerPoint presentation is made a part of the record, see Comm. 1061.1.) MR. NIKAIDO: That concludes our presentation. We'll open up to any questions or comments. CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you so much. Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thanks. I just want to point out those two guys at the end of the photo shoot, that's some handsome guys you got in that. I don't know who those guys are butthey look good. What was cost per mile to run the mair,courlty line? That you used. Do you know? MR. NIKAIDO: Not off the top of our head but We can get you that number. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And then, did you consider where you have pockets of heavy density for cesspools versus in rural areas that are possible connections versus urban areas where you have instant customers but your cost of cutting'through,county streets and existing infrastructure and around buried HELCO (Hawaiian Electric Light Company) lines and things like that becomes more expensive? MR. NIIKAIDO: Yes. The rural communities were typically more expensive because we need to install more pipe to reach the treatment plant areas. And then the unit costs tei lake into account: construction, around other utilities as well. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: But cheaper to go through rural areas because there's nothing there. You're just going through rock. I mean, we have a lot of rocks I'll give you that. MR. NIKAIDO: Yes. But with other areas too, there are other considerations also in the rural areas such as, easements that may be necessary. The most direct path may not be on public right of way, but we assume that. Sometimes, that's why the cost are longer or higher, because of the need to go to public right of way. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I'm just looking and did some quick math on the Kealakehe, you have about 2300 customers in two areas that could be connected. That was in your math, yeah, it's 1700 and 600, respectively. So Page 9 CRCOC-26 September 15,2026 about 2,300 customers could be connected to the system at a cost of$219 million dollars, pencils out to about 79 years for the payments that are $52 per unit rate. That's pretty doable, I'm feeling this. My goodness. You know, the first time I met Kelly was on a phone call when we discussed the cost to improve sewer into the Puna district. Both up and out to Pahoa and up towards Volcano. And I looked at her and I was like, this is crazy. You might as well just give everybody a $50,000 voucher and say, build your own septic system. And the numbers you gave me, I mean, yeah, you're kind of back to that. As being the most cost effective. Even if the County,gave everybody the funds to do it, it would still be the most cost effective, in my'opinion, versus running the pipe, running it back to the plant. Yeah, is that in align with what you're saying? I mean even though your numbers didn't Show that, it was interesting. CHR. GALIMBA: I think they do— MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: No the cost for septic conversions the IWS (Individual Wastewater System), cesspool conversions to IWS was higher than your costs for, unless it was a joint combination thing. MS. KIMBALL: So it was abort half. MR. DEIS: So the cost we're using, the average cost for conversion to an IWS is $40,000 per unit. That number varies widely, depending on site conditions. You knowwe saw numbers ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 or more. The median was about$40,000 and that cost,per cesspool conversion is the least cost compared to the other options. MR. KANEALI`t-KLEINFELER: So I'm looking at this summary of priority county sewer extension projects. Where you have your cesspool priorities, your number of cesspools, estimated capital costs for existing county service extensions and then,your cost per conversion. So that cost per conversion is not an IWS conversion: MR. DEIS' No. That's for the extension of the sewer. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So that's per customer. A sewer connection conversion from cesspool to connecting to our county sewer system per unit. MR. DEIS: Correct. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Correct. Okay. MR. DEIS: That's not even 3,000, the number that you're looking at. Page 10 CRCOC-26 September 15,2026 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. It's 630, I misread that. I was thinking sewer conversion cesspool to IWS conversion. Okay so you came across the random, sorry the average price maybe about$40,000 for an IWS conversion? MR. DEIS: Yeah. It varies widely. But that's what we use as a base. It's for the analysis. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Oh that's cheaper. So I don't know if you ever, were you here earlier when we had the discussion with DEM? MR. DEIS: Of the rates or MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah. About the rags per unit. MR. DEIS: We were outside. Yeah. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And my thing,is, man, we need to connect more people. Because as I started doingthe math I realized the math does not work in our favor at all. Okay. MR. DEIS: Okay. MR. NIKAIDO: Can kind of see that with the cost estimates for Pahala and N5'51ehu. Where, you know, it's like 30 plus million dollars for a new collection system'and onlyrlike 100 or so customers. MR. KANEALL`I-KLEINFELDER: °Yeah. I'm having a hard time with that one. I still think we should do individual wastewater systems and call it a day. That's just my opinion. CAn you bring that, can you take those findings back to EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and have the discussion with them on the cost conversion fora treatment plant versus individual wastewater systems versus converting all the cesspools to a private or a public funded facility, that's going to cost us'$30 to $50 million dollars for 100 customers? MR. DEIS: Maybe that's a question for DEM perhaps but those numbers are real. I mean that$300,000 per cesspool conversion for decentralized system, that's based on,Pahala. Based on the big cost. MIS. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I've been watching these and I'm very interested. It's phsychotic actually, how much we're going to spend for 100 people. But DEM do you have a comment on that? Kelly? It's been bugging me. Michelle and I have talked about it and talked about it with Finance and I just, it's this floating question I have of why we're spending that much money for so little amount of customer base. Page 11 CRCOC-26 September 15,2026 (Note: At this time, Environmental Management Director Daniel Girvan came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. GIRVAN: The $300,000 per property is a real number that is really what is costing us at Pahala. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Understood. MR. GIRVAN: As far as EPA is concerned. They don't care how we do this. All they care about is that we close the gang cesspool. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. So IWS conversions is a possibility or it's off the table? MR. GIRVAN: It's very, very definitely a possibility. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Well my goodness. MR. GIRVAN: Well I have to put a restriction on that. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. MR. GIRVAN: DOH (Department of Health)will have a hand in that because it's the same old problem with a dense community. Independent septic tanks work fine until the community gets dense enough that they're too close together and they don't have adequate drainage. So the DOH would be the next potential controton whattechnology is acceptable in a condensed community. So they could come back and,say there's,not enough square feet per property to do IWS. And then that leaves us with maybe a little pressure system . CHR. GALIMBA: ,Okay we're a little wondering away. So let's, we can always have this conversation, when we've had it for years in Pahala, so let's not redo it tonight because I'm getting very grouchy. You may continue but let's not talk about Pahala. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Have we asked DOH? MR.,GIRVAN: Well, first off, please understand that Pahala was started a long time ago. So I can't answer for who was asked what, then. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Completely understand. I don't want to make Michelle more grouchy. But has DOH been asked that question? MR. GIRVAN: Let me just say that before we start Na`alehu we will ask those questions. Page 12 CRCOC-26 September 15,2026 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank God. Okay. Beautiful. Thank you. MR. GIRVAN: Okay. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I yield, Chair. CHR. GALIMBA: Awesome. Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: I will try to be brief. At the HSAC(Hawai`i State Association of Counties) conference last week, we did have a working group, Dan was a participant, thank you, Dan. And,you know,,the conversation, I mean really indicated that costs is the driving factor on a lot of the decision making. As, in the end that's not surprising. I mean I've seen that, whether we're talking about wastewater or water, and any kind of infrastructure. One question. You mentioned the UHs (University ofHawai`i) cesspool prioritization,tool. Were you using the most recent version; the one that Chris presented at the HSAC conference that had the 14 criteria for presentation-or was this the initial version that came out of the cesspool working group, MR. GIRVAN: Their'study used the three levels, Is that correct? Yes. Alright. His study with 14 levels was new news to me. Frankly, good news. But it was certainly new news to me. MS. KIMBALL: Yeah so,just for my collegues, you know, I think clearly from a standpoint,of cost alone, conversion to individual wastewater systems is, you know, it saves us,a lot of money„At least about$2 billion dollars, $3 billion dollars. However, what I don't,thidk is taken into account, correct me if I'm wrong in this analysis, is We do know thatthere are locations where in IWS, in terms of water quality, is not an improvement, right. And that's also a goal here. That is one of the factors that is taken into account. So, can I assume that with respect to the proposal here that, that particular element was not taken into account, the effectiveness of an IWS at that given location, in terms of this proposal? MR. NIKAIDO: That is correct. So our evaluation with a high level, we didn't do site specific evaluations which DOH would require an engineer to do. Things like, soil percolation and all that, we did not do and would change what type of individual wastewater systems DOH would approve. MS. KIMBALL: Right. Page 13 CRCOC-26 September 15,2026 MR. NIKAIDO: So it could be higher than $40,000 is a typical, we assume is a typical septic tank installation. MS. KIMBALL: Yeah. So, you know, I think as we move forward potentially the ability to incorporate this more advanced tool from UH into some of these decision making, I mean, as ideal as it seems to allow for most of the conversion to happen through a conversion to individual wastewater systems, you mentioned workforce, at our working group, that's another factor that's just outside of the cost factor. I mean, we're just not going to have the workforce, let alone materials to convert to individual wastewater systems that fast and meet these numbers. Just for my colleagues, there was some discussion about refining, even for the prioritization, in terms of the timeline and the 20 ,0 deadline to incorporate some of these other factors into that. And I think that's an interesting discussion to be had. The last question I want to have,'I mean, we brought up some of the wastewater facilities development, which I think, yes, we should think about cost per household, in terms of, these solutions. Based on this assessment, does it make sense to fund phase two of Hilo Wastewater? Sorry. MR. GIRVAN: I'm assuming you mean phase two of the Hilo project. Is that correct? MS. KIMBALL: Mmhmm. MR, GIRVAN:' Phase two of the Hilo project is a change in technology. We would be going from a towers with packed towers, with, I think they're called bioreaetors to more of a traditional activated sludge technology. I think it's viewed as being a more stable,, more capable technology, but it also offers us a new opportunities for a nutrient removal. It is not available to us with the bio towers You mow, all of us should be aware that the next level of regulation on our wastewater discharge is coming. And one of them is going to look like nutrient'control andthen part two of it is going to be PFAS (Polyfluoroalkyl Substances) and a lot of other things. So we're not done with having to perform better than'we have done in the past. MS. KIMBALL: So your perception is that it is likely that we would be required through potential mandate to move forward with the plan improvements that are in phase two. MR. GIRVAN: We're going to have Jason, either agree or disagree with me here, but I don't think we're going to be required to utilize a specific technology. Let's call that phase two. We're going to be required to perform to a certain discharge standard, and then in order to achieve that standard, I think we have to upgrade our technology. Am I reading that correctly? Page 14 CRCOC-26 September 15,2026 MS. HARTMAN: Kelly Hartman, Regulatory Administrator. So the phase two of the Hilo project is in our AOC mandates to replace those bio towers. The exact technology is not dictated to us but that's the design that we've been working on in house. MS. KIMBALL: Okay. So basically gas. It's regulatorily required that we expend the funds to do phase two. MS. HARTMAN: And it needs to be completed by 2035. MS. KIMBALL: Remember how I used the"over the barrel" expression. I'm going to use that again tonight. I'll leave it there, thank you. CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Onishi. MR. ONISHL I just wanted to say, I guess their staff from DEM that wanted to say something. CHR. GALIMBA: You have your hand raised. We wondered if you had something you wanted'to add. (Note: At this time, Wastewater Division Chief Chris Laude came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR, LADE: Yeah. Chrrs Laude, the Temporary Assignment Chief with the Wastewater Division. Just real quick. The requirement from DOH is that all cesspools be closed. But they don't say the County has to close all the cesspools, right. So this is a mandaeo that's not really well defined and they don't identify a funding source_ And as you can see from the report, the numbers that we're talking about:are just astronomical. And yes, the cheapest way seems to be the most attractive: However, it was also pointed out that with these individual wastewater systems you may not get any treatment of the liquid train so that the impact on the near shore waters is not going to be as dramatic. It's not going to be as dramatic of an improvement as you might hope. And every year when we renew the permit, the NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System)permit for Hilo, they always put in nutrient limits and every year we've been able to argue against it and, you know, one of these years they're going to say, "No, the permit limit stands." And a risk that we run into is we allow everybody to just do IWS. Now the near shore waters going to be impaired and our plant, even if we discharge nothing, is going to be non-compliant. Page 15 CRCOC-26 September 15,2026 So it's a complicated nuanced analysis here but we definitely, my recommendation is, we need to upgrade the plant to get a more modern secondary treatment system which is the activated sludge system. And then we also need to talk to DOH and figure out who's expected to convert these cesspools and who's going to pay for it, is the huge thing. And then if DOH allows IWS, they need to factor that into the future water quality standard studies that they do, thatwould shape the discharge limits of our NPDES permits. Sorry to get too complicated but this is surprisingly complicated. MR. ONISHL Thank you. My only,comment is that too bad we didn't have this presentation before we talked about those rate increases. I yield Thanks. CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah. Just real fast. I mean,back when I was in college in the 1900s conversations were'already being had about,find of, the waste in our practices. Especially in first worlcountries by dealing with our personal solid and liquid waste with water. So I am hopeful that some are out there we've got the next generalion,of incredible thinkers and enlightened minds and through traveling the world where not everybody has the luxury or the resources to use gallons of water to,flush their waste, which then leaves us with dealing with more, I'm hopeful that some are out there. There will be the technology for us to recalibrate the way we manage our waste flow, streams, cycles, whatnot. So that's just kind of my grand finale. I yield. CHR. 6ALIMBA: Thank you, Council Member Villegas. Kona? Council Member Hustace? He's gone. Okay. I just see someone over there. Okay. Oh, it's Scott. Okay, okay. So thank you so much for all the work you folks have done for three years and DEM for getting this ready and,you know, having this financial plan ready for EPA on time, I believe. So that's wonderful work. I thank you so much. Thank you for finding us $3 billion dollars less. Great work. Only $2 billion dollars. All in favor of closing file on Communication 1062,please say "aye." Page 16 CRCOC-26 September 15,2026 Vote on Comm. 1062: The motion to close file on Comm. 1062 was carried by the Filed following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas and Chair Galimba—6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Hustace, Inaba, and Kierkiewicz—3. Excused: None. CHR. GALIMBA: And that brings us to the end of our agenda for the night. Thank you so much. ADJOURN- There being no further business, Chair Galimba adjourned the meeting at MENT: 6:40 p.m. Approved: Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Chair (Date) Communications, Reports, and Council Oversight Committee MG/mp Page 17