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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-03-16 TWAIKOLOADEVCO PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAII HEARING TRANSCRIPT March 16, 2007 WAIKOLOA DEVELOPMENT A regularly advertised hearing on the application of COMPANY (SMA USE PERMIT NO. 25) was called to order at 10:20 a.m. at the King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel, 75-5660 Palani Road, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, with Chairman William Graham presiding. PRESENT:C. Kimo AlamedaABSENT & EXCUSED:Andrew Iwashita Takashi Domingo William Graham AlvinRho Rene Siracusa Rodney Watanabe Rell Woodward Ivan Torigoe, Deputy Corporation Counsel Christopher Yuen, Planning Director Norman Hayashi, Planning Program Manager Jeff Darrow, Staff Planner And approximately 37 people from the public in attendance. APPLICANT: WAIKOLOA DEVELOPMENT COMPANY (SMA USE PERMIT NO. 25) Request for amendment toCondition No. 12 (completion of the Waikoloa Homesites Venture Golf Course) of Special Management Area (SMA) Use Permit No. 25, which allowed the overall developmentoftheWaikoloaResortatWaikoloa,SouthKohala,Hawaii,TMK:6-9-7:1-9,11, 14, 17, 19-21, 26, 30-38; 6-9-8:1-31; 6-9-9:1-14; 6-9-10:1, 34; and 6-9-11:1-26. GRAHAM:Our next agenda item today is a request for amendment to ConditionNo.12ofSpecialManagementAreaUsePermitNo.25,whichallowedtheoverall development of the Waikoloa Resort at Waikoloa. This Condition No. 12 was completion of the WaikoloaHomesitesVenture,agolfcoursetimerequirement,andtheapplicantisaskingfora time extension of the time requirement. And I believe this is the third hearing where weve dealt withthis;thefirsthearingtherewasarequestthatadditionalinformationbesubmitted specifically with regard to the marine environment off Waikoloa, and the information did come tooursecondhearing,whichwaslastmonth.Andatthattimewediscussedtheissuesandwhen we voted, we did not have five members voting one way or the other, so there was no action taken. So we are back here again today on the item. Jeff, could you give us a little presentation first, please? DARROW:Sure. Again, this is a continued hearing at our last Kona meeting, February 15, 2007. A motion was made by Commissioner Watanabe and seconded by 1EXHIBIT B Commissioner Galdones to approve the amendment request. The motion did not passwith four ayes and two noes. Just to refresh the Commissioners memories and to be able to give a brief background for the new Commissioners, this application is located within the South Kohala District of Hawaii, more specifically we are looking at the Waikoloa area. This is Queen Kaahumanu running in an east- west direction. We are looking specifically at the area identified by a red dot. The applicant in this case, Waikoloa Development Company, is requesting a six-year time extension to Condition 12 of SMA Use Permit 25. Condition 12 is the construction timeline to complete the construction of the third golf course. Again, they are asking for a six-year time extension. The Planning Director did add in several new conditions; this would be Conditions 24, 25 and 26 relating to the applicant to submit an integrated golf course management plan. Additionally, since our last hearing we have received two correspondence: One from attorney William Yuen whorepresentsWaikoloaHomesitesVenture,andwereceivedsomematerialthismorningfrom Charles Flaherty. And Im not sure -. This is identified -. The front page has a copy of the Review of Coastal Monitoring Data for Developments in West Hawaii. The Planning Director is recommending that this amendment request for Condition No. 12 be approved by the Planning Commission. Are there any questions? GRAHAM:Thank you, Jeff. Any questions at this point for Mr. Darrow by any of the Commissioners? Yes, Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:Yes. Actually its for Director Yuen. These goals of the integrated golf course management plan are basically implementation of the recommendations by the University group that was charged to do the analysis? GRAHAM:Is that a question for Mr. Yuen? SIRACUSA:Yes. C. YUEN:No. Those were primarily on a monitoring basis, so these are relative to the actual management of the golf course. Theyre similar to conditions that we used for Kohanaiki when we took a good hard look at what kinds of things should be required of golf courses managed in the coastal environment. SIRACUSA:May I? It would seem to me that one has to do the monitoring in order to get the information to do proper management. So is that sort of included? Is it understood that thats included? GRAHAM:Mr. Yuen? C. YUEN:Well, they have quite a bit of monitoring in Waikoloa. I think we talked about this at the last meeting, and we are planning to have a conference to discuss what kinds of further monitoring should be done in the coast generally. But there is an on-going water quality monitoring program in the Waikoloa Resort. 2EXHIBIT B SIRACUSA:Thank you. Im still -. Well, I read the documentation and Dr. Walshs report and the basically sediment biological studies and sewage and -. However, what Im looking at here, I dont € maybe Im wrong but € I dont see mention of the anchialine ponds, and that was a big issue last time, that they seem to fall through the cracks. GRAHAM:Okay. There is a little bit of procedural thing here, and Im wondering kind of when we should discuss all these issues, or whether now is the appropriate time or whether maybe we want to wait -. SIRACUSA:Okay, Im trying to figure out if they are included in these recommendations. GRAHAM:I do understand. Commissioner Woodward? WOODWARD:OnethingIdidnotice:Ifyoulookattheletterwegottodayfrom the attorney for the group, they had on the second page proposed amending Condition No. 14 including ground and ocean water quality monitoring and mitigation plan, and added a statement to include monitoring for nutrients, fecal coliform, enterococci and sediment analysis. And then the mitigation plan shall include appropriate measures to protect water quality in the near shore environment. So evidently they have agreed to that modification, and we just got this today so -. Its on the second page of the letter from their attorney. GRAHAM:Thank you. Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:As I recall from reading some of the stuff before, near shore does not include anchialine ponds; they havent mentioned anchialine ponds. But lets proceed and go through the process. GRAHAM:Thank you. Anything -. Mr. Darrow? DARROW:Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Also if I might bring to your attention the letter from the Planning Director to the Planning Commission, dated February 12, 2007. This was some updated changes to the proposed added Conditions 24 to 26. GRAHAM:Thank you, Mr. Darrow. I think we are at the point now where we can take some testimony and presentation from the applicant. I also want to indicate I have one person, Mr. Charles Flaherty, signed up to give public testimony. Generally we hear from the applicant first, and question the applicant. So I presume well follow the procedure today. If anyone else wants to give testimony on this agenda item, please go to the end of the table over on my left here, and sign up to give testimony. Well, we have the applicants before us at the table. Would you folks please raise your right hands, so I can swear you in? Do you both affirm to tell the truth today on this matter before the Hawaii County Planning Commission? BAIL:I do. W. YUEN:I do. 3EXHIBIT B GRAHAM:Thank you. And either one of you may start and make the presentation as you wish, thank you, but start with your name and address for the record. BAIL:My name is Lisa Bail. Im an attorney with Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel, and I represent Waikoloa Development Company, which holds SMA 25 and is the applicant for this extension request. GRAHAM:Thank you. You can go ahead with your testimony, and then well hear from Mr. Yuen thereafter, if you choose. BAIL:Im not planning to present any testimony today, but Id be happy to answer any questions about the anchialine ponds or otherwise. GRAHAM:Thank you. Sir? W. YUEN:My name is William Yuen. My address is 1001 Bishop Street in Honolulu,Hawaii.IamtheattorneyforWaikoloaHomesitesVenture,whichistheownerofthe land on which the first additional golf course at the Waikoloa Beach Resort will be built. Ill keep my remarks brief. First, I want to say that since the date of the last hearing, Waikoloa Homesites Venture and Waikoloa Development Company have resolved their differences, and I believe that both parties are now wholeheartedly supporting the request for the extension. You may get the confirmation from Ms. Bail, if you desire. Second, since the date of the last hearing and in order in part to address the concerns expressed by some of the Planning Commissioners, we are suggesting a modification to Condition 14 to expand the scope of the water quality monitoring and mitigation plans at Waikoloa Resort to include monitoring, besides nutrients, for fecal coliform, enterococci and sediment analysis with the detailed monitoring plans and the detailed mitigation measures to be worked out with the Planning Department. In answer to Commissioner Siracusas question, the monitoring and mitigation plans for the anchialine ponds are on-going as a result of the amendment of SMA 25 back in 1992. Waikoloa Development has been conducting an extensive monitoring program of groundwater, ocean water and the anchialine ponds since the early 1990s. The water quality of the anchialine ponds is regulated by the Army Corps of Engineers; water quality standards are regulated by the State Health Department. And therefore, we are requesting that we work out any changes to the mitigation plans with the Planning Department, because both the State Health Department as well as the Army Corps of Engineers will have to be consulted before we make any changes to these plans. We believe that by addressing these concerns, which were essentially the additional areas of monitoring that the UH Hilo study team recommended, we are addressing the concerns expressed by the Planning Commissioners. We feel that any further measures should be included in the mitigation plans that accompany the monitoring program, and well be happy to work these out with the County Planning Department staff. The standards for review contained in HRS Section 205A-26 and the Planning Commissions Rules provide that the request may be approved as long as the development will not have any substantial adverse environmental or ecological effect, except as such effect is minimized to the extent practicable. The evidence produced at the last hearing and in the monitoring report summary by Dr. Richard Brock that was furnished to the Planning Commissioners indicates that 4EXHIBIT B there has been no adverse effect from the golf courses. Dr. Brocks recommendationsincluded the remark that the golf course would have a mitigating effect, asit would provide greater area for the sewage wastewater to be used for both irrigation and fertilization, and therefore reducing the needs for artificial fertilizers and possibly reducing the effect or the presence of the bacteriological content that we are offering to monitor for. In summary, we believe that the additional monitoring and mitigation plans will have the necessary mitigating effect that the Planning Commission seeks. We are also concerned that in 1993, Waikoloa Homesites Venture paid the County a community benefit assessment of a million and half dollars € the first installment towards a three million dollar agreed-upon community assessment. And if the Planning Commission should deny the request for the time extension and render it impossible for Waikoloa Homesites Venture to complete the golf course, we would have to attempt to recover this community benefit assessment from the County. Thank you very much. GRAHAM:Thank you, Mr. Yuen. Questions from the Commissioners? CommissionerSiracusa? SIRACUSA:Ihavetwoquestions.Inreadingallthematerial€andthereisan awful lot of it € about this, I was under the understanding that the Department of Health did not have monitoring guidelines for anchialine ponds, and yet you just said that the Department of Health in conjunction with the Army Corps of Engineers had the responsibility. Could you clarify the apparent discrepancy, please? BAIL:If I can answer. GRAHAM:Ms. Bail, go ahead. BAIL:I think its correct that the Department of Health does not have water quality standards applicable to anchialine ponds. Department of Health -. I believe there was a proposal to the legislature this year to consider adoption of such standards; I dont know the current status of that Bill in the legislature right now. However, our anchialine pond monitoring program has lasted for many years. In 1991 when this SMA 25 was amended, a new Condition 8 was imposed, and that required a comprehensive program for the treatment of the tidal or anchialine ponds including all the monitoring that has been conducted since then. The monitoring is not unsupervised. Its conducted on an on-going basis under the supervision of the Army Corps of Engineers through a partnership agreement with them, so there is oversight on the federal side. Its also overseen by our State Department of Health, so its correct that there is oversight, although there is no regulation. And the reports of the monitoring are reported to the Planning Department every year as well. SIRACUSA:Redirect, please. GRAHAM:Thank you, Ms. Bail. Follow-up, Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:Which standards are being used as guidelines for this monitoring, or whose standards? In reading the paperwork, it seemed they were using the National Park Service standards, but now you didnt mention those standards at all. You only mentioned the 5EXHIBIT B State Department of Health and the Army Corps of Engineers. So Id just like toget this clarified. BAIL:Ill do my best to answer your question. There are different water quality standards applicable to different types of water. So for example, theDepartment of Health -. SIRACUSA:Im specifying anchialine ponds. BAIL:Anchialine ponds do not currently have their own water quality standards, which is why we are overseen in all the monitoring work we do by the Department of Health and the Army Corps of Engineers. SIRACUSA:Thank you. My second question, if I may? GRAHAM:Commissioner Siracusa, go ahead. SIRACUSA:We read that there had been € in the University study € an increase in-,over300percentofincreaseindegradationintheanchialineponds.SoImwonderinghow you can say there was no substantial impact. BAIL:I believe there has been an impact on the anchialine ponds. And its unfortunate you were not here for the last hearing where Mr. Yuen provided the Commission additional information in that regard. I want to be sure that we are not confusing impacts based on water quality standards, for example nutrient levels, and monitoring that we do, which is more biotic monitoring of the various native species that live in those anchialine ponds. We have seen significant impacts in our biological monitoring in those anchialine ponds that is primarily due € as Mr. Yuen described to the Commission at the last hearing € to the unfortunate introduction of alien species in those ponds that was not something that we caused and something weve been using our full power to try to eliminate € unfortunately € unsuccessfully. And due to the introduction of those alien species, the ponds have been severely impacted. SIRACUSA:Thank you. I just want to assure you that I did read the entire transcript, and Im aware of the fish and their impact on the Opaeula. Thank you. BAIL:Excellent. Thank you. GRAHAM:Commissioner Watanabe. Do you have a question? WATANABE:Id just like to comment that I appreciate the fact that youve make it hopefully easier for us to make a decision by volunteering to amend Condition 14 in this. GRAHAM:Thank you, Mr. Watanabe. Any other questions for the applicant from the Commissioners? Mr. Yuen? C. YUEN:Yes, I just need to make sure of this. Does Waikoloa Development th agree to the amended Condition in Mr. Yuens letter of March 14? 6EXHIBIT B BAIL:We fully support the proposed amendment. GRAHAM:Thank you, Ms. Bail. I would just comment on my own that I also much appreciate your offering your letter, Mr. Yuen. On the third page when you speak of the additional golf course perhaps being a mitigative measure because it increases the area available to be irrigated with the sewage effluent and all, that seems kind of reasonable to me when I listen to that. When I look at whats going on at Waikoloa now, I can see there is a lot more development in place, so there is going to be a lot more sewage generated. Could you tell me what happens to the sewage currently thats not being distributed on the golf course? BAIL:I can do my best to describe it for you. GRAHAM:Thank you, Ms. Bail. BAIL:ThesewagefromtheentireWaikoloaResortareaispumpedtothe sewage treatment plant thats on the other side € the mauka side € of the Queen K. Highway. There its treated to standards specified under their permit from the Department of Health. It is then either piped back under the Highway and used on the existing golf courses; and to the extent there is not a need for that, for example if there are very heavy rainfall conditions such that the soil on the golf courses is already saturated, there is an underground injection control well thats been installed, and thats a deep underground injection of the treated wastewater effluent. And the underground injection control well holds a permit from the Department of Health for that injection at the times that it is needed. GRAHAM:All right, thank you. I think that answers my question. So essentially as the resort develops, there is going to be a lot more sewage developed. And the question is if there is more sewage developed than what the existing golf course needs or is appropriate for, then that gets injected. So another golf course gives another alternative to distribute the sewage over the other golf courses at appropriate levels of concentration, so that the plant material gets a chance out of it before it gets injected into the groundwater. W. YUEN:Thats right. GRAHAM:Is that correct, Mr. Yuen? W. YUEN:Thats correct. GRAHAM:Thank you. Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:Yes. Im glad you just clarified that, because I was not under the impression from reading everything that the sewage we were talking about was treated sewage. Thank you. GRAHAM:Any other questions from Commissioners? Commissioner Rho? RHO:Im on Page 2 of -, I think its your letter. Its No. 14, and its underlined -. I guess the changes that you are proposing are underlined. Is that how to read it? 7EXHIBIT B W. YUEN:Thats correct. RHO:My question is whether or not you can explain to me what currently is taking place versus what will take place based on your underlined amendment. GRAHAM:Mr. Yuen? W. YUEN:Basically the current monitoring is essentially only for nutrients € inorganic nutrients in both the groundwater, ocean water and anchialine ponds. And the West Hawaii Study recommended additional substances be monitored, and we are proposing to increase the scope of the monitoring to take into account both the bacterial substances as well as sediment analysis on a periodic basis. And then also develop mitigation plans to address any untoward effects, should the levels of these substances increase above a certain point. RHO:Whichisnothappeningnow? W.YUEN:Well,thereispresentlynomonitoringforthebacterialeffectsor for periodic sediment analysis. RHO:I have a follow-up. GRAHAM:Follow-up, Mr. Rho? RHO:On the plans submitted by the University, on the summary, the last paragraph € its a pretty long paragraph € and I think this subject matter was brought up at the last meeting, which is basically that we really € in my view, anyway € we really dont have a monitor or enforcer. And I think I used the phrase that what we were doing is having the fox guard the hen house. And that comment passed; I mean there was no real reaction to that comment. So Im assuming that we are going to go down that same road again. You are going to increase your monitoring under that amendment 14. But we really dont have state, federal or county enforcement powers. I guess what Im looking for is a double-check. So I just want your comment about that. W. YUEN:Well, the Department of Health does have enforcement powers. And these monitoring results are transmitted both to the Department of Health, well, the Department of Health, the Army Corps of Engineers in the case of the anchialine ponds, and the County Planning Department. So there are guards to the hen house, if you will. RHO:So maybe Im mistaken in thinking that we dont have enforcement; we do have enforcement, but we dont have standards. Is that what the problem is? GRAHAM:Mr. Rho, could I just try to offer clarification on that? Are you referring to enforcement that the water quality monitoring is being done as its supposed to be done? Is that what you are speaking of? RHO:Thats one, yes. GRAHAM:Thank you. 8EXHIBIT B RHO:Cause in this report, in thatlast paragraph in the first sentence, it says our primary conclusion in the West Hawaii Coastal Monitoring Task Force Guidelines, which were sound and appropriate for the time, have not been adequately implemented and development monitoring projects have not been scientifically evaluated. So it may be the guidelines thats a problem, but I also think its part of this enforcement. I think the testifier € I cant remember his name € basically says there was no enforcement power. Im not asking you to give me necessarily an answer; I just wanted to know whether or not you had any clarifying statements that could help me understand this. W. YUEN:Well, I think the € and Ill defer to Lisa if she wants to add anything € I think first of all with respect to water quality, that is the kuleana of the State Department of Health as opposed to -. I mean the County Planning Department does not have enforcement powers with respect to the ocean. But the Department of Health does establish standards,andtheDepartmentofHealthdoeshaveenforcementpowers,sothattheDepartment of Health could act in the event it felt that the standards were being exceeded to a degree that caused a potential danger to the public health or safety. GRAHAM:Thank you, Mr. Yuen. Do we have other question from Commissioners? Commissioner Domingo? DOMINGO:Id just like to carry this further than that. Should the Corps of Engineers or the Department of Health find some inadequacies or obtain some negative results from the testing, they would then notify the County Planning Department in that regard? Can somebody answer? GRAHAM:Mr. Yuen? C. YUEN:Yes, and I was going to -. Let me give a broader outline of what the possible enforcement mechanisms are. If there is harm to the environment from one of these SMA permits, there is a condition of the permit that would allow the Planning Department to make the permittee modify their activities, okay? If there was not a condition in the -. If we absolutely didnt have any way to do it, we can also bring a request to modify the permit itself to the Commission, if there was something going on that had not been covered. But in general if you find that there is some harm happening, there is a condition of the permit that allows you to get them to change whats going on. There is not a specific € as weve discussed here € there is not a specific water quality standard, like numerical standard of nutrients for the anchialine ponds. There is a reason for that, and thats that anchialine ponds have a lot of natural variability. Theres some that are naturally very clean that are, say, in open lava; some that have had a lot of leaves drop on them that are mucky and muddy, and there is just a lot of natural variation to the ponds. They are going to have trouble -. You could come up with a standard for a clean pond, but I think you would have trouble across the board. So there is no -. And the reason why having a standard is different is that the Department of Health, if they have a standard thats violated, then they can point to a number and say youve gone over the number. And they can do that in the open ocean; they cant do that in the anchialine pond. So there is enforcement ability on the Planning Department. 9EXHIBIT B There is also enforcement ability to some extent from Department of Health and the Corp Engineers. GRAHAM:Thank you. Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:I just want you to clarify something that, when you referred to nutrients in your revision of Item 14, youre referring specifically to chemically based fertilizers, nitrogen and phosphate? W. YUEN:Yes, thats correct. SIRACUSA:Thank you. DOMINGO:One simple question, Mr. Chairman. GRAHAM:Yes, Commissioner Domingo? DOMINGO:In the earlier stages of the development, there has been some noticeable,youknow,impactsonthefishingenvironmentandfisheswereaffectedwith ciguatera. Is that a thing of the past already, or we still have the issue in question? GRAHAM:Would the Planning Director like to respond to the current situation regarding ciguatera in this area? C. YUEN:Ciguatera still occurs. Nobody has ever determined the cause. GRAHAM:I cant totally agree with that. DOMINGO:But we can surmise and feel comfortable by saying that all this has happened because of the increase in use of the shoreline and the growth that has taken place in the upper lands of that area. C. YUEN:You know, Ive done a great deal of reading on this subject, and there is no definitive scientific statement as to what the ultimate causes of ciguatera are. Cause ciguatera is caused by an accumulation of toxin in the food chain that ultimately has algae as the source, but what is the ultimate cause has never been scientifically -. There is no scientific consensus on whether that has been caused by golf courses, dredging, you know, sunscreen, whatever. There isnt consensus on that. GRAHAM:Any other question from Commissioners? If not, well have our public testifier come forth. I only have Mr. Charles Flaherty signed up. You can take -. W. YUEN:Im just going to register an objection because I thought the hearing was closed last time. GRAHAM:At every hearing we take public testimony, Mr. Yuen. Mr. Flaherty, you can be seated. 10EXHIBIT B BAIL:Before we proceed, Id like to join in that objection for the record. GRAHAM:All right, thank you, Ms. Bail. Mr. Flaherty, before you speak, would you raise your right hand, and do you swear or affirm to tell the truth before the Hawaii County Planning Commission today on this matter? FLAHERTY:Absolutely. GRAHAM:Thank you. You can go ahead and give your testimony, but start with your full name and your address, please. FLAHERTY:Yes, sir. My name is Charles Flaherty. My address is P. O. Box 922, Captain Cook, Hawaii 96704. Im here today to testify on this matter because of my past experience in concern about near shore water quality in West Hawaii. I handed out the study that hasbeenreferredtoearliertoyouall.Imgladtohearthatcertainmembershavereaditand understand what serious matter this is. Its my opinion that this applicant is in violation of their SMA permit currently. It, the study is very clear that there has been a substantial environmental impact to the near shore environment by development at Waikoloa. And while I understand that Dr. Brock has the opinion that the additional golf course would actually be a favorable mitigation measure, Id like to point out that, as was described, the treated sewage is being placed upon golf courses and in a deep injection well, and thats how this degradation has occurred. I would also like to point out that Dr. Brock mentioned at Hokulia that it had no environmental impact, whereas the court- appointed water monitor that answered to the court found that indeed the golf course at Hokulia was directly contributing to elevated nitrite levels off-shore from that development. That monitoring program was ceased after the project was shut down because it became a moot point. However, we are going to be continuing with that, and in addition to that are establishing a baseline study from Hookena to Keauhou in order to establish a baseline for near shore marine water quality and the benthos community off-shore for the area. And we would like to work with the County and other agencies and the community in extending that baseline study to include the entire coastline eventually and establish a County water monitoring program, because the Supreme Court in this past July found that the County has an affirmative duty to protect the near shore marine environment in addition to the State having the same duty. I would also like to point out that the Department of Health, as far as enforcement -. Recently all of you saw the headline in West Hawaii Today where there was massive runoff sediment into the ocean off of Kohala, and the Department of Healths response was it was nobodys fault. Yet, there is the sediment 15 feet deep on top of a coral reef, destroying it. Id like to point out to you all specifically a few statements that are contained within the study. Nutrient concentrations at both Waikoloa and Hokulia were often higher than concentrations measured in highly polluted rivers and estuaries. Its estimated that nutrient concentrations in the anchialine ponds at Waikoloa have more than doubled since the resorts development. Historical water quality analysis from both Hokulia and Waikoloa revealed that nitrogen water quality parameters have increased significantly at both developments over the past ten years. Nutrient concentrations were more elevated at low salinities, suggesting that nutrients originate from fresh water sources like fertilizers, irrigation water and wastewater. These elevated nutrient 11EXHIBIT B concentrations may lead to algal blooms in West Hawaii, which may be comprised of exotic and/or harmful species. In Maui county frequent exotic algal blooms from elevated nutrients in coast waters have resulted in a loss of millions of dollars annually from potential revenue in property values and in income from hotel and rental properties; this is according to the West Maui Watershed Management Advisory Committee. With regard to the deep injection wells, studies were done in Maui, and it turns out that these deep injection wells are part of the problem. When the wastewater is injected down, its injected into a salt water environment. Fresh water is less dense, so it rises. And what they are finding is that the fresh water containing the treated sewage is rising up to the fresh water lens and then going out off-shore, as the fresh water lens does here in West Hawaii. I believe that Ive pretty much covered everything that I wanted to. I just would like to say that I think its inappropriate to issue an extension of time for the construction of this golf course becausethedevelopmentinWaikoloahashadasignificantenvironmentalimpact,andadding this additional golf course will only be adding to the problem; it will not be a mitigative measure. We here in this county face a serious problem. This study found that we are on the verge of a serious environmental disaster in our near shore waters, and these are supposed to be Class AA pristine coral reef environments. So if we dont start taking action now to deal with this problem -. You know, this Planning Commission is a -, you are the last discretionary approval. And so once you grant an approval here, its all ministerial and starts going through all the administrative processes. So this is the last chance that we have here in this particular time to take a stand and start saying, no; and you need to start changing the way that things are being done here because this environment in Hawaii is being harmed and significantly so. Thank you. GRAHAM:Do we have any questions for the testifier from the Commissioners? Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:Yes. Youve seen where Mr. Yuen has a point on the last page of his letter that by having a second golf course that would spread the sewage out over a wider area and therefore effectively decreasing the relative concentration, distributed throughout the resort. And youve heard Commissioner Grahams comments on it that that seemed reasonable to him. To me, it seems the opposite of reasonable; I think of the old saying about, you know, when people throw pollution into the ocean, the solution to pollution is dilution. And Ive always felt, well, but you are putting the same amount of pollution into the water, even if you are diluting it with more. So in this case, we are looking at the same amount of sewage over a larger area, but possibly even more as the resort develops and sewage is increased, and possibly the treatment plant might reach a certain capacity or limits in processing capabilities. I wonder if you would comment on whether you agree with them or me or who or what. FLAHERTY:Thank you for the question -. GRAHAM:Mr. Flaherty, go ahead. FLAHERTY:Thank you very much. With regard to that, I think its very simple. The terrain that this golf course is being built on is a low nutrient, low moisture environment, and its going to be formed into a high nutrient, high moisture environment. And that is going to flow down into the fresh water lens, and its going to make its way out into the ocean. As the 12EXHIBIT B amount of sewage increases at Waikoloa as the growth occurs at the development, the current way that its being dealt with, it will cause increased nitrogen, increased phosphate, and it will be degrading the coral reef environment off-shore. And of course were already seeing some of those effects in Anaehoomalu Bay there. So I dont agree that adding this golf course is a mitigative measure; I think its simply delaying and slowing down the process of environmental degradation being caused by the way in which sewage is being handled. Again, a deep water injection well is not a solution; its making its way up into the fresh water lens, and is being carried out that, the nitrates and phosphates. GRAHAM:Thank you. Mr. Flaherty, I dont mean to over-push on the same matter. I voted against this extension last time, but we are really only talking about the golf course here. And I certainly am in agreement with you that the whole resort is adding to deterioration of water quality, which may turn into a real problem. However, we are talking about the golf course. And so if you are telling me that all of the sewage from the rest of the resortisgoingdownintoaninjectionwell,andthatsallworkingitswayrightintotheocean anyway, it seems sort of reasonable and logical to think that if you have an area like a golf course where you have living plants, and you put that same nutrient laden wastewater on top of those plants, some of that wastewater € or a good deal of it € is going to be, the nutrient is going to be absorbed into the plants as they grow. So presumably, it seems to me less will find its way into the groundwater than if it all went into an injection well. Is there something wrong with my reasoning there, or is there something else Im missing, or -? FLAHERTY:I just ask you to, in your minds eye, look at the coastline of West Hawaii, and see that is a barren landscape € its a desert, barren landscape. Its been converted into the type of landscape that you just described, okay? That process is causing elevated nitrate and phosphate levels in the near shore environment. So while I hear what you are saying € and I apologize, yes, this is about the golf course and Ill stick to that particular € but again you are converting a barren landscape into a lush landscape, and the outflow beneath that is going to be -, the nitrate and phosphate that come out of that lush landscape is going to be far more than the current barren landscape that you see. GRAHAM:Thank you. Any other questions from Commissioners? Commissioner Watanabe, do you have a question for the testifier here? WATANABE:I think Ill refrain from the sarcasm. So if we are ready, Im ready to, you know -. GRAHAM:No, we are still in the process here. No other questions for Mr. Flaherty? Thank you for your testimony. FLAHERTY:Thank you. GRAHAM:After our public testimony, generally we return to the applicants and applicants representatives, and if they have any further comments to make before we go into our action session. Mr. Yuen, would you care to say anything further at this point? W. YUEN:I think that the -. Well, a couple of things: First of all, the report by Dr. Brock acknowledges that there were elevated nutrients at different times over the course 13EXHIBIT B of 15 years of monitoring at the resort, and he attributed these results at some occasions to use of fertilizers, which the resort subsequently discontinued. He also mentioned that he had found elevated nutrient levels at the controlled sites € the sites that were fronting undeveloped areas along the coast € and questioned both the contribution to the nutrient levels by natural sources of fresh water as well as from the resort. Second, I do want to point out that the decision as to whether Waikoloa should be a resort or not be a resort was made over 30 years ago. And if the request for the time extension is denied, the alternative is to build more homes on the piece of property that would contribute to perhaps greater generation of sewage and no additional area to use the sewage for both irrigation and to have the nutrients be a source of natural fertilizer for the grass and other landscaping, if you will. And, finally, that the report of the UH Hilo team essentially is asking for an examination of standards across the coast and monitoring across the coast, and pointed out to the Waikoloa efforts as being probably the most exemplary along the West Hawaii coast. GRAHAM:Thankyou.Ms.Bail,doyoualsohaveacomment? BAIL:Yeah,Iwouldliketocomment.AndIfindmyselfsurprisingly agreeing with one point that Mr. Flaherty made, and that is he indicated that he would like to work with the County to address the UH Hilo report. I would like to emphasize, as we discussed with Mr. Yuen at the last hearing, that we would also like to work with the County to address the report. We have a data set of water quality monitoring data going back to 1977 with more than 1,600 data points that I think helps inform that evaluation. And I think for the County to work with the various stakeholders, community groups and the various scientists in examining the data set and developing the guidelines that the UH report recommends is essential, and we look forward to being a part of the process. GRAHAM:Thank you, Ms. Bail. Any questions from the Commissioners for Mr. Yuen or Ms. Bail before we go into our action mode? All right. Thank you both. You may go back. So Commissioner Watanabe? WATANABE:Yeah, Ill make a motion then. I move that the amendment to Special Management Area Use Permit No. 25, SMA 25, be approved inclusive of the revised Condition 14, as proposed by Mr. William Yuen, and also inclusive of Condition 26, as revised, referring to the integrated golf course management plan. DOMINGO:Second. GRAHAM:Thank you. So motioned by Commissioner Watanabe, seconded by Commissioner Domingo. Is that correct? Any discussions amongst the Commissioners? Jeff? DARROW:Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Commissioner Watanabe? WATANABE:Aye. DARROW:Commissioner Domingo? DOMINGO:Aye. 14EXHIBIT B DARROW:Commissioner Alameda? ALAMEDA:Aye. DARROW:Commissioner Rho? RHO:Aye. DARROW:Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:Nay. DARROW:Commissioner Woodward? WOODWARD:Aye. DARROW:And Mr. Chairman? GRAHAM:Aye. DARROW:The motion passes, six to one. GRAHAM:Thank you. You all will be informed in writing of our decision today. The discussion ended at 11:18 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Noriko Sauer West Hawaii Secretary 15EXHIBIT B