2014-31 MtView Plan Report 5-8-14

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Communication No. 2014-31 MOUNTAIN VIEW VILLAGE CENTER PLAN WORKING GROUPS MEETING MAY 8, 2014, 6:OOPM,MOUNTAIN VIEW SCHOOL CAFETERIA Mountain View Planners in attendance: Frank Commendador, Patti Pinto, Marcia May, Hannah Hedrick, Heidi Hutchinson, Susan Langer, Inez Naholowa'a, Moani Naholoua'a, Terry Dann, Sharon Dann, Neena Roumel, Anita Owen, John Owen, Nadine Robertson, Mark Robertson 8 Members of our extended community and special guests also attended. Our planning efforts on our Mountain View asset survey continue: • Frank Commendador opened the meeting at 6:05 with an introduction of our special guests Quirino Antonio and Larry Beck of Hawaii County Department of Water Supply. Mr. Antonio explained that the Department of Water Supply is a Hawaii County Agency that is semi-autonomous in that they have their own budget derived from water fees, they do not take any property tax funds. The Department of Water Supply currently has about 42,000 customers. He went on to report that a major portion of their approximately $63,000,000 annual budget (43%) goes to pay HELCO. The cost of pumping water up from wells, into reservoirs (tanks), and out to water service lines throughout the County is huge. Larry Beck is an engineer who has more specific knowledge of the water systems that serve our area. He brought a large map of the upper Puna area along Highway 11 that showed the locations of wells, reservoirs and water lines. He reports that our Mountain View area water supply system was installed by Puna Sugar and deeded over to the County when the sugar plantations closed. The water systems had to be brought up to County standards at that time before they could be dedicated to the County. Mountain View is currently receiving its water from wells in the Kea'au area, but this year the new well in Mountain View will go online. This will increase water resources for not only Mountain View and beyond, but also downhill as well. The new Mountain View well is approximately 1400' deep. Larry stated that he believes the water supply pipe coming up Highway 11 starts out at 12" in the Kea'au area and is reduced down to 8"pipe somewhere before Mountain View. Water supply in the Mountain View Village area is probably 6" and would need to be increased to 8"along Old Volcano Road in the Village proper if we intend to extend business in that area. Members asked questions about individual water service. It was explained that new extensions of service need to be able to connect to existing meters and are installed at the lot owners' expense. It became clear that the "first come, first served"policy of connecting to existing meters does not always result in a fair distribution of water supplies. There were also questions about extending fire hydrants closer to the tops of subdivisions. It was explained that this would undoubtedly require an"improvement district" approach. Members asked questions about security of the water system, our reservoirs are closed and the yards are fenced and locked and clearly visible to passersby. Hawaii County has not had any experience of water tampering or vandalism.