2026-10-20 - Communications Reports and Council Oversight Committee

01:57Mhm.

02:08>> [snorts]

02:10>> Bosnia

02:11>> [laughter]

02:17>> Welcome to the 27th session of the

02:21Communication Reports and Council

02:23Oversight Committee.

02:25We are at the West Hawaii Civic Center

02:27today. It is October 20th, 2026.

02:31It is 1:30 p.m.

02:33Present here today are Council members

02:37Kagiwada, Hustace,

02:39Kirkwood,

02:41Onishi, Inaba,

02:44Viegas, and myself, the chair of this

02:46committee.

02:47Um

02:49and the Council members Kaniele, Klein

02:51Felder, and

02:54Kimball will be joining us shortly, I

02:56believe. We can go to statements from

02:59the public on agenda items, if any.

03:01>> Well, thank you, Committee Chair Glenn.

03:03I can report that we do not have any

03:04testimony to committee, so I'll just

03:06begin by reading communication 942.2,

03:08unless you prefer I do something else.

03:11>> [snorts]

03:11>> No, just

03:12>> Okay, I'll do that. Communication 942.2

03:16follow-up audit of the by value

03:17nonprofit grants complaints review for

03:19fiscal fiscal year 2024-2025

03:23from County Auditor Claire McAdam, dated

03:25September 30th, 2026, transmitting a

03:27PowerPoint presentation.

03:29>> Chair, motion to close file

03:30communication 90 942.2.

03:35>> It's been moved by Council member

03:36Hustace and seconded by Council member

03:39Onishi to close file on communication

03:41942.2.

03:45And

03:47I'm hoping that we will have the

03:49auditor's office online here.

03:58Excellent.

04:01Hello,

04:02auditor

04:04McAdam.

04:05Please proceed.

04:07>> Hi, good afternoon. Hi, yes. We

04:09submitted this communication just to um

04:12>> I think your audio's a little fuzzy. If

04:14you could perhaps um

04:17something do something.

04:27It might be us, but if there's any Nope,

04:29sorry.

04:33Yeah, it sounds like you're in a

04:34fishbowl or something like that.

04:40Maybe

04:41just try and speak very clearly to

04:43overcome it, perhaps.

04:45>> Okay. Okay, [laughter] sorry. We

04:46submitted this communication to you to

04:49update you because after the last time

04:52we presented the five grants

04:54>> We Yes, we still can't understand you,

04:56sorry.

04:58Um

05:02Perhaps

05:05Yeah, perhaps you could try logging back

05:07in um or we could take the next item and

05:11we could come back to you.

05:13>> No, sorry.

05:14>> Oh, there. That seems better.

05:16>> Yeah.

05:16>> Okay.

05:17>> Sorry.

05:17>> Okay, there we go.

05:19>> Okay, great. Yeah, we submitted this

05:21communication because um after the last

05:24presentation we did about the five

05:26grants and aid, we received um

05:28communication from two of the nonprofits

05:30that we had not been able to perform a

05:33review of

05:34um because they had not responded to our

05:36uh communications to them. And so, at

05:38that stage we decided to do another

05:41final review of of all the nonprofits.

05:43And so, we contacted the third of those

05:46three nonprofits and we um asked them to

05:49send the information to us

05:51and so in the end we managed to get the

05:54information requested from two of those

05:55and that was Conejo Historical Society

05:57and Liya Poor 2020. And so we performed

06:01a review of the information that they

06:03provided to us. And we rated them and

06:07scored them in accordance with the same

06:08procedures as we did for all those other

06:09nonprofits. And so we submitted that

06:12here as a the communication just to show

06:14that that's been done. As a result of

06:16that also we looked at our internal

06:18procedures and just tightened them up a

06:20bit about

06:21communications and what we should do in

06:23the event that we hadn't heard from

06:25nonprofits after two attempts to to

06:27obtain information from them. So that's

06:29that's that's basically the

06:30communication. Just wanted to update you

06:32to say that we received two further

06:35reviews and we've reviewed them and that

06:38you know we're presenting them to to

06:39close that file on the the library

06:41grants review for that period.

06:45>> Thank you so much.

06:48Council member Enaba.

06:49>> Thank you Ms. McAdams. Just wanting to

06:52make sure that the third organization I

06:56don't have the original report but that

06:58we do have them flagged

07:01for no further grant funds.

07:04>> Okay.

07:04>> And as we

07:06work to stand up our new grant

07:07management software

07:10this is for

07:12Jessica in our office. I know you're

07:13listening so make sure we are in

07:16conjunction with the auditor's office

07:19to put a

07:21put them on the blacklist for now

07:22whoever they may be. Thank you.

07:25>> Will do.

07:29>> Anyone else?

07:33Seeing none

07:35all in favor of closing file

07:39on

07:40communication 942.2

07:43please say I.

07:45Any opposed?

07:47Uh

07:48motion passes. Communication 942.2

07:53is closed with eight eyes and one

07:55excused,

07:57Council member Kanamoto Ee Klein Filter.

08:00We can now move on to the next item.

08:03>> Is there any communicate Is there any Is

08:04there any testimony for communication

08:061112?

08:09Hearing none, communication 1112,

08:12request for presentation by University

08:13of Hawaii Water Resources Research

08:15Center, University of Hawaii Sea Grant

08:17College Program Assistant Specialist

08:19Christopher K. Shuler entitled the

08:21Hawaii Cesspool Prioritization Tool and

08:23the Act 217 Sewer Expansion Overlay from

08:26Council member Heather L. Kimball dated

08:28September 22, 2026.

08:31>> Chair, motion to close file on

08:33communication 1112.

08:37>> It's been moved by Council member

08:40Kimball, seconded by Council member

08:41Viegas to close file on communication

08:431112.

08:47Council member

08:48Go.

08:48>> Thank you, Chair. Um um pleased to

08:50welcome Mr. Chris Shuler uh to present

08:53to us today on the prioritization tool

08:57that was part of an act that HZAC was

09:00involved in um getting passed at the

09:02state legislature. Um I thought this was

09:05timely since we most recently had

09:07presentations by um

09:10our Department of Environmental

09:11Management with with regard to their

09:13strategy around cesspool conversions. Um

09:17this was also in part uh a presentation

09:21and Council member Viegas was was here

09:23for that, too. At At HZAC, we had a

09:25working group with state and county

09:27officials

09:28um around cesspool conversions, and and

09:31Chris was able to present at that, as

09:33well. And one of the commitments we all

09:35made at that meeting was to ensure that

09:37we brought um

09:39Mr. Schuler to all of our councils to

09:41provide the same presentation at at the

09:44council levels for

09:46everyone's benefit. So, please join me

09:48in welcoming Mr. Schuler and I will pass

09:51it to you to to take it away and and

09:53give us your presentation. Thank you

09:54again for being here. We appreciate it.

09:57>> So much Councilmember Kimball. Can

10:00everybody hear me okay?

10:01>> Yes.

10:03>> Okay, great. And then I'll share screen

10:06here

10:07and let me know if you cannot see my

10:09presentation.

10:13>> Looks good.

10:14>> Awesome.

10:15>> [clears throat]

10:15>> All right. Well, thank you so much.

10:17Thanks for having me at this meeting.

10:20Really appreciate the opportunity to

10:21share our work. I'm a faculty member at

10:25University of Hawaii Manoa Water

10:27Resources Research Center

10:30and I'm also an affiliate faculty with

10:31Hawaii Sea Grant and Water Resources

10:34WRRC Grant have worked together for the

10:38last five years to

10:42try to help

10:44provide resources and information

10:47to legislatures, to the public,

10:50to everybody in the state of Hawaii to

10:52help chip away and solve the cesspool

10:55problem which is you know one of the one

10:57of the toughest problems that we have

10:59in the state. I'm sure I don't have to

11:00tell all of you that and so what I would

11:03like to do today is share a little bit

11:05about the tools that we have developed

11:08over the last five years and

11:09specifically over the last year and a

11:12half from Act 217 a sewer expansion

11:16overlay which is it's an it's it's an

11:19extension of the Hawaii cesspool

11:21prioritization tool. So,

11:24I'm going to try to keep this to 15

11:25minutes. You know, I'm an I'm an

11:27academic so I can certainly talk for a

11:28long time, but if anybody has questions

11:30or you know, wants me to

11:32um

11:33clarify anything, please let me know.

11:36So, I just threw this slide in there

11:38mainly so that I could share these um

11:41these kind of go-to references. You

11:43know, we all know that cesspools um have

11:46an impact on not only our coastal

11:48environments, but also human health um

11:51and recreational waters. So, again,

11:53there's some really good references down

11:54there um if you would like to use those.

11:57This presentation, by the way, is is all

11:59up on a website and is archived and is

12:02publicly accessible. So, I can share the

12:03link to that.

12:05Um

12:06So, you know, kind of skipping over the

12:08what is a cesspool. I think everybody

12:09here knows that. Um

12:12really want to start kind of setting the

12:14stage with what we did in two in 2021

12:17under a contract from Department of

12:19Health under at that time the Act 132

12:22Cesspool Working Group legislation.

12:25And they asked us to essentially develop

12:28a way to prioritize all of the cesspools

12:32in the state. At that time, a lot of the

12:34cesspools were under a data limitation.

12:37There wasn't enough data to prioritize

12:39them. And we developed a geospatial

12:42framework

12:44um

12:44as a decision support tool tool to take

12:47in

12:48all of the factors that we could

12:49possibly think of that related to human

12:52health and the environment and how

12:53cesspools affected them um and

12:55simplified it into a one, two, and three

12:58priority score for the public, for

13:01Department of Health, and and for

13:03legislature legislators and policy

13:05makers.

13:06Here's just kind of a overview of the 15

13:09factors. There's a lot of factors on

13:11there, everything from sea level rise to

13:14um coral cover, um how often people use

13:17the beach, as well as simple things like

13:19distance to wetlands and streams. Um you

13:21can check those out on the slide or in

13:23our report. But kind of the bottom line

13:25for it is we took all those factors, put

13:28them into this calculator, and the

13:30calculator yields this result of

13:33priority one, which is the top 25% of

13:36all of the scores um from those 15

13:38factors at each cesspool, priority two,

13:41and priority three. And so, here's the

13:43breakdown of how many um individual

13:46cesspools across the entire state fall

13:48into those categories. You can learn a

13:50whole lot more. We have informational

13:51videos. We have our report. We have an

13:53interactive web tool. All that Hawaii

13:55cesspool tool.org at that QR code right

13:57there.

13:59So, that was what we put together 2021,

14:012022. We had an expansion project to

14:03make the videos and the the outreach

14:05website. Um

14:07and then in 2024,

14:09we were tasked by the Hawaii State

14:12Legislature to answer this gap right

14:14here. So, what the original Hawaii

14:17cesspool tool was not designed to answer

14:19was how those cesspools should be

14:21replaced and by whom and at what cost,

14:24right? So, we really just said which

14:26ones are most impactful. Um and there's

14:29a little bit of a governance gap in that

14:31no single agency in Hawaii maintains a

14:34statewide picture of where sewer system

14:37expansion is planned um or is feasible

14:39or is likely. Um and this leads to

14:41problems. So, one of the main problems

14:43that was identified when Act 217 was

14:45written was that residents are uncertain

14:47whether they should you know, spend

14:49$50,000 now, replace their cesspool, or

14:52if they should wait for sewer service to

14:53come down the line. So, that's why um

14:57the Hawaii State Legislature mandated

14:59that we um develop this new expansion

15:02overlay to add to our existing tool to

15:06evaluate where centralized sewer

15:09is most likely and is most feasible to

15:12be constructed by the 2050 deadline.

15:16So,

15:17the way that we did this is we had we

15:18had a big staff. We had um like three or

15:20four full-time staff members, and we

15:22tried to reach out to everybody and

15:24talked with the county wastewater

15:26departments, private wastewater system

15:28purveyors. Um we talked a lot with

15:30Corollo Engineers um because they were

15:32putting together the report that um I'm

15:35I'm assuming that y'all heard about last

15:37last meeting. Um and kind of similar to

15:40what they did, you know, we worked

15:42closely with them and um tried to match

15:45our data sets to their data sets as

15:46well. Um we identified with a threshold

15:50that was the same as Corollo's,

15:52um areas where we had more than 50

15:54cesspools within an eighth of a mile,

15:56and that gave us our potential project

15:58areas. So, we identified 103 possible

16:01areas where basically we had the density

16:04to say a sewer system project makes

16:07sense. In in really rural, not very

16:10dense areas, it it doesn't make sense

16:12because it's, you know, just so

16:13expensive to put pipes between the

16:15houses. But, these 103 project areas

16:18were where um we were doing our

16:20analysis.

16:22So, we also tried to, you know, along

16:24the same lines as the Hawaii Cesspool

16:25Tool, really take a large body of

16:28complicated, site-specific information

16:31and condense it down into categories

16:34that could be actionable. So, we for

16:37each of the 103 project areas, we

16:39identified them either as planned or

16:41underway, under evaluation, or having no

16:44active plans. So, that was one way we

16:46categorized them.

16:48And then, to assess feasibility, you

16:50know, which ones of these projects make

16:52the most sense? When it really comes

16:54down to it, dollars are the bottom line,

16:56right? So, cost was the the you know,

16:59the way we

17:01um tried to aggregate all of the

17:02feasibility information that we could,

17:04and so we assigned these cost tiers by

17:07creating a

17:09a planning-level cost model. So, we're

17:11not engineers, we didn't make an

17:13engineering-level cost model, but this

17:15was a planning-level, statewide kind of

17:18landscape 10,000 ft view level cost

17:20model.

17:22Um, and we are able to apply that to all

17:23of the areas in the state.

17:25Okay. So, jumping into results,

17:28um,

17:29the key finding, the first key finding

17:30that that we wanted to share today is

17:33that, um,

17:35there's not very many projects that are

17:37currently planned. Um,

17:39for our potential project areas, we

17:40literally asked the counties,

17:43um, and private wastewater providers,

17:44which ones of these are you planning to

17:47have done, you know, by 2050 and can say

17:50yes, we will have these done.

17:53Out of the whole state,

17:54there is or four of them where the

17:56county said, yes, we will have these

17:58done.

17:59Um,

18:00with

18:01essentially 80% of them. So, that's 80

18:03other project areas with no identified

18:05plans. The ones in this blue category

18:08here, where they're under evaluation,

18:09those are project areas that have been

18:11written up in a CIP budget that, you

18:14know, there is an existing, you know,

18:17maybe community master plan that

18:19identifies a sewer project as

18:21something that people are interested in

18:23doing, but they're not to the point

18:26where we can put them into the planned

18:27or underway category. So, they're being

18:29evaluated plans,

18:31um, they're being talked about, but

18:33they're not necessarily going to happen.

18:35And and, you know, we hoped that this

18:36would communicate really clearly to

18:38homeowners, you know, if you're in one

18:39of these green areas, that, you know,

18:42that means that a sewer system is coming

18:44down the line, but everything else, it's

18:46not.

18:48Um,

18:48I probably don't have to say this, but,

18:50uh,

18:51you know, what

18:52our cost modeling found that feasibility

18:55is an exception. So, most of the

18:56projects, um, in general, are expensive.

18:59And so, as I mentioned, we did actually

19:02calculate numbers of dollars, but we

19:05wanted to sort of qualify that result

19:08because, again, you know, our we're not

19:10professional estimators,

19:12um,

19:13and, you know, it's a really complicated

19:14science to actually estimate costs

19:16accurately.

19:18Um

19:18>> [clears throat]

19:18>> but, we were able to estimate costs and

19:21then bend them so that we could have a

19:22relative cost estimate. And very few of

19:25the projects that we um

19:29uh estimated the cost of fell into these

19:31lower cost tier categories. So, most of

19:35them fell into these higher tier

19:36categories. You know, some of them were

19:38extremely expensive, um but most were um

19:42in in this category. So, just for a

19:45little bit of a reference, the

19:48um

19:49the actual costs are of these higher

19:52categories of of the fourth tier here is

19:55or the third and fourth are 18 to 14

19:57times more expensive than a typical

20:00onsite sewer uh septic system

20:02installation. So, you know, we're we're

20:04talking something along the lines of 300

20:08to uh 400,000 dollars per unit for these

20:12sewer system expansion projects.

20:15Okay. So, this is the graph that we

20:18really wanted to produce with this

20:20project because, when it really comes

20:23down to it, you know, it's a little bit

20:24of a complicated graph, but what the Y

20:27axis shows is essentially the

20:29feasibility. So, it shows this this kind

20:32of median relative cost. It's not in

20:34dollars, it's in just kind of the

20:35relative cost, but the ones that are

20:37lower cost less, the ones that are

20:39higher up on this graph cost more.

20:42Now, with the Hawaii cesspool

20:44prioritization tool, what we were able

20:46to do is quantify the impact that those

20:50cesspools have. So, we multiplied the

20:54prioritization score weight by the

20:56number of cesspools because, you know,

20:58the more cesspools that you can convert,

21:00the better, right? Um

21:02and that is this impact score. And so,

21:05projects that are higher on the impact

21:07score, we're converting more cesspools

21:10and

21:12they are higher priority cesspools. So

21:14that's kind of an index of that. So with

21:16this graph, what we can do is we can

21:17separate each of the 103 project areas.

21:20So each of the project areas is one of

21:22these bubbles. They're colored by that

21:24impact score, you know, the

21:25prioritization level. We can identify

21:28which areas and most of the I think I've

21:30labeled all of the the high impact low

21:33cost areas where we can essentially get

21:36the biggest bang for our buck, right?

21:38And so this is a statewide single glance

21:41figure where we can look at this and

21:43say, "Okay, which are the most

21:45cost-effective, which are the most

21:47impactful cesspool conversion areas?"

21:49They're the ones in this corner. The

21:51ones in this corner are the lowest

21:53impact and highest cost, right? So they

21:56you know, these are much less feasible

21:58and then you know, you have the the two

22:00side quadrants here where

22:02we've got things that are

22:04lower cost but you know, are more

22:06priority three and then these have you

22:09know, convert have a lot more impact.

22:12We're converting higher priority

22:13cesspools but you know, the costs rise

22:15as we go higher on this graph.

22:18So all of this is in our report and how

22:20we got to it is in our report.

22:22But I think this graph really kind of

22:23sums up the work that we did.

22:26Um you know, and and and with the data

22:28that we generated, we can look at each

22:30specific island and so I just put this

22:32table together. Um you know, Hawaii

22:35Island

22:36so we can highlight here has 42 of the

22:39areas. So you know,

22:40the great majority of the potential

22:43project areas that we identified

22:46um

22:46and then a lot of those are very

22:48expensive because a lot of the areas on

22:49Hawaii Island essentially are spread out

22:51and you know, distance between homes is

22:54is the primary driving factor for cost

22:56because it's you know, laying those

22:58collection pipes that's really quite

23:00expensive.

23:01Um and having an existing infrastructure

23:04there is is another strong predictor of

23:07of feasibility. So, on Oahu, there's a

23:09lot of existing infrastructure. So,

23:11that's really helpful because they, you

23:12know, potentially can send wastewater

23:14flows to existing um treatment plants as

23:17opposed to building new ones.

23:20Um, there are a couple lessons learned

23:22that we wanted to point out. I won't

23:24necessarily go through all of these in

23:27depth here. Again, um you know, these

23:29slides are posted online, but I do want

23:30to have a lot of room for questions. You

23:33know, I think one of the main things

23:34that we identified is is really more

23:36coordination would be helpful and

23:37useful. And I know Department of Health

23:39is working on that. You know, that and

23:41that's kind of part of why I'm here

23:42today, right? It's because um

23:44you know, Council member Kimball

23:46identified that, you know, more

23:49more spreading of this information and

23:51coordination would be helpful. So, um I

23:53think between departments, that's really

23:54helpful, especially between counties and

23:56state. Um

23:58one of the key um limitations too is

24:01disposal of the treated wastewater.

24:03Uh I don't believe Department of Health

24:05is permitting new um

24:07injection wells. Ocean outfalls are very

24:09difficult to permit at the federal

24:11level. So, the counties um you know,

24:13expressed a lot of concern over um being

24:15able to dispose of the wastewater, not

24:18just collect it and get it to the plant,

24:19but also what are we going to do with it

24:21afterwards.

24:22Um yeah, and then

24:25this this is also just kind of part of

24:27the you know, feasibility equation.

24:30Most um feasible projects are really

24:32those ones that are already within

24:34existing sewer service areas. Creating

24:36new sewer sewer service areas for

24:37cesspools

24:39is quite expensive. Um

24:41and then yeah, here's some other lessons

24:43that I'll I'll leave up on the screen

24:45while I take questions here um if

24:47anybody has any. So.

24:50Yeah, but I don't want to be

24:52respectful of the council's time and

24:54make sure we have plenty of time to

24:55answer any questions that come up.

24:56Thanks.

24:57>> Thank you so much, Chris, and and I hope

24:59you guys all find this as

25:02um useful as I do. Um especially in the

25:05context of the presentation we had from

25:09from DEM. Um you know, I think

25:12the same conclusions were reached in

25:15terms of the two reports

25:19here in terms of the feasibility in a

25:21number of these areas, but then on the

25:23flip side

25:24um the county really looking at

25:28many areas of this island where some

25:31sort of municipal wastewater is just

25:33impractical, and it's all going to have

25:35to be on the individual homeowner. Now,

25:39I think one of the factors in both cases

25:43is that the predominant

25:45decision-making

25:47component is the cost. And so, um you

25:51know, one of the discussions and maybe

25:53Council member Vicas, you can kind of

25:55reflect on your experience, but one of

25:57the the conversations at the

26:00working group at HZAC was that you know,

26:02these there are these other priorities,

26:05and they were all weighed against each

26:06other and and combined, um do we need to

26:10kind of look at those different measures

26:13and prioritize them a little bit

26:15differently depending on what actual

26:17outcomes we want, you know, perhaps in

26:20areas where we need more recycled water

26:24and looking at infrastructure to do

26:26wastewater that would only would a

26:28wastewater system that would not only

26:30treat wastewater, but would produce

26:32usable water for the community. Um

26:35that's maybe something that should be

26:36factored in. Proximity to

26:40for example, the the community-based

26:42subsistence fishing area in Milolii,

26:44perhaps that is something that needs to

26:46be weighed differently with respect to

26:48just cost. Um as Chris mentioned

26:52the one of the other outcomes of the

26:55conversation at the working group was

26:57this need for coordination, um,

27:00specifically between the counties and

27:03the state. Um, and looking at, um,

27:08potentially supporting funding for

27:11staffing within the Department of Health

27:13specifically focused on cesspool

27:15conversions. I think that that is, um,

27:18something that we were all coming to

27:20consensus around that that needed to

27:21happen. Um, but with that, I will love

27:24to have you guys ask questions. Um, this

27:27is Chris is an expert in this field, so

27:30give him the tough ones. Thank you.

27:32>> Thank you.

27:33>> Thank you so much, Chris. This is very,

27:36um, helpful information. Unfortunately,

27:39I do have a meeting that I need to jump

27:41on to, so I'm passing the chair to

27:43Council Member Viegas at

27:47uh, 1:56

27:49p.m. Thank you, Council Member Viegas.

27:51>> Thank you, Council Member Kimbell. Let

27:53the record reflect that Rebecca Viegas

27:55myself has taken,

27:57um, the chair position of the Committee

28:00on Communications, Reports, and Council

28:02Oversight at 1:56 p.m.

28:05And with that, uh, questions from my

28:08colleagues, Council Member Eustace.

28:11>> Thank you, Chair Viegas. Uh, appreciate

28:13the time. Thank you, Council Member

28:14Kimbell for for bringing Dr. Schuler

28:16here, um, before us, uh, for this

28:17presentation.

28:19Um,

28:20couple questions, Dr. Schuler, on

28:24kind of the the breakdown of prioritized

28:27areas.

28:30The, you know, some of the graphs,

28:33I'm trying to I'm going back and forth

28:34between the the the tool itself on the

28:36website

28:38and your your presentation here. Uh, so

28:41trying to get a better understanding of

28:44how these areas were were identified.

28:47Are they towns themselves,

28:50communities?

28:53>> Yeah, ab-

28:54absolutely. So, the 103 project areas

28:57specifically.

28:59>> Because on the

29:00on the on the on the website on the

29:03cesspool prioritization tool, it really

29:04just breaks it down into census tracts

29:07or is there another layer that can be

29:08activated there?

29:10>> Yep, absolutely. Yes, and and we've

29:12created a lot of layers and a lot of

29:14data. So, you know, I understand it's

29:15complicated. Um

29:17but the

29:19specifically there's two tools that we

29:22created and one of those is the original

29:24Hawaii cesspool prioritization tool,

29:26which is um the red, yellow, and um

29:31orange dots. And that right now is is

29:35primarily organized by census tracts and

29:37and prioritizes individual cesspools.

29:40Um So, then the overlay, if you go onto

29:43our website, there's a little blue

29:45banner at the top and there's also a

29:47section down below that says, "Check out

29:49the new

29:51um 2024 wastewater overlay." And that's

29:54where we identified those 103 project

29:56areas. And so, those project areas, you

29:58know, we tried to color them differently

30:00to try to make that distinction. So,

30:01those are the blue, green, and gray

30:03project areas. And so, those 103 project

30:06areas were um they were selected and

30:09defined utilizing the same methodology

30:13that uh Corollo Engineers and County of

30:15Hawaii used in the integrated wastewater

30:18management plan. We talked with Corollo

30:21and um

30:23County of Hawaii early on in our process

30:26and, you know, we recognized the need to

30:28try to standardize what we were doing um

30:31in a similar manner uh so that, you

30:33know, we wouldn't be producing confusing

30:35and conflicting information.

30:37And so, I'm not exactly sure, you know,

30:39if if our areas completely line up. That

30:41there's a little bit of difference in

30:43where we drew the boundaries versus

30:45where they drew drew the boundaries. We

30:47were able to validate on their Oahu

30:50report.

30:51Um

30:52and essentially, you know, we we kind of

30:54came to the same areas. And our cost

30:57model

30:58um is pretty similar to the cost model

31:00that they developed. So, you know, these

31:03this tool in those reports should, you

31:05know, essentially match pretty well

31:07together. And again, you know, those

31:09areas were really just defined by

31:11identifying areas where there are

31:13clusters or higher density groups of

31:16cesspools that are um that have 50

31:20cesspools in more than an eighth of an

31:22acre. And so, that was the same

31:23methodology they used, so that was the

31:25methodology we used.

31:27>> Thank you. I just didn't go far enough

31:28down on the website there to really

31:29activate the the overlay there itself.

31:31It Is there a way to put these two

31:34together though to kind of see because

31:36the the

31:37the sewer expansion overlay

31:39is really just identifying these high

31:40concentration of cesspools and it's not

31:43So, you kind of are

31:44and where you're either identifying

31:48plan projects, those that are underway

31:50or under valuation, or there's nothing

31:53no action being taken as far as you can

31:54tell. Is there a way to kind of

31:57put these two together to kind of see

31:58where some of those gaps are though

32:01based upon those those priority areas

32:03based upon Department of Health

32:04standards and those sort of things?

32:07>> Yes, so that

32:08you can and let me see if I can pull

32:11this up on my screen and can you see the

32:14wastewater overlay expansion tool?

32:16>> Yes.

32:18>> So,

32:19we do have this layer list here and it's

32:21hidden by default cuz it's a little bit

32:23cluttered. But you can turn on the

32:25tracked priorities of the cesspools

32:28on the overlay tool so you can see where

32:30there's higher priority cesspools, lower

32:33priority cesspools, etc. Does Does And

32:36that was Yeah, that was, you know kind

32:39of the one thing that we've put together

32:41by default on these public tools. You

32:43know, the other thing that we can do is

32:44if you have a request, we've got all the

32:46data layers and and we can you know, put

32:49together custom maps or custom data

32:51sets. I'm actually putting together one

32:52for DHH right now because they you know,

32:55they asked us to

32:56you know, prioritize some of the

32:58cesspools that were not in in the groups

33:00already and you know, we're able to

33:01produce that within a couple of days. So

33:04if there's an analysis you're interested

33:06in, please let us know.

33:07>> Thank you for highlighting the layer

33:08list there. I appreciate that.

33:10I'll be able to turn that on and kind of

33:11see the comparisons between

33:13uh your previous work in this one here.

33:15Um

33:18two other questions. The the project

33:23and the overlay

33:26and those potential project areas

33:29that's just an ongoing dialogue with

33:31different county administrations then or

33:34lack thereof or on better understanding

33:36what what are you missing there in terms

33:38of trying to

33:39get at making sure that the data

33:41represents the work that's ongoing.

33:44>> That's that's a great question and it's

33:47a little bit unknown at this point where

33:49this work will go in the future. And

33:52I've actually started um a couple of

33:55meetings with Department of Health to

33:58really um

34:00kind of define and you know, put

34:02together a plan for governance of the

34:05Hawaii cesspool prioritization tool and

34:07you know, by default this uh wastewater

34:09overlay.

34:11So at this point all of these projects

34:13have been funded by individual grants or

34:16legislative appropriations without any

34:19continuing funding or mandate or

34:22requests or anything to continue these

34:24into the future. So we've got this

34:26hosted right now on Hawaii Sea Grant

34:28servers. So that's you know, University

34:30of Hawaii computing infrastructure.

34:33We're able to maintain this, you know,

34:35I'm certainly able to to help with it.

34:39Um, but in the future, what we're really

34:40trying to do, you know, I just had a

34:42meeting with the Department of Health

34:43to, you know, try to figure out who

34:45exactly owns the tool, what should the

34:47update schedule be, um, if people want

34:49to use it for commercial use, how how

34:51are you know, what are the rules on

34:53that? And then, you know, as as laws are

34:56written and policy is is developed um,

34:59utilizing the tool. For example, I think

35:01the Hawaii Green Infrastructure grants

35:04may be, um,

35:05basing eligibility based on the priority

35:07tool. You know, it's really important

35:09for that to be governed by a regulatory

35:11body, specifically Department of Health,

35:13and and I think that's what they're

35:15interested in, but we we've just started

35:17those conversations, um,

35:19um, recently. So, I I don't have a a

35:22final answer uh, for your question yet,

35:25but

35:26hopefully it's in the works and

35:27hopefully, um, you know, we can figure

35:29that out with Department of Health.

35:30>> Per- perfect, and I just hope that the

35:31information about

35:34ongoing efforts is is shared, you know,

35:37to be able to kind of really demonstrate

35:39what what what actions are being taken.

35:41The

35:43the tiers 1 through 5 on the

35:46feasibility,

35:47you know, that

35:48I know you're not saying that

35:51the higher the tier, we shouldn't be

35:53doing these things, correct? Even though

35:54it's, you know, these are very we're

35:57going to be more costly, it's still

35:58these are we should still be pursuing

36:00those even though

36:02uh, the the sometimes the costs are

36:04going to be out of out of reach for a

36:06little bit.

36:08>> Yeah, and and absolutely, you know,

36:09we'll I I I will kind of hide behind my

36:12scientist hat here, right? So, what our

36:14goal is to create useful data for the

36:17public, for policy makers, for people

36:19to, you know, make their decisions on.

36:22Um, you know, we're not necessarily

36:23being policy prescriptive here. So, what

36:26we tried to do was take these factors

36:29right here, and and this is where the

36:31cost model comes from. It's just looking

36:33at the cost per foot of collection main,

36:35conveyance main, um if a treatment plant

36:38is needed, and the size of that

36:39treatment plant, um and then also pump

36:42stations. And so, what we're trying to

36:44say is just which areas would be more

36:46expensive. Um and as I mentioned before,

36:49it it really kind of comes down to if

36:51there's an existing treatment plant, and

36:52how spread out the neighborhood is. So,

36:54if it's a you know, a a

36:56tier five area, you know, that means

36:59that based on our kind of geographic

37:02calculations, again, you know, we didn't

37:04do site-specific engineering

37:06feasibility, but based on the geography,

37:08it looks pretty expensive.

37:10You know, that that doesn't mean that we

37:11shouldn't be, you know, doing expensive

37:13things, but that just is something that

37:15hopefully is helpful, um you know, when

37:18we're weighing out the costs and

37:19benefits.

37:20>> Thank you. And that last question here

37:22on your key finding number three on the

37:24cost and hazard data ID, the highest

37:26return opportunities.

37:28Is there a way you could you present

37:30this to us

37:31>> [clears throat]

37:32>> just for that the communities identified

37:34for Hawaii County?

37:37>> Um

37:38yes. Yeah, I could make a graph

37:42that omits the other

37:44um islands' points. I could certainly do

37:47that.

37:47>> Not not to exclude them, but I just

37:48wanted to really see

37:51you know, the kind of the biggest

37:52impacts

37:54as we have that those conversations here

37:56uh in Hawaii County, cuz I I definitely

37:58see other communities. I don't don't see

38:01necessarily a lot of our communities

38:03called out on this graph specifically by

38:05name. So, it'd be really interesting to

38:06see

38:07where where these kind of line up in

38:09this in this format here.

38:12>> Absolutely. Yeah, and and that's a great

38:13example of yeah, you know, any of the

38:15continued analysis that would be

38:17helpful, you know, we we spent a lot of

38:19time putting this data and framework

38:21together. And if we can interrogate it

38:24in ways that are more helpful than we

38:25put in the report, that would be great.

38:27So, yeah, I I can absolutely generate

38:30that graph um

38:32within within a week or two here and and

38:34send that over.

38:35>> Fantastic. Really appreciate that, Dr.

38:36Shuler. Thank you so much, Chair.

38:39>> Thank you, Councilmember Hustace. Anyone

38:42else?

38:46No?

38:48All right. Um just quickly, thank you,

38:50Chris, for being here and for your

38:53vigilance in taking a topic that

38:57uh

38:59it's more it's easy to avoid, right?

39:02It's become

39:05an issue

39:07that I know for myself has felt

39:09insurmountable, but your ability to take

39:12all the data and take those talking

39:14points and those priorities and break it

39:17down in a way that we can look at it and

39:21still use subjective value systems

39:27to prioritize what needs to happen

39:29first, but your ability to objectively

39:34take the data and present to us with um

39:39you know, what that says is best course

39:41of action moving forward. Um grateful

39:43for the work you're doing.

39:45Um

39:45so grateful that we

39:47have this opportunity to use um

39:52this technology

39:54to guide us as we move forward. So,

39:56thank you personally and professionally

39:58for being here with us today and for

40:01your generosity in sharing the

40:03information online. I remember seeing

40:06you speak at H-SEC and you

40:08just were very like, "It's online. It's

40:10online. I've got it all there." So,

40:12you're very forward-thinking and

40:14ensuring that people have access to the

40:16information. So, just want to thank you

40:19for that.

40:20Is there anything else you wanted to

40:21share with us before we wrap this up?

40:25>> Um yeah, I just want to say yeah, thank

40:26thank you so much and um yeah, you know,

40:30really glad that our work is useful.

40:31That that is the you know, that's the

40:33highest accolade is if somebody is using

40:35it and you know, again, just like I'll

40:37I'll make that graph and if there's any

40:39other um you know, information that we

40:42can provide or customized analysis we

40:44can do, um absolutely, you know, happy

40:47to continue the conversation um and and

40:49keep you know, keep it going. So, thank

40:51thank you so much. Really appreciate all

40:53of your time.

40:54>> Thank you.

40:55I was just thinking, can we get him to

40:57help the Department of Water Supply?

40:59>> [laughter]

41:00>> And map and track all of our water

41:03units. Um well, thank you, Chris.

41:06>> We'd be very happy to actually. So,

41:08I do a lot with the American Samoa Water

41:10Utility and um yeah, just just let me

41:13know. Just let me know.

41:13>> Okay.

41:14>> Thanks, Chris.

41:15>> Good thing for um future councils to

41:17keep in mind.

41:19All right.

41:22With that, all those in favor of closing

41:25file and communication 1112,

41:28please say I.

41:30Anyone opposed?

41:32We have seven members

41:34uh

41:36in agreement and two members excused,

41:39Councilmember

41:41Galimba and Councilmember Connie Li

41:44Klein Felder.

41:46And with that, seeing no other business

41:48on the Communications Reports and

41:50Council Oversight Committee,

41:52our meeting today is adjourned at

41:562:10 p.m.

42:49>> Hey.

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