The county is racing to enlarge its Kekaha landfill before it reaches capacity in December, officials said. If the course remains hurdle-free as expected, expansion projects should be completed in October. This seems a bit tight, County Councilman Jay Furfaro
The county is racing to enlarge its Kekaha landfill before it reaches capacity in December, officials said.
If the course remains hurdle-free as expected, expansion projects should be completed in October.
This seems a bit tight, County Councilman Jay Furfaro told Public Works Department officials yesterday at the Historic County Building.
The three-hour morning session wrapped up three weeks of department-by-department budget reviews.
The County Council’s decision-making on Mayor Bryan Baptiste’s proposed $155.7 million operating budget and $61.25 million capital improvement programs budget for next fiscal year is slated for May 12 and May 13.
Between now and then, residents will have an opportunity to comment at a 5 p.m. public hearing May 7 in Council Chambers; the mayor will submit his May 8 supplemental budget and the county clerk’s office will produce a “plus and minus list.”
The list provides the council an opportunity to express to the administration what it sees in the budget as “realistic and attainable,” Furfaro said.
The council made it clear to department heads that their funding requests need specific documentation to justify the suggested dollar amounts and the proposed projects must be feasible for completion within the next fiscal year — which runs from July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009.
“Tangible dollars need tangible results,” Furfaro said. “If we’re going to throw dollars at this, we want to measure it.”
The departments during the budget review process have demonstrated mixed abilities in making cases for their funding requests.
County Engineer Donald Fujimoto and two Public Works employees yesterday were the latest to fall under the council’s scrutiny over their budget proposals.
“I was disappointed that there wasn’t much clarity about the solid waste budget,” Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura said after the meeting. “I am hoping that we will get that information before the public hearing.”
The discussion centered on an escalating crisis over what to do with a massive waste stream on an island with limited space.
Fujimoto failed to explain to the council’s satisfaction precisely what a $1.17 million “solid waste programs” line item in the general fund portion of the capital improvement programs budget would include, such as plans for a material recoveries facility.
The Solid Waste Division’s goals were even called into question.
The Public Works employees and the mayor’s administrative aide, Gary Heu, stopped short of saying the division’s objective matched the state-mandated “maximum reduce, reuse, recycle” hierarchy.
Heu said the county needs to consider the bigger picture — cost.
He said he would hate to say the administration is committed to the state strategy at all costs, but the division should work toward that end to the extent reasonable to the county.
County solid waste specialist Troy Tanigawa said that the division’s goal is to manage the wastestream properly by putting the proper programs in place and adhering to the state’s goals as best as possible.
Yukimura acknowledged that the state’s strategy amounts to an unfunded mandate and is a law with no teeth in it.
The council also voiced concerns over the department’s unclear plan on how it would use the $678,941 requested for a “new landfill site acquisition/study.”
The amount was questioned after Fujimoto said it will be used for hiring a consultant, planning, land agreements and an environmental impact statement.
Tanigawa told the council that the Westside landfill will reach capacity in December or January.
He said a lateral expansion project to add another three years of life to the facility should be completed in October and another expansion cell now in the planning and permitting process will provide an additional three years of room.
There is $7.23 million for a “Kekaha landfill lateral expansion” in the bond fund of the capital improvement programs budget.
The two expansions, assuming they go smoothly, only delay the problem, Yukimura said.
What is the department planning to do after six or seven years? she said.
Fujimoto said there would be a new landfill sited by then.
Yukimura said she wants to know the whole process of getting a new site, who will make the decisions, the time frame and when the EIS would happen.
She also called for cost analyses of alternatives, such as a waste-to-energy facility.
Fujimoto said the administration would make a site recommendation which the council would have to approve.
He said he could provide a comprehensive timetable to the council within a couple weeks.
Putting together a list of prioritized sites is just the start of the battle, Yukimura said.
Council members recalled the controversy that the county endured in producing a draft integrated solid waste management plan — pointing at the need to mitigate concerns over property valuations, noise, visual impacts and nuisance rubbish.
The state Department of Health recently submitted its comments on the plan, which the consultant is in the process of incorporating.
A 60-day public review process is expected to start in May, county solid waste coordinator Allison Fraley said.
There must be a better community involvement process, council members said, and environmental justice must be considered.
“We are only going to be as successful as our credibility is,” Councilman Ron Kouchi said.
For more information, visit www.kauai.gov.
• Nathan Eagle, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or neagle@kauaipubco.
com.
