I am writing again to refile a proposed FY 2027 budget amendment that advances a simple, integrated strategy to wastewater compliance: stop investing in litigation of the Lahaina WWRF NPDES matter by accepting a real nature-based compliance solution, accelerate County UV disinfection infrastructure, and reserve public funds for core municipal obligations.
First, it shifts the County from NPDES litigation to implementation at the Lahaina WWRF with a home-grown, native stream limu-based nutrient polishing solution. Rather than continuing to expend funds contesting the hard-won effluent quality improvements of the 2020 SCOTUS decision, the amendment supports a structured, performance-based compliance pathway that preserves all existing Total Nitrogen limits and achieves them through phased, verifiable deployment. A two-page filing accepts the plan if DOH does.
Second, it recognizes that the Maʻalaea Regional Wastewater Reclamation System is better suited to private philanthropic delivery rather than public capital allocation. Kai Action Institute 501(c)(3) is specifically structured to complete that project through non-taxpayer funding, allowing the County to prioritize immediate compliance infrastructure.
Third, it redirects those funds to accelerate CBS-1169, expanding Maui North Shore UV disinfection capacity at a municipal scale and advancing R-1 effluent standards that directly protect public health and nearshore waters.
In short, the amendment realigns wastewater spending to stop waste on litigation, invests in proven municipal disinfection, and enables philanthropic delivery of non-municipal projects, setting a path to compliance, cost control, human health and environmental protection in a single, defensible approach.
Respectfully submitted,
Travis A. Liggett, M.S.
+1 (808) 291-9934
travis.liggett@gmail.com
Aloha Chair Sugimura and Members of the BFED Committee. Please see attached testimony submitted on behalf of MEO, relating to Item BFED-1, Proposed Fiscal Year 2027 Budget for the County of Maui.
Aloha Chair Sugimura and Budget Committee Members,
In my role as Maui Marine Director for The Nature Conservancy Hawai’i and Palmyra, I serve as an ex oficio member of the County’s Conservation Planning Committee.
As you may be aware, the Committee was established in 2018 and was tasked in with preparing a “greenprint” for Maui County, a long-term conservation planning tool to help guide the use of the Open Space, Natural Resources, Cultural Resources, and Scenic Views Preservation Fund. However, the Committee has struggled to meet regularly and make progress toward this goal and has twice extended the deadline to produce the greenprint plan.
At a meeting last year, the Committee discussed this lack of progress and concluded a major barrier is the lack dedicated staff. It was mentioned at that time that perhaps CM Sinenci could introduce a budget amendment to provide some staff capacity to support the Committee. While I defer to those better versed in the available mechanisms, I wanted to raise the issue to the Council in hope that you will consider this in your current budget deliberations.
The other budget item that was discussed to support the work of Committee is to hire a consultant with expertise in greenprint development to assist the County with this process. This is the intention of the Committee members, as I understand, and is recognized as the only way that a professional and useful greenprint plan will be developed in a reasonable time frame. In speaking with Budget Director Milner, she indicated a budget amendment could be done later once the Committee had the chance to meet further. I also recognize a budget amendment takes time and effort, and if it is included in the FY27 budget it may move the process along more quickly.
In consulting with some resources who have worked on greenprint plans for other locations, they have a provided an estimate of $200K - $250K for the County to consider for a contract in the FY27 budget. While the cost of such a plan can vary greatly depending on the scope and depth, this would provide support for the stakeholder process within the committee, community engagement with a cultural component, and a final product with interactive features. (A barebones process could be done for as little as $150K; a more robust process with more depth of community engagement and more features in the final product could range up to $350K.)
(Please note that TNC does not intend to bid on the greenprint contract; but we do intend to provide resources and expertise to support the process.)
I encourage you consider including funding for staff and contracting for the Conservation Planning Committee in the FY27 budget, and I’m happy to provide information for questions you may have about the greenprint process.
Mahalo,
Scott Crawford
Maui Marine Director
The Nature Conservancy Hawai’i and Palmyra
Maui residents are watching their government struggle to perform its most basic responsibilities while millions of dollars continue to flow out through grants, subsidies, and handouts to nonprofits, organizations, and special interests. Meanwhile the people who actually fund this government—the residents and taxpayers of Maui County—are left dealing with rising costs, failing infrastructure, crime, slow permitting, and departments that can barely keep up with their core duties.
Ask a simple question: when was the last time you saw an ordinary resident stand in front of the council asking for taxpayer money to pay their bills, tax-free? It doesn’t happen. Working families on Maui handle their responsibilities every day without subsidies or special treatment. Yet government seems far more comfortable writing checks to organizations than fixing the systems it directly controls.
The county’s responsibility is not to function as a grant-distribution agency. Its responsibility is to run the government—public safety, roads, drainage, permitting, planning, infrastructure, and the departments residents rely on every single day. Those systems should be functioning at a high level before taxpayer money is dispersed elsewhere.
At the same time, residents are being asked to trust leadership despite a record that raises serious concerns. We have seen leadership failures, rising public safety questions, and a government structure that often appears more focused on messaging and programs than on competence and results. Accountability matters, and public officials should always be prepared to answer for the outcomes under their watch.
If Maui residents want things to change, the first step is showing up, paying attention, and demanding accountability. Government should serve the people of this island first—not political priorities, not press releases, and not a network of organizations funded by public money.
Support the departments you are responsible for. Fix the systems that are failing residents. Focus on competence and results.
And if leaders cannot do that, they should step aside and allow people who will.
WRITTEN TESTIMONY
April 20, 2026
Aloha Chair and Budget Committee Members,
I am writing again to refile a proposed FY 2027 budget amendment that advances a simple, integrated strategy to wastewater compliance: stop investing in litigation of the Lahaina WWRF NPDES matter by accepting a real nature-based compliance solution, accelerate County UV disinfection infrastructure, and reserve public funds for core municipal obligations.
First, it shifts the County from NPDES litigation to implementation at the Lahaina WWRF with a home-grown, native stream limu-based nutrient polishing solution. Rather than continuing to expend funds contesting the hard-won effluent quality improvements of the 2020 SCOTUS decision, the amendment supports a structured, performance-based compliance pathway that preserves all existing Total Nitrogen limits and achieves them through phased, verifiable deployment. A two-page filing accepts the plan if DOH does.
Second, it recognizes that the Maʻalaea Regional Wastewater Reclamation System is better suited to private philanthropic delivery rather than public capital allocation. Kai Action Institute 501(c)(3) is specifically structured to complete that project through non-taxpayer funding, allowing the County to prioritize immediate compliance infrastructure.
Third, it redirects those funds to accelerate CBS-1169, expanding Maui North Shore UV disinfection capacity at a municipal scale and advancing R-1 effluent standards that directly protect public health and nearshore waters.
In short, the amendment realigns wastewater spending to stop waste on litigation, invests in proven municipal disinfection, and enables philanthropic delivery of non-municipal projects, setting a path to compliance, cost control, human health and environmental protection in a single, defensible approach.
Respectfully submitted,
Travis A. Liggett, M.S.
+1 (808) 291-9934
travis.liggett@gmail.com
Aloha Chair Sugimura and Members of the BFED Committee. Please see attached testimony submitted on behalf of MEO, relating to Item BFED-1, Proposed Fiscal Year 2027 Budget for the County of Maui.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Aloha Chair Sugimura and Budget Committee Members,
In my role as Maui Marine Director for The Nature Conservancy Hawai’i and Palmyra, I serve as an ex oficio member of the County’s Conservation Planning Committee.
As you may be aware, the Committee was established in 2018 and was tasked in with preparing a “greenprint” for Maui County, a long-term conservation planning tool to help guide the use of the Open Space, Natural Resources, Cultural Resources, and Scenic Views Preservation Fund. However, the Committee has struggled to meet regularly and make progress toward this goal and has twice extended the deadline to produce the greenprint plan.
At a meeting last year, the Committee discussed this lack of progress and concluded a major barrier is the lack dedicated staff. It was mentioned at that time that perhaps CM Sinenci could introduce a budget amendment to provide some staff capacity to support the Committee. While I defer to those better versed in the available mechanisms, I wanted to raise the issue to the Council in hope that you will consider this in your current budget deliberations.
The other budget item that was discussed to support the work of Committee is to hire a consultant with expertise in greenprint development to assist the County with this process. This is the intention of the Committee members, as I understand, and is recognized as the only way that a professional and useful greenprint plan will be developed in a reasonable time frame. In speaking with Budget Director Milner, she indicated a budget amendment could be done later once the Committee had the chance to meet further. I also recognize a budget amendment takes time and effort, and if it is included in the FY27 budget it may move the process along more quickly.
In consulting with some resources who have worked on greenprint plans for other locations, they have a provided an estimate of $200K - $250K for the County to consider for a contract in the FY27 budget. While the cost of such a plan can vary greatly depending on the scope and depth, this would provide support for the stakeholder process within the committee, community engagement with a cultural component, and a final product with interactive features. (A barebones process could be done for as little as $150K; a more robust process with more depth of community engagement and more features in the final product could range up to $350K.)
(Please note that TNC does not intend to bid on the greenprint contract; but we do intend to provide resources and expertise to support the process.)
I encourage you consider including funding for staff and contracting for the Conservation Planning Committee in the FY27 budget, and I’m happy to provide information for questions you may have about the greenprint process.
Mahalo,
Scott Crawford
Maui Marine Director
The Nature Conservancy Hawai’i and Palmyra
Enough is enough.
Maui residents are watching their government struggle to perform its most basic responsibilities while millions of dollars continue to flow out through grants, subsidies, and handouts to nonprofits, organizations, and special interests. Meanwhile the people who actually fund this government—the residents and taxpayers of Maui County—are left dealing with rising costs, failing infrastructure, crime, slow permitting, and departments that can barely keep up with their core duties.
Ask a simple question: when was the last time you saw an ordinary resident stand in front of the council asking for taxpayer money to pay their bills, tax-free? It doesn’t happen. Working families on Maui handle their responsibilities every day without subsidies or special treatment. Yet government seems far more comfortable writing checks to organizations than fixing the systems it directly controls.
The county’s responsibility is not to function as a grant-distribution agency. Its responsibility is to run the government—public safety, roads, drainage, permitting, planning, infrastructure, and the departments residents rely on every single day. Those systems should be functioning at a high level before taxpayer money is dispersed elsewhere.
At the same time, residents are being asked to trust leadership despite a record that raises serious concerns. We have seen leadership failures, rising public safety questions, and a government structure that often appears more focused on messaging and programs than on competence and results. Accountability matters, and public officials should always be prepared to answer for the outcomes under their watch.
If Maui residents want things to change, the first step is showing up, paying attention, and demanding accountability. Government should serve the people of this island first—not political priorities, not press releases, and not a network of organizations funded by public money.
Support the departments you are responsible for. Fix the systems that are failing residents. Focus on competence and results.
And if leaders cannot do that, they should step aside and allow people who will.