I respectfully submit this written addendum to correct a material inaccuracy in my prior spoken testimony.
Contrary to my earlier statement that all facilities lack UV disinfection, I wish to clarify and correct the record as follows:
• Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility (WWRF): Has stringent UV disinfection.
• Kahului Wastewater Reclamation Facility (WWRF): Has no disinfection of any kind for injection well discharges.
• Kihei Wastewater Reclamation Facility (WWRF): Has no disinfection for injection well discharges, stringent UV to R-1 levels for reuse water.
I apologize for any confusion my prior testimony may have caused and respectfully request that this correction be entered into the official record.
I support the realization of the MVA regional wastewater reclamation system as much as anyone, as I administratively managed the project from October 2021 - April 2025, at no net cost to MVA.
I only disagree that public funding should be used.
One experience I navigated was an event when an MVA wastewater working group leader gave me a direct order in a Zoom call to share all other vendor pricing information with David Whitney of EcoSolutions, before Mr. Whitney had provided a quote for the same work. I refused. I verbally "fought" to not do so. To me, the order ruined my due diligence financial analysis, which I had invested so much time into after interacting with 19 providers, but I felt I would be fired if I did not comply.
I handed over all other vendor pricing info to Mr. Whitney, against my will, because I believed it was not technically illegal, as no active procurement was happening at the time. David Whitney provided a bid just under the lowest bidder, and now appears to have the engineer position and contract.
I have many other incidences like this to report (with documentation), that indicate to me that the Ma'alaea community is better geared to spending private funding. I have a complete plan in place to deliver the entire project with philanthropy, with no funding invested by taxpayers for one of Maui's most significant profit centers for ecotourism.
Also, the original origin of the first allocation by $9.5 of SRF was a call with Member King's staff, who asked for ideas about the best use of a slot in her amendment allocation for wastewater. Later, it was my name on the $1.25 mil budget request awarded to MVA in a previous budget season.
In good faith, I cannot support any further tax dollars be allocated into a community with past and present leaders who are major leaders in the oil industry, a foreign-owned billionaire-aligned corporation, and ecotourism operations discharging into the Ma'alaea Harbor WWTP, which has had no valid wastewater permits since at least 2015.
Everyone agrees the Ma'alaea Regional Wastewater Reclamation System project should proceed. It just needs to happen without taxpayer investment, and the stars are aligning to deliver such a solution to the good people of Ma'alaea, with nonpublic funding, which will allow community leaders the flexibility, in procurement and administration, to which they are accustomed and adapted.
This is my due-diligence determination on the project after years of investment of time. I wish to see the project succeed as much as anyone, just not with taxpayer funding. The success of the project need not be linked in anyone's mind to taxpayer spending.
Aloha,
Travis A. Liggett, M.S.
+1 (808) 291-9934
travis.liggett@gmail.com
Deleted User
at April 23, 2026 at 9:20am HST
Shame on this Council.
You have discussed roughly $30 million in cuts while adding about $40 million in new spending. That is not a reduction. That is a bigger budget dressed up to look responsible.
And this is happening while Maui’s economy is tightening. The state just lost two PGA tournaments that brought millions in visitor spending to this island. Shipping costs keep rising, driving up the price of food, fuel, building materials and basic goods that every family depends on. Families across Maui—from the West Side to Upcountry to Paia—are tightening their personal budgets just to keep up with the cost of living.
Yet inside the council chambers the conversation continues about expanding funds, grants, programs, and nonprofit spending as if the County operates in some protected bubble.
Here is the reality: residents balance their checkbooks every month. When costs go up, they cut spending and prioritize essentials.
This Council should be able to do the same.
Right now many of us are wondering whether anyone sitting at that table actually knows how to balance a checkbook. And if you claim you do, then open the books and show us how fiscally responsible you are in your own lives.
Because from where the public is sitting, it looks like government spending keeps growing while residents are expected to absorb the consequences.
A $1.6 billion county budget deserves real scrutiny, not symbolic cuts and political choreography.
For these reasons, I remain in opposition to this proposed budget and the direction these deliberations are taking.
Support for 2027 Budget Allocation – Maalaea Regional Wastewater Reclamation System
Dear Maui County Council Members,
My name is John Astilla. I am a Maui resident, an environmental professional, and a surfer. I am writing in strong support of the proposed 2027 budget allocation for the regional wastewater reclamation system in Māʻalaea.
For decades, we have relied on the same approaches to wastewater management, and the results are clear - continued degradation of our nearshore waters, declining reef health, and ongoing impacts to the community's use of Māʻalaea Bay. We cannot expect different outcomes if we continue to do the same thing. This project represents an opportunity to take a different path, one that reflects what we have learned and responds to the urgency of the situation.
What makes this effort especially meaningful is its mauka-to-makai approach. By removing wastewater pollution at its source, we can directly improve water quality in Māʻalaea Bay while strengthening the broader network of restoration work already underway such as upland forest and stream restoration, native planting, coral and limu outplanting, and dune ecosystem protection. This kind of coordination is exactly what’s needed to create real, lasting change.
The benefits extend beyond environmental restoration. Expanding access to R-1 water will improve firefighting capacity in high-risk areas and reduce pressure on our limited potable water supply. Just as importantly, this system can serve as a practical, community-based model for wastewater management across Hawaiʻi, showing that we are capable of implementing solutions that are both effective and locally grounded.
This is more than an infrastructure investment. It is a decision about the kind of future we want for Maui. We have an opportunity to move beyond incremental fixes and invest in a solution that addresses root causes, protects our natural resources, and builds long-term resilience for our community.
I respectfully urge you to support this funding and help move this project forward.
Mahalo for your time, consideration, and commitment to the well-being of our island and future generations.
Support for 2027 Budget Allocation – Maalaea Regional Wastewater Reclamation System
Dear Maui County Council Members,
My name is John Astilla. I am a Maui resident, an environmental professional, and a surfer. I am writing in strong support of the proposed 2027 budget allocation for the regional wastewater reclamation system in Māʻalaea.
For decades, we have relied on the same approaches to wastewater management, and the results are clear - continued degradation of our nearshore waters, declining reef health, and ongoing impacts to the community's use of Māʻalaea Bay. We cannot expect different outcomes if we continue to do the same thing. This project represents an opportunity to take a different path, one that reflects what we have learned and responds to the urgency of the situation.
What makes this effort especially meaningful is its mauka-to-makai approach. By removing wastewater pollution at its source, we can directly improve water quality in Māʻalaea Bay while strengthening the broader network of restoration work already underway such as upland forest and stream restoration, native planting, coral and limu outplanting, and dune ecosystem protection. This kind of coordination is exactly what’s needed to create real, lasting change.
The benefits extend beyond environmental restoration. Expanding access to R-1 water will improve firefighting capacity in high-risk areas and reduce pressure on our limited potable water supply. Just as importantly, this system can serve as a practical, community-based model for wastewater management across Hawaiʻi, showing that we are capable of implementing solutions that are both effective and locally grounded.
This is more than an infrastructure investment. It is a decision about the kind of future we want for Maui. We have an opportunity to move beyond incremental fixes and invest in a solution that addresses root causes, protects our natural resources, and builds long-term resilience for our community.
I respectfully urge you to support this funding and help move this project forward.
Mahalo for your time, consideration, and commitment to the well-being of our island and future generations.
Subject: Support for 2027 Budget Allocation – Regional Wastewater Reclamation System
Dear Maui County Council Members,
My name is Dray Wilson, I am born and raised here on Maui. I am writing to express my strong support for the 2027 budget allocation for the regional wastewater reclamation system.
While surfing at Ma’alaea I got the the worst skin rash of my life. It started itching while I was surfing and when I got in, I immediately rinsed off but it wouldn’t stop. It was horrible and felt like my skin was on fire. I have surfed in all over the island and have never experience anything like that before. I believe the waste water pollution at Maya is causing this and it’s an absolute crime to the people and the ‘āina.
I believe this project is a critical component of one of Hawaiʻi’s most comprehensive watershed restoration efforts. The system will provide lasting benefits to both our community and environment—from mauka to makai—by:
* Removing wastewater pollution in Māʻalaea Bay
* Strengthening collaboration across restoration efforts, including upland forest, Kanaio stream, native planting, coral and limu outplanting, and dune ecosystem and endangered species protection
* Enhancing firefighting capacity through access to R-1 water in high-risk areas
* Serving as a community-driven model for cesspool conversion across the Hawaiian Islands
* Reducing strain on limited potable water resources
This investment represents a forward-thinking approach to environmental stewardship, public health, and long-term resilience.Mahalo for your consideration and for supporting projects that benefit current and future generations.
Re: Correction to Prior Verbal Testimony
Aloha Chair and Committee Members,
I respectfully submit this written addendum to correct a material inaccuracy in my prior spoken testimony.
Contrary to my earlier statement that all facilities lack UV disinfection, I wish to clarify and correct the record as follows:
• Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility (WWRF): Has stringent UV disinfection.
• Kahului Wastewater Reclamation Facility (WWRF): Has no disinfection of any kind for injection well discharges.
• Kihei Wastewater Reclamation Facility (WWRF): Has no disinfection for injection well discharges, stringent UV to R-1 levels for reuse water.
I apologize for any confusion my prior testimony may have caused and respectfully request that this correction be entered into the official record.
Mahalo,
Stevie Chung
Aloha Chair and Committee Members,
I support the realization of the MVA regional wastewater reclamation system as much as anyone, as I administratively managed the project from October 2021 - April 2025, at no net cost to MVA.
I only disagree that public funding should be used.
One experience I navigated was an event when an MVA wastewater working group leader gave me a direct order in a Zoom call to share all other vendor pricing information with David Whitney of EcoSolutions, before Mr. Whitney had provided a quote for the same work. I refused. I verbally "fought" to not do so. To me, the order ruined my due diligence financial analysis, which I had invested so much time into after interacting with 19 providers, but I felt I would be fired if I did not comply.
I handed over all other vendor pricing info to Mr. Whitney, against my will, because I believed it was not technically illegal, as no active procurement was happening at the time. David Whitney provided a bid just under the lowest bidder, and now appears to have the engineer position and contract.
I have many other incidences like this to report (with documentation), that indicate to me that the Ma'alaea community is better geared to spending private funding. I have a complete plan in place to deliver the entire project with philanthropy, with no funding invested by taxpayers for one of Maui's most significant profit centers for ecotourism.
Also, the original origin of the first allocation by $9.5 of SRF was a call with Member King's staff, who asked for ideas about the best use of a slot in her amendment allocation for wastewater. Later, it was my name on the $1.25 mil budget request awarded to MVA in a previous budget season.
In good faith, I cannot support any further tax dollars be allocated into a community with past and present leaders who are major leaders in the oil industry, a foreign-owned billionaire-aligned corporation, and ecotourism operations discharging into the Ma'alaea Harbor WWTP, which has had no valid wastewater permits since at least 2015.
Everyone agrees the Ma'alaea Regional Wastewater Reclamation System project should proceed. It just needs to happen without taxpayer investment, and the stars are aligning to deliver such a solution to the good people of Ma'alaea, with nonpublic funding, which will allow community leaders the flexibility, in procurement and administration, to which they are accustomed and adapted.
This is my due-diligence determination on the project after years of investment of time. I wish to see the project succeed as much as anyone, just not with taxpayer funding. The success of the project need not be linked in anyone's mind to taxpayer spending.
Aloha,
Travis A. Liggett, M.S.
+1 (808) 291-9934
travis.liggett@gmail.com
Shame on this Council.
You have discussed roughly $30 million in cuts while adding about $40 million in new spending. That is not a reduction. That is a bigger budget dressed up to look responsible.
And this is happening while Maui’s economy is tightening. The state just lost two PGA tournaments that brought millions in visitor spending to this island. Shipping costs keep rising, driving up the price of food, fuel, building materials and basic goods that every family depends on. Families across Maui—from the West Side to Upcountry to Paia—are tightening their personal budgets just to keep up with the cost of living.
Yet inside the council chambers the conversation continues about expanding funds, grants, programs, and nonprofit spending as if the County operates in some protected bubble.
Here is the reality: residents balance their checkbooks every month. When costs go up, they cut spending and prioritize essentials.
This Council should be able to do the same.
Right now many of us are wondering whether anyone sitting at that table actually knows how to balance a checkbook. And if you claim you do, then open the books and show us how fiscally responsible you are in your own lives.
Because from where the public is sitting, it looks like government spending keeps growing while residents are expected to absorb the consequences.
A $1.6 billion county budget deserves real scrutiny, not symbolic cuts and political choreography.
For these reasons, I remain in opposition to this proposed budget and the direction these deliberations are taking.
Jolee Bindo, Waikapu Resident
Support for 2027 Budget Allocation – Maalaea Regional Wastewater Reclamation System
Dear Maui County Council Members,
My name is John Astilla. I am a Maui resident, an environmental professional, and a surfer. I am writing in strong support of the proposed 2027 budget allocation for the regional wastewater reclamation system in Māʻalaea.
For decades, we have relied on the same approaches to wastewater management, and the results are clear - continued degradation of our nearshore waters, declining reef health, and ongoing impacts to the community's use of Māʻalaea Bay. We cannot expect different outcomes if we continue to do the same thing. This project represents an opportunity to take a different path, one that reflects what we have learned and responds to the urgency of the situation.
What makes this effort especially meaningful is its mauka-to-makai approach. By removing wastewater pollution at its source, we can directly improve water quality in Māʻalaea Bay while strengthening the broader network of restoration work already underway such as upland forest and stream restoration, native planting, coral and limu outplanting, and dune ecosystem protection. This kind of coordination is exactly what’s needed to create real, lasting change.
The benefits extend beyond environmental restoration. Expanding access to R-1 water will improve firefighting capacity in high-risk areas and reduce pressure on our limited potable water supply. Just as importantly, this system can serve as a practical, community-based model for wastewater management across Hawaiʻi, showing that we are capable of implementing solutions that are both effective and locally grounded.
This is more than an infrastructure investment. It is a decision about the kind of future we want for Maui. We have an opportunity to move beyond incremental fixes and invest in a solution that addresses root causes, protects our natural resources, and builds long-term resilience for our community.
I respectfully urge you to support this funding and help move this project forward.
Mahalo for your time, consideration, and commitment to the well-being of our island and future generations.
Sincerely,
John Astilla
(808) 385-4136
jcvastilla@gmail.com
Support for 2027 Budget Allocation – Maalaea Regional Wastewater Reclamation System
Dear Maui County Council Members,
My name is John Astilla. I am a Maui resident, an environmental professional, and a surfer. I am writing in strong support of the proposed 2027 budget allocation for the regional wastewater reclamation system in Māʻalaea.
For decades, we have relied on the same approaches to wastewater management, and the results are clear - continued degradation of our nearshore waters, declining reef health, and ongoing impacts to the community's use of Māʻalaea Bay. We cannot expect different outcomes if we continue to do the same thing. This project represents an opportunity to take a different path, one that reflects what we have learned and responds to the urgency of the situation.
What makes this effort especially meaningful is its mauka-to-makai approach. By removing wastewater pollution at its source, we can directly improve water quality in Māʻalaea Bay while strengthening the broader network of restoration work already underway such as upland forest and stream restoration, native planting, coral and limu outplanting, and dune ecosystem protection. This kind of coordination is exactly what’s needed to create real, lasting change.
The benefits extend beyond environmental restoration. Expanding access to R-1 water will improve firefighting capacity in high-risk areas and reduce pressure on our limited potable water supply. Just as importantly, this system can serve as a practical, community-based model for wastewater management across Hawaiʻi, showing that we are capable of implementing solutions that are both effective and locally grounded.
This is more than an infrastructure investment. It is a decision about the kind of future we want for Maui. We have an opportunity to move beyond incremental fixes and invest in a solution that addresses root causes, protects our natural resources, and builds long-term resilience for our community.
I respectfully urge you to support this funding and help move this project forward.
Mahalo for your time, consideration, and commitment to the well-being of our island and future generations.
Sincerely,
John Astilla
(808) 385-4136
jcvastilla@gmail.com
Subject: Support for 2027 Budget Allocation – Regional Wastewater Reclamation System
Dear Maui County Council Members,
My name is Dray Wilson, I am born and raised here on Maui. I am writing to express my strong support for the 2027 budget allocation for the regional wastewater reclamation system.
While surfing at Ma’alaea I got the the worst skin rash of my life. It started itching while I was surfing and when I got in, I immediately rinsed off but it wouldn’t stop. It was horrible and felt like my skin was on fire. I have surfed in all over the island and have never experience anything like that before. I believe the waste water pollution at Maya is causing this and it’s an absolute crime to the people and the ‘āina.
I believe this project is a critical component of one of Hawaiʻi’s most comprehensive watershed restoration efforts. The system will provide lasting benefits to both our community and environment—from mauka to makai—by:
* Removing wastewater pollution in Māʻalaea Bay
* Strengthening collaboration across restoration efforts, including upland forest, Kanaio stream, native planting, coral and limu outplanting, and dune ecosystem and endangered species protection
* Enhancing firefighting capacity through access to R-1 water in high-risk areas
* Serving as a community-driven model for cesspool conversion across the Hawaiian Islands
* Reducing strain on limited potable water resources
This investment represents a forward-thinking approach to environmental stewardship, public health, and long-term resilience.Mahalo for your consideration and for supporting projects that benefit current and future generations.
Sincerely,
Dray Wilson
(808)443-4090