Testimonies received from BFED Committee

Sierra Club Maui Group April 22, 2026
PO Box 791180, Pa’ia, HI 96779

To: BFED Committee

Aloha Chair Sugimura, Vice Chair Batangan and Committee Members

Re: Request to support funding for Ma’alaea Wastewater treatment facility

Sierra Club and other local groups have long supported a solution for the upgrade of sewage treatment options from the Ma’alaea area. The solution proposed, a state of the art package treatment facility that produces high quality R-1 water that can be utilized for irrigation and fire-fighting deserves the support of Maui County.

When the County Planners and elected officials, in their wisdom, designated the Ma’aalea shoreline from single-family to multi-family/condominium zoning in 1970, Maui County was in the process of building a new federally funded sewage treatment plant in Kihei. All of the other rezoned multi-family and hotel areas of Kihei and Wailea were connected to this new sewage treatment plant, but not Ma’alaea.

Instead, the Ma’alaea condos, as they were built in the 1970’s were urged by the powers that be to buy individual modular wastewater treatment units. Some of these units were even purchased from the County’s pre-1970’s wastewater facility. Dependence upon these inadequate units has lead to heavy loads of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in the waters of Ma’alaea Bay. Even the state’s Ma’alaea harbor, one of the largest income-generating small harbors in Hawaii, is unsewered- depending upon a high-level septic system. It is long beyond time to invest in proper infrastructure for these income generating areas.

Meanwhile, there is an active need for R-1 irrigation level water in the Ma’alaea area- the very same high quality R-1 water the proposed Ma’alaea Wastewater plant would produce. The transition from 800 condo units sending their inadequately treated wastewater into Ma’alaea Bay, to making that same water stream available as high quality R-1 water, is part of longer term ecological efforts for the watershed lands overlooking Ma’alaea Bay.

These long-term efforts are supported by State Dept of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW), Maui County Sea Grant program, Ma’aalea Village Association, Sierra Club Maui, Maui Nui Marine Resource Council and many other community groups. The master plan is to reverse years of erosional damage and sedimentation of Ma’alaea Bay through stormwater management and use of R-1 water from the Ma’alaea plant to create irrigated green ways for fire suppression.

There are also plans for tanks to hold R-1 water from the Ma’aalea Plant for actual firefighting. R-1 water could also be used to replace hundreds of thousands of gallons a day of County DWS potable water now used in the Ma’alaea area for landscape irrigation. That water would then be available for domestic users in south Maui. These are all outcomes that benefit all the residents of Maui County. Al that is needed is the treatment plant.

The Ma’alaea Wastewater Treatment Plant will also serve as an example of a community-driven model for cesspool conversion to regional treatment plants designed to re-use all effluent. Compact residential areas like Kulamalu, in upcountry Maui could benefit from this model, as well as other unsewered areas across the Hawaiian Islands.

Please support this important infrastructure priority in the 2027 budget

Lucienne De Naie, Chairperson, Sierra ClubMaui Group

April 23, 2026
Aloha BFED Committee,
My name is Lisa Darcy and I am the Founder and Director of Share Your Mana, a Maui nonprofit created in 2017 to address the needs of those living unhoused and unsheltered. We are dedicated to proactive, root causes to advocate for and provide healthy policy and procedures which assist those in poverty into safe living conditions thus reducing the need and cost for emergency and police services.
Subject: Shifting financial supports to be proactive in the 2027 Maui County Budget
For consideration:
I. Office of the Mayor pg 14(2) Houseless Solutions (c) Grants solutions
(2) (3) (4) c Aegaeon LLC
Current budget proposal:
Makawao - Clean and Safe 80k
Pāʻia Clean and Safe 530k
Kihei Clean and Safe 480k
1.09 MILLION $
I have testified previously that investing in this program is reactive, continues harm, and does not provide any substantive process to remedy the needs of those in need. This is a unbelievable amount of money for a program which has no statistical evidence to make any substantive changes or assistance in the community which cannot be achieved through supporting related nonprofits. In light of the fact that there is only one day programs/drop-in program, and not any safe sleeping options while hundreds are forced to live on the streets, funding in this capacity in no way actually addresses the needs in terms of prevention. It is reactive. I urge the Council to invest in proactive programs which have trained advocates, such as Share Your Mana vs avoiding the actual needs. SYM could open drop-in programs in each area with this funding. Any program that uses the term vagrancy is out of touch with the actual needs of the community members.
As stated on the website, “Holding people accountable for their actions on your property lets people know your expectations and will deter future problems,” said Clean & Safe
PO Box 1105 Makawao HI 96768 lisa@shareyourmana.org
Program Director Lawrence Kauha‘aha‘a. “The Clean & Safe team is available from 7 am to 7 pm every day to help people if they want help; but when safety, sanitation or property damage becomes a factor, it is important not to ignore it. Working with police and possibly filing a police report or showing up in court may seem like a nuisance, but it ultimately is an investment in your property and Wailuku Town.”
This money would be effective if it was funding a location where people could rest out of the sun and charge their devices which are necessary for their health and safety. To fund these programs is to compound already impossible living needs the county is delinquent in providing.
Clean & Safe Program Director Lawrence Kauha‘aha‘a provides a few tips to reduce vagrancy issues for property and business owners:
•
Promptly remove and/or dis-pose of personal belongings left on your property that are not part of the business.
•
Ensure all exterior power outlets are disabled when not in use by the business.
•
Gate or barricade alcoves or sheltered spaces that might be attractive to sleep.
•
Get a camera system that sends notifications to your phone.
•
Call the police when someone is trespassing. Provide a trespass letter to the Police Department authorizing them to issue trespass violations when you are not present. No one but the MPD should be doing this…giving this right to an employee is an abuse of power and is a slippery slope.
II. Pg 23 From Pāʻia -Haiku Community Plan
Holomua Gates 750K – why not shift monies to Holomua outreach for temp sheltering supports?
III. Also, please prioritize funding AND building bus shelters this year in Kahului, Kula, and Pāʻia. I have been advocating for almost two decades to ensure kupuna and those with disabilities have the needed infrastructure to utilize the public bus.
Mahalo for your consideration, Lisa Darcy

Chair and Members of the Council,

I submit this testimony in firm opposition to the proposed FY2027 budget and to the direction these budget deliberations have taken.

The public has now watched this Council debate roughly $30 million in cuts while adding approximately $40 million in new spending. That is not fiscal discipline. That is a larger budget presented as reform. When government proposes a $1.6 billion budget, arguing over a few million dollars in symbolic reductions does not demonstrate responsibility—it demonstrates theater.

This is happening while Maui’s economic conditions are tightening in multiple ways.

The State has now lost two PGA tournaments that brought significant visitor spending and international exposure to Maui’s economy. Shipping costs to Hawaiʻi continue to rise, increasing the price of food, fuel, building materials, and nearly every essential good residents rely on. Families across this island—from Lahaina to Kula to Paia—are tightening their household budgets every month simply to keep up with the cost of living.

At the same time, the County itself has adopted Bill 9, which reduces the visitor accommodation base that generates Transient Accommodations Tax revenue. Whether one supports or opposes that policy, it unquestionably requires serious fiscal planning and responsibility because the tax base that supports County operations will change.

Every one of these realities demands financial discipline from government.

Yet this Council is doing the opposite.

Instead of tightening the budget, the Council continues expanding funds, grants, programs, nonprofit subsidies, and discretionary spending that fall outside the core responsibilities of county government.

Departments such as Human Concerns have effectively become clearinghouses for taxpayer money, distributing millions through grant programs that show little measurable progress on the underlying problems they claim to address. Meanwhile, basic infrastructure responsibilities remain unresolved.

For example, the Maʻalaea wastewater system has been discussed on County agendas for decades without completion. This is basic infrastructure that affects water quality, environmental protection, and community health. Yet when funding for essential projects like this is discussed, the public is told taxes must increase.

At the same time, millions continue to be directed toward discretionary nonprofit funding and grant programs.

That contrast is obvious to the public.

Residents are told that essential infrastructure requires higher taxes while discretionary spending continues to expand.

Equally troubling is the tone of these proceedings. Many residents who take the time to testify and attempt to work within the system are met with visible impatience or dismissal. Yet when organizations aligned with the Council’s priorities appear seeking funding, the reception is very different.

That disparity undermines public trust.

Maui residents balance their budgets every month. When income becomes uncertain and costs rise, families cut spending and prioritize essentials.

Government should be held to the same standard.

Instead, we are watching elected officials manage a $1.6 billion county budget as if consequences do not exist, expanding obligations while economic warning signs continue to accumulate.

The residents of Maui deserve better than symbolic cuts, political theater, and budgets written to satisfy special interests.

For these reasons, I remain in strong opposition to the FY2027 proposed budget and to the irresponsible direction these deliberations continue to take.

The people of Maui deserve a government that exercises the same financial discipline they are forced to live with every day.

Edward Codelia, Maui Resident

Subject: Support for 2027 Budget Allocation – Regional Wastewater Reclamation System
Dear Maui County Council Members,

My name is Dustin Paradis, and I am the Executive Director for The Marine Institute, a 501c3 nonprofit in Ma'alaea. I am writing to express my strong support for the 2027 budget allocation for the regional wastewater reclamation system.

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

As the leader for a natural resource conservation organization, I feel mitigating the chronic anthropogenic stressors on our marine environment is of the utmost importance and I strongly urge the Maui County Council to consider funding this project.

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.

Respectfully,
Dustin Paradis
The Marine Institute
dustin@mocmarineinstitute.org

Aloha,
Please accept my testimony supporting funding for Ma'alaea Regional Wastewater Reclamation System.
Mahalo for your consideration and continued support,
Lynn Britton