For Councilmember Tom Cook and all Members
South Maui Integration Living ʻĀina Stabilization Trust (SMILAST) amendment proposal
Purpose: Mobilize major philanthropy to connect wastewater disinfection, cesspool retirement, recycled-water irrigation, and military-grade wildfire protection fortifications into one coordinated South Maui big philanthropic funding program.
1. Establish the funding framework.
Advance MLAST tinyurl.com/MLAST-Act as a proposed countywide philanthropic funding framework, and SMILAST amendments to the South Maui Community Plan as its South Maui implementation model. Create a legislative pathway for major donations and matching grants, with public accounting, Council appropriations, and resident affordability safeguards.
2. Fund and accelerate CBS-5031.
Prioritize the Kīhei Wastewater Reclamation Facility ultraviolet disinfection upgrades. The supplied budget proposal identifies $500,000 for design and a $4 million gap for construction. Confirm existing funding and pursue philanthropic support to fill in the remaining need.
3. Launch the Maui Meadows CFD.
Advance Community Facilities District legislation tinyurl.com/MMCFD-Act to build sewer connections to the Kīhei WWRF, retire 600+ cesspools, and return disinfected R-1 recycled water for perimeter irrigation reuse greenbelt maintenance. Establish infrastructure capacity, costs, land access, and maintenance responsibilities.
4. Expand into a regional protection network.
Use Maui Meadows as the first segment of connected irrigation reuse greenbelt firebreaks across South Maui. Coordinate future extensions serving Kīhei, Wailea, Mākena, and feasible regional extensions. Pass the WAIWAI Act to support mauka landowners to optimize runoff dynamics.
5. Integrate ongoing wildfire protection.
Coordinate the proposed WAIWAI Act component with fuel management and corridor maintenance. Pair irrigation with dependable storage, backup power, safer buildings, evacuation routes, and emergency response. tinyurl.com/WAIWAI-Act
6. Deliver multiple public benefits.
Reduce wildfire risk, conserve drinking water, reduce wastewater injection, protect reefs, and strengthen Native Hawaiian cultural stewardship... and all the other visions that citizens can realize with monetary constraints lifted with big, public philanthropy.
Requested action: Support incorporating SMILAST into Exhibit “1” of Bill 108 and advancing the companion fund ordinance tinyurl.com/MLAST-Act to create a legislative "container" to accept big philanthropy that can lead to the necessary donation-funded appropriations to fund both CBS-5031 and Maui Meadows CFD installation.
I am always available to talk or go over actual potential pathways to funding for SMILAST in the near future.
All the best,
Travis A. Liggett, MS
+1 (808) 291-9934
travis.liggett@gmail.com
P.S. 12 interconnected legislative concepts are available here:
LivingMaui.org/legislation
This Council has made community planning nearly meaningless: instead of deciding how much growth Maui can actually support and requiring infrastructure to come first, it repeatedly entertains parcel-by-parcel requests to preserve or increase development potential while roads, water, wastewater, housing, evacuation capacity and public facilities remain behind. If a 1970 plan can justify hotel use in 2026, unfinished promises from the 1998 plan can simply be recycled into another 20-year plan, and individual property interests can keep seeking favorable designations, then what exactly is the Council planning? They are not managing Maui’s future; they are managing applications for more use of an island whose existing infrastructure they still have not finished—and calling the result a Community Plan.
Subject: Adopt SMILAST: fund CBS-5031 and launch the Maui Meadows CFD as a first segment of a South Maui irrigation reuse green belt firebreak fortification.
Aloha Esteemed Chair Paltin and Committee Members:
Please adopt the attached South Maui Integration Living ʻĀina Stabilization Trust (SMILAST) amendment and advance its companion funding framework.
Start with funding and accelerating CBS-5031, the Kīhei ultraviolet wastewater disinfection upgrade. The supplied FY2027 budget proposal identifies $500,000 for design, with a $4 million unfunded gap for construction. Confirm what is already
appropriated, secure the remaining need in the near future through MLAST big philanthropy, accelerate the work, and bring reliable municipal effluent disinfection forward.
Next, initiate the Maui Meadows Community Facilities District legislation to connect the largest clusters of cesspools in South Maui to the Kihei WWRF, retire cesspools, and return R-1 to irrigate a maintained greenbelt firebreak with compliant recycled water. Make this the first element of a connected South Maui network of firebreak fortifications, protecting neighborhoods, supporting agriculture, conserving drinking water, and reducing pollution reaching our reefs.
South Maui needs a regional commitment equal to the consequences of another Lahaina-scale disaster. Pair these corridors with fuel maintenance through the WAIWAI Act, resilient water supply, safer buildings, evacuation, and emergency response.
Fund lasting protection through accountable philanthropic public investment, grants, philanthropy, and lawful philanthropic financing, with affordability safeguards for residents.
SMILAST adapts the MLAST proposal into a practical delivery framework with named departments, milestones, cultural stewardship, and public reporting.
Please incorporate its Plan provisions into Exhibit “1” and advance the necessary philanthropic appropriation, fund, and district measures.
Mahalo,
Travis A. Liggett, MS
+1 (808) 291-9934
travis.liggett@gmail.com
For Councilmember Tom Cook and all Members
South Maui Integration Living ʻĀina Stabilization Trust (SMILAST) amendment proposal
Purpose: Mobilize major philanthropy to connect wastewater disinfection, cesspool retirement, recycled-water irrigation, and military-grade wildfire protection fortifications into one coordinated South Maui big philanthropic funding program.
1. Establish the funding framework.
Advance MLAST tinyurl.com/MLAST-Act as a proposed countywide philanthropic funding framework, and SMILAST amendments to the South Maui Community Plan as its South Maui implementation model. Create a legislative pathway for major donations and matching grants, with public accounting, Council appropriations, and resident affordability safeguards.
2. Fund and accelerate CBS-5031.
Prioritize the Kīhei Wastewater Reclamation Facility ultraviolet disinfection upgrades. The supplied budget proposal identifies $500,000 for design and a $4 million gap for construction. Confirm existing funding and pursue philanthropic support to fill in the remaining need.
3. Launch the Maui Meadows CFD.
Advance Community Facilities District legislation tinyurl.com/MMCFD-Act to build sewer connections to the Kīhei WWRF, retire 600+ cesspools, and return disinfected R-1 recycled water for perimeter irrigation reuse greenbelt maintenance. Establish infrastructure capacity, costs, land access, and maintenance responsibilities.
4. Expand into a regional protection network.
Use Maui Meadows as the first segment of connected irrigation reuse greenbelt firebreaks across South Maui. Coordinate future extensions serving Kīhei, Wailea, Mākena, and feasible regional extensions. Pass the WAIWAI Act to support mauka landowners to optimize runoff dynamics.
5. Integrate ongoing wildfire protection.
Coordinate the proposed WAIWAI Act component with fuel management and corridor maintenance. Pair irrigation with dependable storage, backup power, safer buildings, evacuation routes, and emergency response. tinyurl.com/WAIWAI-Act
6. Deliver multiple public benefits.
Reduce wildfire risk, conserve drinking water, reduce wastewater injection, protect reefs, and strengthen Native Hawaiian cultural stewardship... and all the other visions that citizens can realize with monetary constraints lifted with big, public philanthropy.
Requested action: Support incorporating SMILAST into Exhibit “1” of Bill 108 and advancing the companion fund ordinance tinyurl.com/MLAST-Act to create a legislative "container" to accept big philanthropy that can lead to the necessary donation-funded appropriations to fund both CBS-5031 and Maui Meadows CFD installation.
I am always available to talk or go over actual potential pathways to funding for SMILAST in the near future.
All the best,
Travis A. Liggett, MS
+1 (808) 291-9934
travis.liggett@gmail.com
P.S. 12 interconnected legislative concepts are available here:
LivingMaui.org/legislation
This Council has made community planning nearly meaningless: instead of deciding how much growth Maui can actually support and requiring infrastructure to come first, it repeatedly entertains parcel-by-parcel requests to preserve or increase development potential while roads, water, wastewater, housing, evacuation capacity and public facilities remain behind. If a 1970 plan can justify hotel use in 2026, unfinished promises from the 1998 plan can simply be recycled into another 20-year plan, and individual property interests can keep seeking favorable designations, then what exactly is the Council planning? They are not managing Maui’s future; they are managing applications for more use of an island whose existing infrastructure they still have not finished—and calling the result a Community Plan.
TESTIMONY • BILL 108 (2026) • DRIP-25
Subject: Adopt SMILAST: fund CBS-5031 and launch the Maui Meadows CFD as a first segment of a South Maui irrigation reuse green belt firebreak fortification.
Aloha Esteemed Chair Paltin and Committee Members:
Please adopt the attached South Maui Integration Living ʻĀina Stabilization Trust (SMILAST) amendment and advance its companion funding framework.
Start with funding and accelerating CBS-5031, the Kīhei ultraviolet wastewater disinfection upgrade. The supplied FY2027 budget proposal identifies $500,000 for design, with a $4 million unfunded gap for construction. Confirm what is already
appropriated, secure the remaining need in the near future through MLAST big philanthropy, accelerate the work, and bring reliable municipal effluent disinfection forward.
Next, initiate the Maui Meadows Community Facilities District legislation to connect the largest clusters of cesspools in South Maui to the Kihei WWRF, retire cesspools, and return R-1 to irrigate a maintained greenbelt firebreak with compliant recycled water. Make this the first element of a connected South Maui network of firebreak fortifications, protecting neighborhoods, supporting agriculture, conserving drinking water, and reducing pollution reaching our reefs.
South Maui needs a regional commitment equal to the consequences of another Lahaina-scale disaster. Pair these corridors with fuel maintenance through the WAIWAI Act, resilient water supply, safer buildings, evacuation, and emergency response.
Fund lasting protection through accountable philanthropic public investment, grants, philanthropy, and lawful philanthropic financing, with affordability safeguards for residents.
SMILAST adapts the MLAST proposal into a practical delivery framework with named departments, milestones, cultural stewardship, and public reporting.
Please incorporate its Plan provisions into Exhibit “1” and advance the necessary philanthropic appropriation, fund, and district measures.
Mahalo,
Travis A. Liggett, MS
+1 (808) 291-9934
travis.liggett@gmail.com