Hawaii County committee reviews public facilities, urges asset management and pilots for waste diversion

Chair Ashley Kirkwitz convened the Planning, Land Use and Economic Development policy committee on Sept. 30 to continue review of the draft general plan’s public facilities and services chapter. Planning staff presented goals, policies and actions intended to guide maintenance of county facilities, emergency services, parks and solid waste management.

The planning department’s long-range planner Bethany Morrison said the chapter contains two primary goals: ensuring communities “are safe and protected and have access to integrative health, education and social services,” and ensuring “communities are adequately served by sustainable and efficient public infrastructure, utilities and services based on existing and future growth needs.” Morrison led the committee through objectives and sample actions in each topic area.

Morrison outlined actions and policies that committee members pressed for in questions. On facilities maintenance she cited Policy 31.1 to “maintain an asset management program aimed at utilizing maintenance plans to prolong the life of our facilities,” and listed an action to create a county asset management program. On emergency services she pointed to policies that increase public education about hazard zones and to actions to map and maintain alternative and emergency evacuation routes in high-hazard areas.

Solid waste and recycling drew sustained attention. Morrison described Objective 33’s aspiration of achieving zero waste by 2045 and Policy 33.4 to “optimize recoverable material diversion from landfill disposal.” She and council members discussed pilot programs the plan suggests, including curbside recycling and prioritized resource pickup in urban areas, construction-debris recovery programs and expanded commercial composting. Morrison and committee members noted these measures would reduce landfill tonnage and greenhouse-gas emissions and could extend the life of the county landfill; staff and the Department of Environmental Management reported the county’s sole landfill has roughly 20 years of remaining capacity under current conditions.

Councilmember Fresh Onishi pressed for funding and implementation details, asking whether the plan’s stated pilots and diversion targets include budget commitments. “It’s great to have a plan but if there’s no funding then the plan doesn’t work,” Onishi said, and urged coordination with finance and the administration on funding sources before adopting targets.

Parks and recreation standards in the chapter also drew comment. Morrison noted the plan retains a park-access standard—park facilities within a 10-minute walk in urban areas and within a 10-minute drive in rural areas—sourced from the county’s recreation plan of the 1970s and used in past general plans. The plan calls for proactive maintenance programs for parks and mapping of “friends of the park” stewardship groups to assist maintenance.

Councilmembers asked clarifying questions throughout the presentation about implementation and metrics. Morrison said the Department of Environmental Management’s integrated waste management plan (last updated in 2019) contains metrics for diversion and landfill planning, and that further departmental data will be used during implementation.

The committee did not vote on policies in the chapter; members directed staff to continue refining the draft, to provide additional departmental feedback and to coordinate with finance. Chair Kirkwitz said the implementation chapter and finance will be a focal point at future sessions.

Ending: The committee paused further action on the public facilities section pending additional departmental input and implementation details; the committee will reconvene on the general plan at future scheduled meetings.