Posted on: Thursday, June 24, 2004
Waimanalo welcomes $20 million for wastewater plant
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
WAIMANALO — The governor will release nearly $20 million for improvements to the Waimanalo Wastewater Treatment Plant, paving the way to lifting a 10-year building moratorium in this Windward community that has been seeking upgrades to the system for 15 years.
The money will modernize a system that has been plagued with problems since 1988. While the community is grateful for the money, residents say they will continue to lobby for a better and expanded system.
"That money brings it up to standards," said Mabel Spencer, a member the nonprofit Lau Lima O Waimanalo. "We need to still stay in the game. We need to still advocate for expansion."
Spencer said her group is working with the city to acquire federal money to pay for an expansion that will allow for residential and commercial growth. The group is also looking at water reclamation and improvements to the collection system.
Gov. Linda Lingle, who was at the Waimanalo plant yesterday, said the facility is an embarrassment to state government. The state owns the plant but the city operates it.
Lingle praised the community and the news media for bringing problems to public attention after the Legislature slashed an $18.2 million appropriation for the improvements for the plant from Lingle's budget.
"Had the neighborhood board not galvanized the community, I'm certain we would not have been successful in getting this money put back," Lingle said during a bill-signing session at the treatment plant. "So it's a great example of civic involvement on your part and really can serve as a model to communities all across the state."
Area legislators Sen. Fred Hemmings and Rep. Tommy Waters had scrambled to reverse the Legislature's removal of the money from the budget and both said they were pleased that Lingle is releasing the funds.
Hemmings said that when he came into office in 2000, the Legislature had appropriated $12.6 million for the project but the governor never released the money. The wait cost the state millions more, said Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, [Portlock] Hawai'i Kai).
Waters, D-51st (Waimanalo, Lanikai), said the effort to put the money back into the budget was bipartisan. "Democrats and Republicans worked together to better our community," Waters said.
Lingle will release a total of $19.59 million. Some $1.4 million came from last year's budget. The project will include upgrades to the injection system where the wells were clogged, limiting the facility to treating 700,000 gallons a day, she said.
Tim Houghton, city deputy director of environmental services, said that with the improvements, the plant will be able to treat 1.1 million gallons a day and the city would lift the moratorium. The facility will get a state-of-the-art system, replacing an old technology, he said.
"This will allow growth in Hawaiian Home(s) lands as well as connecting other parts of the Waimanalo community so that we're protecting the environment," Houghton said.
With planning and design completed, Houghton said the project could go out to bid within six month and construction should take about 18 months.
Janice Neilson, who brought her 2-year-old granddaughter to the bill-signing, said the child will benefit from the updated system. "It's symbolic to have her here," Neilson said. "It's for her generation that we worked hard to have a healthy life and clean water."
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com. or 234-5266.
