Second Disaster Recovery meeting for April in Lahaina Wednesday

Managing Editor

The second Lahaina Community Disaster Recovery meeting of this month took place Wednesday evening at the Lahaina Community Civic center, with Mayor Richard T. Bissen not in attendance due to him being in Washington D.C. this week.

Bissen was engaged with, “visiting our delegation and some federal officials, advocating for our needs here on Maui and particularly for disaster recovery,” Mahina Martin said, director of public affairs for the county of Maui.

The Army Corps of Engineers, the Maui County Office of Recovery, and Maui County Department of Environmental Management Director Shayne Agawa presented on various topics of recovery efforts during the over two hour long meeting and were available for a question and answer session at the end of the meeting.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was represented by Col. Eric Swenson, who gave a progress report on property clearing status.

“I have some wonderful news,” Swenson said. “Last week, I introduced little c (cleared). Capital C (complete). Cleared properties and complete properties. The difference being primary debris removal and ROE’s (right of entry) returned to the county and land owner. And so little c cleared, 574 (properties).”

Swenson added that is 18 more today than yesterday, with 20 crews working today.

“So we are doing great and making some great progress,” Swenson said. “In terms of capital c, properties that have been cleared and erosion control, soil sampled, and ROE’s turned back to the county, we are at 212. So that number is also steadily improving.”

According to Swenson, his team is nearly at 50 percent completion of properties they have ROE’s for.

At the end of the meeting, the public had the opportunity to have their questions answered by officials in attendance, which included virtual questions posed by viewers streaming on Facebook.

One question from an online viewer was on the status of linking the sewer system up in the Wahikuli area, which was answered by Department of Environmental Management Director Shayne Agawa.

“So the answer that I got here is from the Wastewater Reclamation Division,” Agawa said. “The current plan for the Kilohana Temporary Housing Project is the pump station first main serving the subdivision to discharge the gravity sewer at the top of Fleming Road. This gravity sewer will run the length of the roadway to the Wahikuli Terrace

Park access road. Where it will turn south to the Lahaina number three pump station.”

Another question from an in-person attendee focused on the safety of children swimming in the ocean and playing in areas where debris may have settled below the sand after being buried from the waves. The questioner was told private organizations like the Maui Surfrider Foundation are doing private testing, but that the Environmental Protection Agency was not doing that type of testing.

The next Lahaina Disaster Recovery Meeting will be held next Wednesday, April 24, at 6 p.m. in the Lahaina Civic Center.