Molokai’s oldest and longest-running hotel, Hotel Moloka’i, is proposing a $1.4 million project to upgrade its wastewater treatment facility to comply with state Department of Health standards.

Proposed by the Association of Apartment Owners of Hotel Moloka’i, which is responsible for running and maintaining the hotel complex, the project would upgrade and construct a new wastewater treatment facility within the upper parking lot of the 2.5-acre waterfront property.

The cost of the project is about $1,362,600. Once permits and approvals are acquired, construction is anticipated to take approximately nine months to complete.

A final environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact was published April 23 in the state Office of Environmental Quality Control’s “The Environmental Notice.”

After the hotel’s wastewater treatment facility failed to meet DOH effluent discharge standards during an operation and maintenance inspection in February 2017, the facility was given an inspection rating of “unacceptable,” the notice said.

DOH’s Wastewater Branch directed the association to design and construct a compliant replacement facility.

The proposed wastewater treatment facility would be a single, central treatment unit within the upper parking lot. The location would provide as much separation from the hotel units as possible, minimize challenges associated with dewatering and provide cost savings related to treatment capacity and maintenance requirements.

Tank capacity requirements would meet the state-mandated value of 15,543 gallons per day. A total tank volume of 24,000 gallons was calculated as sufficient to treat wastewater generated by Hotel Moloka’i and to meet the Wastewater Branch’s tank capacity requirements for the property.

The hotel, which serves as one of the few visitor accommodations and the sole hotel on the island, opened in the late 1960s, according to the notice.

Now, the hotel complex includes 13 separate buildings and accommodation units comprising 59 hotel rooms plus a restaurant and a full bar, one of only two bars on the island. With landscaped grasses and trees, the site is currently used for guest accommodations, hotel parking and luau facilities.

State assessment is required because the project is within a shoreline, and county requirements include a special management area use permit, a flood development permit and a shoreline setback variance.

The AOAO comprises several condo owners including Blue Island Property Holdings LLC, which owns and operates 51 of the 59 units on the property, and other private condo owners who own the other eight hotel units.

To view the full final EA on the Hotel Moloka’i Wastewater Treatment Facility, visit http://oeqc2.doh.hawaii.gov/The_Environmental_Notice/2021-04-23-TEN.pdf.

Comments are due by May 24 and should be sent to the approving agency, the county Planning Department, by mail at 2200 Main St., One Main Plaza, Suite 315, Wailuku 96793; by phone at 270-7735; or by email at Sybil.Lopez@co.maui.hi.us.

The applicant and consultant should also be copied.

Applicant Association of Apartment Owners (AOAO) of Hotel Moloka’i can be reached by mail at 1300 Kamehameha V Highway, Kaunakakai 96748; by phone at (443) 557-0303; or by email at mtucker@metacoastal.com.

Consultant SSFM International can be reached by mail at 501 Sumner Street, Suite 620, Honolulu 96817; by phone at (808) 741-3151; or by email at mfernandez@ssfm.com.

* Kehaulani Cerizo can be reached at kcerizo@mauinews.com.