Maui County Council Vice Chair Yuki Lei Sugimura asks a question of a Lahaina Strong member who testified at the meeting Friday in Wailuku. Courtesy photo

WAILUKU – The Maui County Council for the last meeting of the month, acted on several pieces of legislation throughout the course of the two and a half hour meeting Friday.

Councilmember Nohelani U’u-Hodgins began the meeting with her opening remarks, reminding of the importance of September.

“Member (Shane) Sinenci has done a wonderful job at exemplifying the necessity of suicide awareness month,” Hodgins said in her opening remarks. “Suicide is something that unfortunately touches way too many of us.”

Hodgins went on to talk about the importance of Labor Day as a working class holiday. She related the creation of labor day to plantation era workers and the plantation mentality that was passed down from those times.

“The good we can take from the plantation era is all of us. A local culture that has been cultivated through hard times. We have carved out the grandeur we behold for ourselves. That for me is (the) plantation mentality that best suits us.”

Hodgins added that she will not subscribe to the former version of plantation mentality and that, “And I, and all of us local people can speak for ourselves. Thank you very much. I don’t need someone who has lived here for less fingers than I have on my hand to tell me how to think.”

After Hodgins’ opening remarks, the council went on to consider six committee reports, one resolution, and nine bills in total.

Resolution 24-161, is a resolution aimed at using and recycling potable water in west Maui as a means of water conservation to help alleviate the current demand of 3.59 million gallons of water per day. The resolution states, “The Department of Water supply is responsible for supplying 5.6 million gallons of water per day to west Maui.”

“Parks, golf courses, hotels, and condominium properties in West and South Maui are ideal users of R-1 water because large quantities of potable water are used primarily for irrigation,” the resolution reads.

“As members of the Lahaina Strong community, we wholeheartedly support the increased use of R-1 water, but we believe this expansion must prioritize environmental health and the wellbeing of our local residents, not unchecked development,” The Lahaina Strong Foundation said in written testimony to the council.

“I am not in support of passing this today,” member Paltin said of the resolution for west Maui. “I think a lot of it needs to be fleshed out. It’s just a one-sided statement at this point.”

The council ultimately recommended Resolution 24-161 go to committee for further discussion.

In addition to the recommendation of the water resolution to the Water and Infrastructure Committee, the council approved an amendment to the fiscal year 2025 budget. The amendment is an increase in the carryover/saving fund in the amount of $865,000. Of those monies, $590,000 will go to the operation and equipment total appropriation. The remaining $275,000 will go towards a public fitness court at the Wailuku-Kahului community plan area.

The council also approved receiving a committee report relating to resolution 24-71 and 24-81 by a vote of 8-0 relating to the Christopher Salem settlement (24-81) and the expenditure of $450,000 to special counsel Kobayashi Sugita & Goda to represent the county of Maui in the lawsuit Salem has brought forth against the county since 2019.

The amount of the settlement was discussed in executive session on Sept. 12 by the Government Relations, Ethics, and Transparency Committee with corporate counsel, but the amount approved for the settlement agreed upon in executive session with corporate counsel has not yet been announced publicly.

The lawsuit Salem brought forth against the county pro se in 2021 alleges county departments and corporation counsel colluded with private developers to avoid permit conditions.