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Details blur plans
for waste-water merger

The mayor's approval is needed
before the issue can reach voters

By Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin.com

Officials have raised questions about a proposed City Charter amendment that would merge the city's waste-water functions and the Honolulu Board of Water Supply into a new semiautonomous agency.

City Council members approved a resolution yesterday that called for the merger through a ballot question in this November's general election.

They said the merger would remove politics from the handling of sewage.

"Big problems need big solutions," said Councilman Duke Bainum, who said the Harris administration must embrace greater efficiency and effectiveness in these areas.

Mayor Jeremy Harris' approval is needed before the measure can be placed on the ballot as a Charter amendment.

City Managing Director Ben Lee said yesterday the mayor has repeatedly told Council members they are rushing into the complex merger without working out the details.

Lee said the city has suggested studying the proposal first to see how it would affect the bond rating for the city or the Board of Water Supply.

Also, the city needs to discuss the merger with the federal Environmental Protection Agency's San Francisco office to see how it would affect consent decrees with city waste-water treatment facilities, especially its Sand Island Sewage Treatment Plant.

Lee added that there need to be more details about what the merger will mean to customers, taxpayers, and city refuse workers and the unions that represent them.

Waste-water disposal is now part of the city Department of Environmental Services, which is also responsible for solid-waste disposal.

A merger could take the politics out of the waste-water functions because the appointed Board of Water Supply sets rates and budgets independently from the rest of the city government.

Council Chairman John De-Soto said, for example, it would stop the mayor from raiding the sewer fund to balance the city budget.



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