Mayor Alan Arakawa answers some of the most recently asked questions submitted to his office staff.
Mayor Arakawa:
Q: I was watching morning news and saw some county workers on KHON talking about the Made in Maui County Festival accepting vendor applications. My mom makes really nice custom jewelry and would like to participate, how would she do that? I missed that part of the program. Thanks!
A: Glad to hear she’s interested. Last year’s Made in Maui County Festival showcased more than 130 local vendors and saw more than 9,400 residents and visitors in attendance. This year’s festival runs from November 6 to 7 and promises to be even bigger. To apply as a vendor just go to www.madeinmauicountyfestival.com and click on “vendors.” Just below the picture you will see a section titled “2015 PRODUCT VENDOR APPLICATION FORMS.” Please note the following criteria for vendor selection:
- Businesses must be based in Maui County
- Products must have a minimum of 51 percent of their value added in Hawaii
- Products mix, quality and creativity value will also be considered
Both the vendor application form and food truck application forms can be downloaded online at the webpage above. Please note that the deadline for Product Vendor applications is Monday, August 31 at 4:30 p.m., however at the rate that the applications are coming in we expect to reach capacity much sooner than that. So send that application in quickly and mahalo for supporting the Made in Maui County Festival.
Aloha Mayor Arakawa:
Q: I received notification that the 2014 Water Quality Report would be posted today (6-29-15) at mauiwater.org/wqr_lowerkula. After reading the report, I have a few questions.
1. Why does it take 2 YEARS to get a report published? The water sample date for lead was done in July 2013 and just published in this report. WHY DOES IT TAKE SO LONG???
2. Other testing was conducted in 2014 and just reported to the public today. Since there is no way of knowing if our water is safe until 1-2 years after we have consumed it, should we begin boiling our water to ensure safety?
3. According to the letter that was sent out by the Department of Water Supply (Date Distributed was June 24, 2015), monitoring requirements were not met for the Lower Kula water system for the second quarter of 2014. How does this happen, and how can the County ensure the safety of the public/consumer?
When it comes to public safety, the County can NOT be behind in its monitoring and/or reporting. How will the County address these issues to better ensure the safety of its citizens?
A: First off I’d like to let everyone know that our Department of Water Supply water is very, very, very clean. We test our water five days a week, and if at any point during that testing we find something is wrong we send out public notices immediately and take the appropriate action. Maui County follows all requirements of the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act, which defines exactly what we have to test our water for and at what intervals. The Water Quality Report is published every year, covering the previous year, also as required by the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Every now and then our test results show possibly unsafe water, and when that happens we issue “boil water” or “do not use” notices to the public. These notifications are rare and will go out to the public immediately, as soon as the department identifies the problem. Just to show you how rare, we only sent out two precautionary boil water notices in the last 5 years, one in 2011 and another in 2012, and only one boil water notice in 2008.
Dear Mayor:
Q: I noticed that there are temporary showers and restrooms at Kokua Pool. When will we get our regular restrooms back?
A: Might not be until the end of summer. Our Department of Parks and Recreation staff tells me that the pumps that remove the wastewater from the restroom lift station need to be replaced. Although the work can be done fairly quickly, shipping the needed parts may take up to eight weeks. Please note that the restroom closure does not affect the Kokua Pool itself and it remains open during regular business hours. Our parks personnel did an excellent job scrambling to find portable showers and bathrooms to keep the pool open and deserve to be recognized by the community for their good work. I’m sure they will get the restrooms and showers reopened as quickly as they can as well, mahalo.
Want to Ask the Mayor?
Submit your questions about County of Maui programs, services, operations or policies to Mayor Alan Arakawa via email: AskTheMayor@mauicounty.gov, phone: 270-7855 or mail: 200 S. High Street, 9th Floor, Wailuku, Hawaii 96793. Questions submitted will be considered for inclusion in the Ask the Mayor column.