As homeowners complete debris removal and utility access is restored, Maui County announced it will open a new recovery permit center April 29.
A main location will operate at the County Service Center in Kahului, and a satellite office will open at the Lahaina Gateway soon after.
The county procured a vendor, 4LEAF, to assist with permit processing “specifically for the wildfires,” said Jordan Molina, Maui County Department of Public Works director. The Maui County Council unanimously passed Bill 21 at the end of February, which expedites rebuilding in Lahaina — including creating a special class of permits specific to wildfire recovery building.
Maui County officials gave updates on debris removal, infrastructure readiness and the rebuilding process Wednesday evening at a meeting for Lahaina homeowners hosted by the County Office of Recovery at the Lahaina Civic Center.
Between 13% and 20% of the 4,500 households displaced by the August wildfires in Lahaina belonged to homeowners, the county said at the meeting.
Hawaii Wildfires Recovery Field Office Commander Col. Eric Swenson of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also announced that as of Tuesday the USACE had cleared 661 of the approximately 1,200 properties that have completed the necessary paperwork to be eligible for USACE debris removal.
Swenson also said that as of Tuesday, 237 properties are “complete” — meaning that their paperwork was turned back to the county and the property owners are eligible to obtain a permit for rebuilding.
Maui County Department of Water Supply Deputy Director Kimo Landgraf announced that the entire water system is pressurized with water flowing through all lines in Lahaina but that not all of the water is drinkable yet, with certain areas remaining under an “Unsafe Water Advisory.”
Landgraf said DWS is working with the state Department of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency to return the water system back to safe drinking water standards for the areas under the UWA. The agencies are investigating the water system hydraulics and testing water from hydrants, before the results are examined and corrective actions are taken depending on the results. Sampling and corrective actions are expected to be done by the end of June, with drinking water service in Lahaina restored completely by the end of August.
DWS also will be replacing previously registered water meters for free for those rebuilding.
Wastewater service for many properties in fire-affected areas was cut off due to damaged infrastructure, and according to Maui County Department of Environmental Management Deputy Director Robert Schmidt, findings from an EPA video inspection of sewer lines will guide how the county prioritizes repairing the damage.
Schmidt said the wastewater infrastructure map is updated almost daily with improvements and that each activation is being done “carefully and cautiously.”
“The reason most of the wastewater collection system is down is because of the fragility of our wastewater treatment plant,” Schmidt said. “The fire damage caused a lot of inflow of seawater and groundwater, which has affected the treatment plant process, and we’ve been carefully and cautiously monitoring that as we bring more of the system online. It’s going to be a planned event.”
Hawaiian Electric restored its system in Lahaina and is prepared to restore services back to properties, Molina said. For standing structures that were partially damaged, homeowners should call the Department of Public Works to get an inspection before service can be restored. For homes that were destroyed, DPW is requiring homeowners to obtain a permanent rebuild permit or a temporary structures permit before getting their HECO services.
Molina also said that “generally, the state of our roads is good.”
“The biggest issue we’re seeing right now is some of the locations where vehicles burned, we see some fatigue in the pavement,” he said. “We do have an interim plan to stabilize those areas to accommodate the continued debris operation to not make any things worse, and to also accommodate our repopulation as (homeowners) move back to your properties.”
The Maui wildfires killed at least 101 people and destroyed or damaged almost 3,000 structures.
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