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Mayor Richard Bissen’s administration has asked the Maui County Council to pass a resolution that would let the county acquire through eminent domain a 19.6-acre property next to the Central Maui Landfill that would be used for the much-needed final dump site of about 400,000 cubic yards of toxic debris and ash from the Aug. 8 Lahaina fire.

For years, the county Department of Environmental Management has been trying to buy the vacant property, formerly used as a quarry to mine rock for a cement company. It’s currently owned by Komar Maui Properties, which bought the land from Alexander & Baldwin for $700,000 in 2015.

The county recently tried again to purchase the land with an offer exceeding the Feb. 13 appraisal of $830,000, but there was no response, said Shayne Agawa, Maui’s director of environmental management.

“Despite significant efforts to resolve this matter, negotiations for the purchase of the property have not been successful and the need for the expansion of the Central Maui Landfill and county acquisition of the property has become increasingly urgent,” Agawa wrote in seeking passage of the resolution.

In the end, no vote was taken Friday. Instead the council decided to take it up for discussion in the March 19 meeting of its Government Relations, Ethics and Transparency Committee. A resolution for eminent domain requires passage of two readings during regular meetings, which could then occur as soon as March 22 and April 5.

Maui businessmen Ken Ota and Keone Gomes testified Friday at the regular council meeting against .

They said their newly formed company, Pulehu C&D, has partnered with Komar Maui Properties to develop the land into a new construction and demolition landfill facility, which would have lower tipping fees than the county and could handle the Lahaina debris. And while their company is new, Ota said he has been working on building such a facility for 15 years.

For nearly three hours, council members passionately debated the importance of moving quickly to acquire the land and get the debris removed from the temporary site in Olowalu for the healing of Lahaina versus making sure that such a big step of taking private property by government gets the scrutiny it deserves.

“I personally don’t believe that private industry that hasn’t done this before will be faster than the county who has been speaking nonstop with the Department of Health since Aug. 8 and brainstorming on these solutions,” said council member Tamara Paltin, who represents West Maui. “I don’t think we have time to monkey around here.”

Council member Nohelani U‘u-Hodgins recognized concerns in the community following the fires over the county and state coming for people’s land.

“We do need to show that we take good care when discussing things like eminent domain,” she said.

According to Hawaii law, a government has the right to take private property by eminent domain if it provides fair compensation and can make a case for its public use.

Even getting to this point hasn’t been easy. And the county cannot start the estimated year-long construction of a permanent dump site until the land is acquired.

“We’ve been in discussion with the landowner for years, over three mayors already, and we haven’t really locked on any deal,” Agawa said, noting that it could have been a budget decision.

“We always knew that it was the ideal spot for landfill expansion,” he added.

After a months-long process that originally included eight options and involved a public survey, Agawa announced on Feb. 28 that the property next to the Central Maui Landfill was selected as the best choice over the other two finalists, both in Lahaina.

The Central Maui property is twice as far from the temporary debris disposal site in Olowalu compared to the Lahaina locations — and would be more costly and cause more traffic issues and wear and tear on equipment and roads —  but it was deemed the best choice and the community’s preference.

The two locations in Lahaina were ruled out for a variety of environmental and cultural reasons, including their proximity to residences, the ocean and schools.

The non-recyclable debris and ash now is being taken to a temporary disposal site in Olowalu, which is near sensitive marine ecosystems.

Concerns were also brought up about how much longer the Federal Emergency Management Agency would reimburse the county 100% of the estimated $60 million to transport the debris from the temporary site to the permanent site.

Agawa said the county owns other land next to the Central Maui Landfill that can serve as Plan B for the permanent fire debris dump site, but that it’s less ideal than the land that had been a quarry and already has a hole about 50 feet deep.

That Plan B land is slated for other uses, including composting, a waste energy recovery facility, storage of abandoned vehicles and space for debris in case of another disaster.

“So if we utilize that as a landfill we’re going to have to give up some of those things,” Agawa said. “We want to try to get the hole in the ground.”

There is a possibility that the county and the property owners can work out a deal before legal action is taken. The county has also suggested swapping the property with other county land.

Council member Gabe Johnson said he supported using eminent domain in this case if necessary.

“We should do the right thing and look at it through the folks who lost everything,” he said.

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.