New applications to the Upcountry water meter priority list will not be accepted after Dec. 8. If you ever want a meter Upcountry, you should apply now, even if you are already on the list. Reapplication costs nothing and it gives you a second chance if you cannot satisfy your (fire flow) infrastructure requirements the first time your name comes up. Years later, these requirements could change.
This new county policy will eventually issue meter award letters to everyone on the list. Those with fire flow requirements that can possibly satisfy in three years (otherwise the $6K/meter fee is forfeited) will accept their meters and reserve their water. Since a water meter increases a parcel's value and meter fees will only increase, this makes sense whether or not they need water immediately. Those who cannot possibly satisfy fire flow requirements will be forced off the list, unable to reapply.
It is false that "only half of those on the list have an immediate need for water" (The Maui News, Nov. 17). The truth is that only half of those on the list can satisfy the unreasonable and arbitrary fire flow requirements imposed by the county. It is as false, as the old county policy stated, that insufficient water was available for Upcountry when ample water was available but the county chose not to develop wells because pumping water from sea level during droughts was too expensive. See www.umla.ws for details.
Richard H. Pohle
Kula
