WAILUKU — Molokai Properties Ltd. wants Maui County to take over its money-losing utilities on the Friendly Isle, but it won't let county public works or water inspectors examine the aging facilities, according to The Maui News.

County Council Member Danny Mateo, who holds the Molokai residency seat, and Mayor Charmaine Tavares spoke with more than 200 Molokai residents Tuesday evening at the Mitchell Pauole Center in Kaunakakai to address community fears that as of Sept. 1, west side utility customers won't be able to turn on their taps or flush their toilets.

"It's just been hard going," Mateo said of the contentious showdown between the county and Molokai Properties, the owners of the island's former largest employer, Molokai Ranch. "We don't even know how much it would cost, except millions."

The company has called on the county to buy the utilities, saying it can't find a private buyer, which is another contention that county officials dispute.

Molokai Properties' three water and sewer facilities serve an estimated 1,200 households and businesses on west Molokai. The allegedly run-down utilities have evidently now become a hot potato between the county and the state.

The state doesn't want them either and, as Gov. Linda Lingle has pointed out, it does not own or operate any public utilities, while the counties do.

"These systems are not in our hands," Tavares said. "There's a lot of confusion out there. We don't permit them, and we don't regulate them. We're not set up to take over a system like that. We don't even know what it looks like."

County officials have been sparring with the company since it announced in April — shortly after it closed its lodge and ranch and laid off 120 employees — that it would cease all utility operations Aug. 31. And now the mayor is calling on Lingle to declare a state of emergency to help rectify the situation.

Molokai Properties claims it has had to inject almost $1.2 million in cash into the utilities over the past two years to cover losses and capital expenses.

But Mateo and county spokeswoman Mahina Martin wonder how the county is even supposed to begin to understand what it would cost taxpayers to run the utilities if Molokai Properties will not even let county officials onto its property.

Molokai Properties valued the utilities and related assets at more than $9 million in a summary of figures released to the state last month.

But county Water Director Jeff Eng said he has tried in vain for weeks to get all the utilities' records, including maps, documents on the asset conditions and repairs, budgets for the past five years or even the actual number of customers.

Peter Nicholas, Molokai Properties president and chief executive officer, did not return a message seeking comment Wednesday.

Tavares also sent a letter to Lingle on Tuesday, calling on the governor to issue the formal emergency declaration, which, by law, enables the state to step in and regulate a private utility — or take it over — to ensure that services continue. Martin said that, among other powers, the emergency declaration would free up the governor to find funding to repair or purchase the system with legislative approval.

"This is a state issue, and the people of Molokai now understand that the governor has the ability to declare an emergency," Martin said. "That still hasn't been done, and we still don't know why."

On Wednesday, Lingle spokesman Russell Pang said officials in the Governor's Office received the mayor's request and the governor will take it into consideration.

Last month, Lingle said it is a county's responsibility to provide utilities to its citizens. She also said Molokai Properties should follow the orders of the state Public Utilities Commission to keep the utilities going until a transition plan is formulated, and pledged state support toward a resolution.

Darryl Canady, former president of the West Molokai Association, said he and other residents plan to contact the Governor's Office and ask for state intervention.

"The mayor and Danny Mateo made themselves very clear: It is the governor's responsibility to call for a state of emergency, and that can be done at any time," he said.

Mateo and Tavares also called Tuesday an extremely positive evening. The community appeared united, they said.

"It's not that the county has not been doing anything," Mateo said. "Our hands have been tied."

Martin said that the vast majority of Tuesday's meeting testifiers told the county to hold Molokai Properties accountable.

"We do not want to let Molokai Properties be successful in their attempts to isolate and divide the community from its government," Martin said.

The commission proposes raising utility rates by 41 percent and 122 percent, respectively, for customers of the two water companies, Waiola O Molokai and Molokai Public Utilities. A meeting on the proposed rate hikes will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Molokai's Maunaloa Elementary School.

But Tavares said the increases are fairly arbitrary, since the commission hasn't been able to get accurate information from Molokai Properties.

In a letter last month, Nicholas said the company needs a subsidy or rate adjustment to keep the utilities going.

And Molokai Properties has said it does not know of any interested buyers.

But Martin said that's not true. Two companies have expressed interest, she said, but she declined to disclose the names.

Tavares said the prospect of selling the utilities to new owners is another reason for Molokai Properties to release all its records. No one wants to unknowingly purchase a money pit, she said.

Eng noted that under normal circumstances, a PUC rate adjustment would cost a utility roughly $100,000 in attorney fees and nine months to achieve.

Molokai Properties' problems appear to stem from last fall, when the state Land Use Commission backed off supporting measures that would have allowed the company to move forward with its controversial plans to convert Laau Point on Molokai into 200 lots for high-end homes in exchange for significant community investments and massive land grants to the public.

The company also is struggling against a recent state Commission on Water Resource Management decision to prohibit it from using water from its main source, Well 17. An agreement with the Department of Agriculture to transmit ranch water through the state-owned Molokai Irrigation System also has expired, and the ranch has been told it will not be renewed until an environmental assessment is done on the use of the water.

Tavares said she is among those who believe that Molokai Properties may not be abandoning the utilities entirely. It could be a strategy to let the state and county bypass the costly responsibility of garnering all the permits and studies needed to keep the utilities afloat, she said.

Meanwhile, the company can hold onto its other assets or just become a regular utility customer.

"I want to know why the state Department of Health hasn't taken the lead on this," Mateo said. "We could be facing a public health crisis. I asked the Department of Health Board to take a position on this and asked them for advice, too. "

Mateo also sent a letter Tuesday to Department of Health Director Chiyome Fukino. A state Health Department staff member said the department hasn't received the county's letter yet, so officials could not comment Wednesday.

Mateo and Tavares said county attorneys believe the county cannot be forced to take over a government-regulated private utility. It's not a lock, though, Mateo said.

A lot of counties across the nation are watching the dispute closely because it could be precedent setting, Tavares said.

Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com. Additional Maui News stories are posted at www.mauinews.com.