KILAUEA — A meeting intended to give North Shore residents the opportunity to voice their opinions concerning next year’s budget turned into a fireside chat with Mayor Maryanne Kusaka. At the meeting held at the Kilauea Neighborhood Center Thursday, a
KILAUEA — A meeting intended to give North Shore residents the opportunity to
voice their opinions concerning next year’s budget turned into a fireside chat
with Mayor Maryanne Kusaka.
At the meeting held at the Kilauea
Neighborhood Center Thursday, a dozen residents from Hanalei and Kilauea said
they felt the Kusaka Administration has done a good job in running the county,
and applauded the mayor’s efforts.
“I am impressed,” said Bill Troutman,
a board member with the Kilauea Neighborhood Association.
Residents had
concerns about two key problems facing the county: Solid waste and abandoned
vehicles.
Princeville resident Karen Clifford and Troutman said the
county should do more to educate the public about the importance of recycling
to help drive down the cost of trash disposal.
“What can we do, in the
long term, of educating the people to start caring more and not dumping on the
side of the road?” Troutman said.
With some funds , the county has gotten
the word out on the importance of recycling through advertisements and through
school student visits to the Garden Isle Disposal company site in Lihu’e, said
Administrative Assistant Wallace Rezentes Sr.
Rezentes said it generally
costs about $400 to recycle a ton of materials like newspapers, aluminum and
glass, but the cost will vary depending on the extent of recycling in
individual communities.
The $400-a-ton price tag is too high, Clifford
said. “You have to find the answer to get rid of this,” she said.
A
solution could be forthcoming after the county has reviewed proposals from 23
companies for the disposal of island debris and selected a technology for the
job, Rezentes said.
Hanalei District has been a leader in recycling,
Rezentes said. Out of 855 tons of materials recycled in one year, Hanalei
residents recycled 169 tons, he said.
On the topic of abandoned
vehicles, one resident wondered whether a private company could open a
junkyard where autos could be processed and parts taken off of them for
safe.
That could happen as early as this summer when the construction of
the county’s junk auto processing facility in Puhi is scheduled to be completed
and a contractor is selected to run the facility, said Deputy County Engineer
Ian Costa.
At the moment, the facility is used only for storage and
vehicles are processed at Ernie’s Repair Shop in Puhi.
In other
matters:
* Kaua’i Police Chief George Freitas announced a contractor could
be selected by the end of February to begin construction of the new
headquarters for the Kaua’i Police Department, the county’s Civil Defense
Agency and the county Prosecutor’s Office. The work could be finished by the
middle of 2002, he said.
Kusaka said she has been working to get the
project off the ground for the past five years, and commended police officers
for putting up with working in the outdated Lihu’e police station.
The
county is moving forward with the $15 million project with the recent sale of
$27.5 million in general obligation for public improvement projects.
Llewella Zablan of Waipake said residents want to know how government is
spending their tax dollars and recommended a “pie chart” on revenues and
expenditures be put on real property tax documents that are sent to property
owners each year.
Deputy Finance Director Eugene Jimenez said a $1.9
million computer system for the county’s Real Property Tax Division the county
will buy won’t do that right now.
Zablan recommended all of Ko’alau Road
in Moloa’a be paved to minimize damage to vehicles using the road.
