Council overrides Harris veto, calls for H-POWER evaluation
By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer
Advertiser library photos
The City Council told Mayor Jeremy Harris yesterday that he has to do a $100,000 evaluation of new plasma arc trash-burning technology before he can move on a $60 million expansion of the H-POWER trash incinerators.
The policy role of Mayor Jeremy Harris is challenged.
Councilman John Henry Felix said the council expects to be heeded.
Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi said the council shouldn't be blamed for any delays.
The council also asked Harris to find someone willing to pay half the operating cost for a new tennis center before he spends $3 million to complete the Central O'ahu facility.
Councilman John Henry Felix made clear that the council was flexing its legislative muscle in the standoff with Harris. The council, Felix said, passes the budget and sets the policy it represents, while the administration is supposed to implement it.
It was the first time Harris had vetoed so-called "provisos" in the budget, whereby the council set conditions on how appropriated money is to be spent.
Managing Director Ben Lee said Harris acted because the provisos didn't make common sense.
If the high-temperature plasma system does all that its backers cite, City Council members said, the city may not have to spend $60 million for another H-POWER burner and boiler.
Lee said last night that the council's action may delay the shutdown of the Waimanalo Gulch landfill for another eight months. The city has said it plans to use the landfill for another five years, then close it.
Lee said he is looking for plasma technology experts to study that alternative for Honolulu and he hopes to get it done in four months.
But Lee pleaded in vain with the council to allow him to simultaneously begin evaluation for H-POWER expansion.
Instead, he said yesterday, he expects to come back with a plasma report in four months, then ask for another four months to evaluate H-POWER expansion as an alternative.
Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi said it's unfair to blame the council now for delays when Harris knew for a year that H-POWER can't meet all needs.
The council vote to override Harris' vetoes on both items was 6-3, with Darrlyn Bunda, Jon Yoshimura and Steve Holmes backing the administration's position.
Reach Walter Wright at wwright@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8054.
