Council Chairman Gary Okino has proposed making the $8 fee mandatory for residents to keep twice-a-week garbage collection, but he suggested yesterday putting the recycling and user-fee proposals aside for the time being.

"My sense is maybe we should just can this thing for this year," Okino said.

Councilwoman Barbara Marshall reiterated concern that eliminating a trash pickup would lead to health and safety issues.

"We cannot charge people to pick up the trash," Marshall said.

"We run the risk of vermin and disease problems beyond compare," assuming that nonpayment would lead to trash not being picked up, she said.

The council is considering a proposal by Mayor Jeremy Harris that would eliminate one regular rubbish pickup a week and replace it with alternating green-waste and curbside-recycling collection beginning in July. Residents who want the second regular trash pickup would have to pay $8 a month.

The recycling program would be offered to 160,000 residential households that have automated trash pickups.

Another 80,000 households, primarily apartments, would not be affected.

Trash pickup is a core service, and the city should not charge fees for services it should be providing, said Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz.

"We shouldn't be doing government a la carte," Dela Cruz said.

Harris said that putting off recycling would be a "sad decision." Noting that the city needs to reduce the solid-waste stream going to the landfill and H-Power, Harris defended the program.

"I think it's the right thing to do; we have an environmental responsibility to recycle and, in the long term, it is economically the right thing to do," he said.

Councilman Mike Gabbard, chairman of the Public Works Committee, said the July 1 start date is too ambitious.

Gabbard suggested that the city take more time and model a residential recycling program after more-successful Mainland programs.

Yesterday's discussion came just as the administration offered a compromise budget proposal that relies heavily on a $8 monthly fee for all 160,000 households that receive automated trash collection.

With an additional $8 million coming in for trash collection, the administration's new proposal addresses some of the council's budget concerns by eliminating the need for a $2 counter service fee at satellite city halls, budgeting $2.1 million for the arbitrated pay raises of firefighters, restoring $450,000 to the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney and providing for additional lifeguard services in Waimanalo.

Anticipated revenue from a trash fee was used to balance the administration's $1.178 billion operating budget. The City Council will have to decide whether to accept this fee and several others, as well as decide property-tax rates.

The council's final vote on the budget is scheduled June 4.

Okino said he does not believe that the council will be able to avoid increases in real property taxes and user fees.

One thing Okino suggested to mitigate the burden on taxpayers is cutting the Office of Economic Development, which he sees as a nonessential service that duplicates some state functions.