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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, April 26, 2007

BUREAUCRACY BUSTER
Sticker on trash bin is a reminder

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Columnist

Q. Last week, we put our city garbage bin outside our home on the curb in Hawai'i Kai, in pretty much the same spot we put it each week. Then we noticed a city supervisor putting stickers on some bins on the street that weren't being dumped into the rubbish truck. We got out in time to make sure our bin was picked up. But the supervisor said it had been too close to a lamp post and could have been missed because of it. Is there a change in city policy on the garbage rules? Some kind of rubbish crackdown? I'm sure the neighbors who found their garbage waiting at home also wonder what happened.

A. City officials say the policy remains the same, only the stickers are new.

Environmental Services Department spokesman Ken Kawahara said the city instructed residents from the start of the automated garbage pickup years ago that the bins need to be placed at least 5 feet away "from any fixed object."

He said "this has been an ongoing policy ever since those bins were distributed." But since the city got some new stickers and some people missed their garbage pickup, let's review the rules.

  • Trash bins should not be placed within 5 feet of any object.

  • The carts should be placed curbside by 6 a.m. of the morning they're going to be emptied.

  • Residents should remove them from the roadside as soon as they are able to, such as when they return home.

    Kawahara said the most common problem crews see is the carts placed too close to a mailbox or to a car. "And we do not want to damage it when we try to empty the bin," he said. He said that's the reason behind the reminders and the new stickers.

    Q. Why were the lights at Hans L'Orange Park on at 3 a.m. April 11 and 12? There was no sign of night recreation or maintenance work and a chain blocked access to the parking lot. Wouldn't the bright lights bother the neighbors and waste money if no one was at the park?

    A. It turns out the city hired a contractor to install new light fixtures at Hans L'Orange. City Parks and Recreation Director Lester Chang said the contractor has control of the lights and pays all electrical cost during construction. What you saw was a test of the newly installed lights. One of the requirements is for the contractor to keep the new lights on for 72 consecutive hours, Chang said.

    Reach Bureaucracy Buster:

  • Bureaucracy Buster
    The Honolulu Advertiser
    605 Kapi'olani Blvd.
    Honolulu, HI 96813
  • buster@honoluluadvertiser.com.
  • 535-2454. Leave your name and daytime phone number.