Perhaps things were going a bit too smoothly as the city neared the launch of its curbside recycling project in Hawai'i Kai and Mililani.

Residents have made it clear they support curbside recycling, and a bidding process has begun to expand the program islandwide. So why are City Council members still quibbling over fees at this point?

The issue comes down to $10 a month. From Oct. 29 through Jan. 6, Hawai'i Kai and Mililani will continue to have two days of trash pickup, along with alternating curbside recycling and green waste pickup once a week.

That ends on Jan. 7: Hawai'i Kai will no longer have a second day of pickup, and Mililani residents must pay $10 a month if they want to continue the second collection each week.

Now council members are divided over a fee waiver for residents who may not be able to afford the $10 cost of a second pickup.

In one corner, Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz says the fee waiver is necessary; in the other, Councilman Nestor Garcia doubts many of the 12,000 residents in the area will need it. Both represent Mililani.

This difference of opinion could affect whether Bill 63, which gives the city authority to collect the fee, passes.

O'ahu residents who witnessed the failed curbside recycling project of 2005 know all too well the volatility of these pilot programs. Good intentions aside, the time to move forward and implement real action is long overdue. What these council members should be doing is looking for solutions to make that happen, not more problems.

According to city spokes-man Bill Brennan, there is an easy fix.

Residents who show a need for a second bin and can't afford the fee can simply file a request to the Environmental Services Department. Workers then will monitor that household's waste to make sure the residents are making an effort to sort out recyclable items. If they are, and still show a need for a second bin, they will receive one and have it picked up on the same regularly scheduled day, free of cost.

"Let's remember the goal," Garcia said.

And let's focus on recycling paper and plastic, not petty politics.