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<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Aloha Fellow Islanders <br /> By: Bill Kelly <br /> <br /> There need not be any marginal farmland in Hawaii. The County Camcil has a <br /> green waste program to keep green waste from landfills. The Council's fioresight in <br /> providing mulch at no costto residents makes hauling mulch affordable for farmers and <br /> yard enthusiasts. <br /> This program allows me, a small perm&-adhue farmer, to augment the meager <br /> soil of my form in Hawaiian Arses. Hawaiian Acres has a great climate, peg devetion, <br /> abundant rainfall, and sunshine for many sub-tropical fivits and vegetables. What all-o' <br /> this island needs, with its multiple micro-climates, is this green waste soil amendment. <br /> There is virtually no food crop that cannot be grown in some area of our island, with our <br /> own green waste. What we need to do is use all as waste to best advantage for <br /> improving our sal. If the residents ofHawaii can continue to use this green waste, at <br /> bauling cost, we can make this island pot only a breadbasket for our state, but grow our <br /> farmeWindustry to more exploration of exotic food products, to all ofthe Pacific Rim. <br /> The County Council is proposing to bran our waste to make electricity for our <br /> grid, with only a by-product of ash. This does not work. The Council should not indebt <br /> our future tax revenues before we have made a product, as well as a profit, for the County <br /> to tax. <br /> The Council needs to continue its foresight 25-30 years down the road, as <br /> Councils of the past did. Canty Councils before this time helped aggregate mining <br /> companies Glover and Yamada make firture landfill area, while making a taxable profit. <br /> The County needs to financially assist Glover and Yamada onto firtwe landfill sites, <br /> where they can mine aggregates for profit that are located at future sites where we will <br /> bury only what we must. Then we can use the current pits (with federal oversight) that <br /> past councils had the foresight to plan ahead for. <br /> We, as a county, can go into the finue without accumulating 150 million dollars <br /> of debt, for an oil fired blast furnace, with an operating cost of 12 million dollars a year. <br /> What we need to do, in the here and now, a continue our recycle, reclaim, and reduce <br /> programs. We can add composting of wet garbage to our mulch program; we can add <br /> ground up glass as sand to our mulch, from our bottle program. The dredgmgs from as <br /> harbors and drainage ditches could be made available to residents, Sather improving our <br /> soils, with a by-product of preventing flooding and less landfill usage. <br /> We need to improve our toxic waste program. Currently, the County only handles <br /> gasoline, oil, paint, batteries, etc. a few days per year. We need 3 or 4 collection points <br /> available continuously. Toxic products would then need to be shipped to a bum point. <br /> /We can pay for these programs by using the 12 million dollar yearly operating <br /> cost of the proposed waste to electricity program. Please don't sign away our fiuture into <br /> such a huge debt. We can only afford programs that can be paid for with prudent taxation. <br /> As proof that this mulch program is working to make better soils for our island, I <br /> would like to say that the mulch gets hauled away as first as the County can produce it. <br /> Much Aloha, <br /> Bill K uy <br /> <br /> 2C~ Comm. No.I 1 <br /> T ` Ref. To:Preumu <br /> Ref. Date APR 21 MR <br />