2006-05-18 Cost of Government Commission Minutes

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and need more chutes. Old chutes are rotting, and more are needed. His Division is not maxed out, as far as total growth towards running efficiently. He also sees the opportunity to do curbside and privatize on the pick -up side. Ms. Cushnie said that Mr. Dworsky's division is grappling also with efficiency and time management and said that his frustration and overview are refreshing, as he is not deadened yet to the impact of all the ramifications of unions and funding and contracts and everything else. She asked whether he ever gets the chance to have the Mayor's or Council's ear. Mr. Dworsky said that the Mayor is open to ideas but is cognizant that Solid Waste is part of a much bigger organization. The DEM has positions it wants to put in for and priorities to submit to the Council, but the DEM's priorities and others' priorities are different. The DEM's No. 1 priority might be No. 7 with the County. People tend to notice and be concerned with abandoned vehicles, for example. They don't see the landfill. Mr. Dworsky said he believes the Council has differences with the DEM and with Solid Waste in general. There is a sense that the DEM does not have a good relationship with the County. He does not know what the Council's agendas are, but the Mayor is very up front about where he is going. Not everybody approves of that. Ms. Cushnie asked whether the DEM ever gets ideas from outside consultants for free, and Mr. Dworsky said yes, that they do pick up ideas and subscribe to publications. The State also promotes certain things. The consultants the DEM brings in have a lot of experience. The consultants that did the study on the sliver fill made a big difference. They had done a half a dozen or more in the Southern California area and were able to show the difference that was made, and that they are stable and safe. The State feels that Hilo should have closed its landfill ten years ago. It has no liner. West Hawaii has a beautiful landfill. One landfill, however, cannot serve the County's needs. People perceive that there are many trucks and bottlenecks on the highways. He commented that he sees more Matson trucks on the highway than would ever be seen with Solid Waste vehicles and that when the eucalyptus trees are harvested, there will be still more trucks. He said that even though this is a big island, driving a couple of hours on the mainland is not unusual. Ms. Cushnie said that in some ways it is useful to be ten years behind the mainland, as we benefit from their experience. Mr. Joseph said that commercial haulers do a real service and asked whether the County would be better served if it gave haulers incentives or tax breaks. Mr. Dworsky said the haulers who haul residential trash do get a refund back. If they can identify the people whose rubbish they pick up, the County gives them the incentive to reduce the cost of the tipping fee. Mr. Joseph said that a few years ago, the County raised the tipping fees and put some small haulers out of business. He felt it would be good to encourage them by possibly reducing or eliminating the tipping fee. Also, it would be better to have one truck going to the landfill, rather than 100 private vehicles. 7