Monday, September 27, 2010

Parks, Homeless, Water Mains, Sewers and Trash: Problems and Solutions

Park Maintenance and Beautification
Partial privatization and Adopt-a-Park corporate and club programs. Private Moanalua Gardens is in top shape. Fully restore the War Memorial Natatorium. Keep Hanauma Bay in top shape -- both visitor side and nature.

Homeless in Parks and Beaches; Kuhio Park Terrace All Full with Micronesians
Shrink the $30,000 Hawaii Homeless Benefit Package. Repatriate mainland homeless. Receive much more support and accommodations for the Federal PACT with Micronesia. Remove mentally ill homeless from streets, parks and beaches and provide them with proper care. Use decommissioned TheBus for overnight sheltering. No sleeping on public parks, etc.

364 Water Main Breaks per Year
High priority replacement of old mains, especially those in corrosive low lying areas. Our fixing rate needs to accelerate.

Sewers Consent Decree with EPA Will Cost Over $7 Billion If Done by the City
A Public Private Partnership (PPP) for reconstruction, maintenance and operation to infuse private capital, to share risk and to operate sewers like a utility. With PPP, construction costs decrease, quality and timeliness improve. Better management. Bottom line: lower monthly bills and better infrastructure.

Oahu’s Recycling Is a Glorified Sorting and Exportation of Trash. Yard Waste Recycling Is Basically Mulching and Dumping. 20% of Trash Burnt is Flyash.
Re-use tires and glass into pavements. Convert flyash into pozolanic cement. Remanufacture plastics into benches, bump stops and other simple and useful parts. Incentivize a private biomass plant to generate electricity out of the voluminous routine green waste collection by the city.