Kokua Line
By June Watanabe
Friday, November 6, 1998
Kokua Line
How come GTE pay phones are not equipped to return change since they raised the price to 35 cents? I put in two quarters twice today to make calls. I'm sure I'm not the only one losing 15 cents on every call. What happens to the extra revenue? Pay phones unlikely
ever to give changePay phones across the country do not return change, even though the "vast majority" now charge 35 cents per call, said GTE Hawaiian Telephone spokesman Keith Kamisugi.
It's like putting extra money into parking meters or other vending machines that don't give change, he said.
It's not likely that Hawaiian Tel's 7,700 pay phones would be refitted to give change, Kamisugi said, because that would be a "huge expense" and also, the phones would more likely be targeted by vandals. Doing so would likely cause another price increase, he said.
In Hawtel's defense, he said the 25-cent rate was kept for 12 years.
Meanwhile, pay phone revenue is "competitive information, and we are unable to provide those figures," Kamisugi said.
What happened to the proposal to exclude water used by residents for watering their lawns and plants from the sewer charge?
The city's proposal to revise the formula for sewer fees is before the City Council's Budget Committee, chaired by Councilman John Henry Felix.
The administration's proposal was not to exclude lawn watering from sewer fees, but to reduce that charge because lawn water doesn't have to be treated like raw sewage.
But there won't be any change in sewer fees anytime soon. The earliest his committee will review sewer charges is early next year, when it will look at all the city's sources of revenue, Felix said.
The city's aging sewer system is in need of a major overhaul.
But the idea is to turn it into a self-supporting system, Felix said.
"We're linking the cost of improvements to the actual revenues from the system," he said. "This is a policy adopted by the Council in 1996, but we're just implementing the policy. The first issuance is for $350 million in revenue bonds for a 30-year term" to replace, rehabilitate, expand and upgrade the system, he said. "The capital programs are for a 20-year period."
If the city were to continue as it has, sewer fees probably would have to go up two to three times what they are now, he said.
"What we're doing is spreading out the costs over a longer period at a pretty low interest rate, so it actually will keep the rates much lower," he said.
To the kind person who turned my navy blue leather card holder and money into the hosiery counter at Liberty House Ala Moana on Sept. 25. I discovered it was missing when I arrived home. I was called the following Monday by Liberty House. Everything was intact, including money I had just gotten from the bank machine. I appreciate the kindness and thoughtfulness of the person who did this for me. - Georgiann Mahalo
To the lady driving the white Cadillac on Friday afternoon, Oct. 2. I slowed down was because if a ball rolls into the street, 10-to-1, chances are a child will soon be running out after it! That's common sense, but I guess not everyone has common sense! - No name Auwe
To all those who helped when I got into an accident on the H-2 freeway on the night of Oct. 2. - E.S. Mahalo
To the woman who called about an incident at a drive-in in Wahiawa Sunday night, please call 525-8686. Please call!
Need help with problems? Call Kokua Line at 525-8686,
fax 525-6711, or write to P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
Email to kokualine@starbulletin.com
