Kokua Line June Watanabe

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Extra trash pickups are driver's call

Question: On a recent trash pickup in our neighborhood, I just happened to have more than one bin full of trash. So after the bin was unloaded, I refilled it and wheeled it across to my neighbor's side of the street. But the refuse truck driver just unloaded his bin and left my bin. Is there any rule that we're only allowed one bin per pickup?

Answer: It's up to the driver to decide -- there's no rule requiring or prohibiting a second pickup.

Yours is one of the "frequently asked questions" answered on the city's opala.org Web site (click on "collection schedules," then "refuse collection").

It's explained that a driver is required to empty a cart only once each collection day. Because second pickups "could drastically lengthen a driver's work day when refuse volume is large," such as during the holidays or mid-summer, it is left "to a driver's discretion whether to accommodate second pickups, and in the spirit of aloha, many will."

But if the driver "is not so inclined" to pick up your second load of trash, you're required to wait until the next collection day.

If you routinely generate a large amount of trash, you can contact the city for a second trash cart.

The city receives about 25 requests for a second cart per month, said David Shiraishi, refuse collection administrator.

If the city recognizes a property as having a "legal" second unit, it will provide a second cart, he said. An "ohana unit" is not recognized as a second unit, Shiraishi added.

Regardless of the number of units on a property, a second trash containers will be provided if a homeowner can demonstrate a consistent need for one, Shiraishi said.

A Refuse Division supervisor would monitor your household's refuse output for one month.

During that time, you may be advised on ways to lessen the load, either by consolidating the trash, such as by flattening boxes, through recycling, or by separating out green waste.

At the end of the monitoring period, either a second cart will be provided, or you will be sent a letter saying there was not sufficient household trash to justify the need for a second cart, Shiraishi said.

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Q: Is there anything in the works to ban roosters from residential areas? We have a neighbor who has numerous animals -- cats, dogs, many squawking birds, and worse of all, a rooster. This "farm animal" wakes up the neighborhood at 3:30 to 4 every morning! And, of course, it continues to crow until well after daybreak. I just wondered if the City Council or anyone else would do something about it. The animal belongs on a farm, not in a yard surrounded by other houses.

A: Nothing is currently on the table. The last few times a proposal to ban roosters came up, it went nowhere in the City Council.

You can keep up to date on animal-related measures on the Hawaiian Humane Society Web site, www.hawaiianhumane.org/animallaws.