Kokua Line June Watanabe

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Trash pickup at complex should occur after 6 a.m.

Question: I live in an a complex adjacent to Kuliouou's Haleloa II Development. Every Monday at 5 a.m., we are awakened to the sound of the city's refuse truck's backup alarm and noise associated with the emptying of the three Dumpsters. I was told the property manager had no control since they are city trucks as opposed to private refuse collectors. Does the city have any restrictions as to how early these collections can take place?

Answer: If the pickup is indeed happening before 6 a.m., you or the property manager should call the city Refuse Division's Kapaa Yard at 262-7298.

"Our crew is not supposed to start emptying these containers before 6 (a.m.)," said David Shiraishi, city Refuse Division administrator.

Your complex is serviced on Mondays and Thursdays, with crews emptying 3-cubic-yard containers (aka Dumpsters).

"Because we control the time the crew leaves the yard, we believe our crew is servicing this development at approximately 6:10 a.m.," Shiraishi said. If this is not the case, call the Kapaa Yard.

Q: I have my safety decal on a metal plate to the right of my license plate. I went to get an updated safety check and was told by two places, Jiffy Lube and Goodyear, that they will not put the decal on that plate -- that it had to be put on the bumper. Is that the state law? Do I have to put it on the bumper?

A: The safety decal can be placed on a metal "bracket" below the bumper, but it cannot be placed on or attached to the license plate.

"A bracket attached to the license plate is not an appropriate place to affix the sticker," an official with the state Department of Transportation's Motor Vehicle Safety Office said.

We explained previously ("Kokua Line," Sept. 26, 2006) that Department of Transportation rules allow safety decals to be placed on a bracket under the right rear bumper. That has not changed.

The rules say the "inspection sticker shall be affixed by the inspector upon the right, most nearly vertical portion of the rear bumper of the vehicle or on another appropriate place, such as on the body immediately above the right portion of the rear bumper, or a special bracket installed horizontally under the right portion of the rear bumper where the sticker can be clearly viewed by a person who is 50 feet behind the vehicle. The rear window or license plate is not an appropriate place."

There are two reasons for the specified placement: to make the stickers easy to see and difficult to remove.

Placing them on a bracket attached to the license plate comprises the objective of making the stickers easy to remove, the transportation official said.

Placing the bracket under the bumper does not mean it cannot be removed, but it is much more difficult to do so, he said.

The Transportation Department modified its rules to allow placement on a bracket below the bumper to accommodate people who did not want to affix the sticker to a painted bumper.