No laws regulate collection of trash during wee hours

Question: Are there any rules/laws that restrict how early a private refuse company can pick up either recycling items or trash? I’ve called the city Department of Customer Services and was given a contact number at the Police Department, but no one called back. I called the private refuse company but have not gotten a response and the company continues to pick up the recycling items between 3:45 and 5 a.m. on Kewalo Street. They roll the bins from the garage area to the truck, then dump the bins into the truck, creating a lot of noise, especially the glass bottles.

Answer: Early trash pickup by private companies is a complaint in many areas, especially in urban neighborhoods with a lot of apartment and condominium buildings where the noise reverberates upward.

However, there is nothing to legally prevent the private companies from operating in the wee hours of the morning or at night.

There is no specific time or restrictions regarding the pickup of rubbish, said Maj. Sean Naito, commander of  the Honolulu Police Department’s District 1 (Downtown-Chinatown).

The trash company could be cited for possible “unreasonable” noise violations.

In that case, you can call police at 911 and enforcement action possibly can be taken. But Naito said it is often difficult to determine whether the noise is unreasonable, especially if it’s just in one location, for a short period of time and completed before HPD can respond.

The best remedy would be to work with the refuse company or with the building manager/property owner regarding “a peaceful, agreeable resolution,” he said.

Another possibility is to contact your neighborhood board to see whether it can help alleviate the problem.

Question: The state librarian has announced an aggressive program to modernize the library system’s computers and electronic communications. The library system has gotten various grants to replace the equipment with newer machines. What will happen to the hundreds of computers the library system has replaced? Will schools or the underprivileged benefit from the equipment? Or can it be sold?

Answer: Old computer equipment that can be salvaged will be kept for other uses; the rest is being recycled, according to the Hawaii State Public Library System.

Basically, “It would be a great disservice to pass on these outdated computers to schools or to the underprivileged,” said spokesman Paul Mark.

He said the library system’s public access computers “were outdated and slowed considerably by their obsolete hardware and software.”

The computers were replaced thanks to funding by Hawaii’s Access for All grant, through the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, which was funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Opportunity Online funds.

 In addition, matching funds were provided by the Friends of the Library of Hawaii; the Omidyar Ohana Fund, through the Hawaii Community Foundation; and the Alexander & Baldwin Foundation.

With state-of-the-art equipment and software in place, the library system recently was able to launch the Hawaii Public Library System’s Microsoft IT Academy, Mark said. It is “the world’s first Microsoft IT Academy program available in a statewide public library system.”

Use is free if you have a state library card (see http://is.gd/microsoftlibraries11122011).

Mahalo

To the lovely young woman who gave me her lei as she and her young man were leaving Alan Wong’s on Valentine’s Day. My husband and I (both gray-haired) were waiting for our table near the end of the evening and were honored to be so thoughtfully gifted on that special day. A wonderful Hawaii moment. — Linda from Maryland

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Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.