County pursues new waste site

HILO » Hawaii County will begin seeking proposals for a waste-to-energy facility — by far the county’s largest public works project — next week, Mayor Billy Kenoi said.

Hilo’s landfill is expected to fill up in about five years. As a result, the county must reduce waste going to the landfill, open a new landfill in Hilo at an estimated cost of $222 million or truck East Hawaii’s garbage to the West Hawaii landfill in Puu­ana­hulu. The last option is a politically unpalatable one that Kenoi and the County Council have rejected, West Hawaii Today reported Thursday.

If all goes as planned, a vendor for the waste-to-energy facility will be picked in January and a contract signed in April 2015. The County Council will have the final say on the new facility and how it would be funded.

Suspect sought in park robbery

Hawaii island police are investigating a robbery Feb. 14 in the parking lot of Carlsmith Beach Park in Keau­kaha.

At about 9:30 a.m. a 58-year-old Hilo man was reportedly loading his car after a swim when a young man approached from behind and asked for help. When the victim turned around, the suspect punched him, grabbed his wallet and ran away. He may have gotten into a small white sedan headed toward Hilo.

He was described as being in his 20s, slim with a tan complexion, short black hair and unshaven. He was wearing dark surf shorts.

Police ask anyone who witnessed the incident or anyone who knows the identity of the suspect to call the Police Department’s nonemergency line at 935-3311.