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friendship

Pastor Reid praying with contractor and architect before starting construction.

 

 

Councilmember Pine is available to help community members when they need assistance or help locating a City service.

 

Pastor James Reid of Friendship Bible Church in Ewa Beach recently reached out because he was having difficulty securing the final signatures needed for the church’s building permit.   Everything seemed in order, but for some unknown reason the permit was being held up and Pastor Reid was having difficulty connecting with the right office to find out where the problem was.

 

Councilmember Pine was able to directly connect Pastor Reid with the right department.  The last signature was received for the building permit and Councilmember Pine is happy to report that Friendship Bible Church was able to begin construction in May.

 

Councilmember Pine is working diligently to help constituents when they need assistance with city services.  For assistance, fill out the “Request Help With a City Service” form on our home page, and we will work with you to improve the quality of life on the Leeward Coast.

 

City officials announced the opening of a new sludge receiving station today at the City’s H-Power waste-to-energy plant in Campbell Industrial Park.  The new machine will take sludge and waste products and convert them into fuel.

 

According to the Department of Environmental Services, the Honolulu Program of Waste Energy Recovery (H-POWER) processes over 600,000 tons of waste annually, and has the capacity to produce up to 10% of Oahu’s electricity.  H-POWER began operation in 1990 and today, coverts nearly 2,000 tons of waste per day, creating enough electricity to power 60,000 homes.

 

The City’s new sludge receiving station will reduce 40,000 pounds of waste that enters the land fills per year, putting less dependence on the Waimanalo Gulch land fill.  The addition of the receiving station ensures that less material is going into the landfill and sets the city on a course to eliminating the need for a landfill in my district.

Responding to community concerns that tons of sludge is being dredged from the Hawaii Kai Marina and dumped in Waianae, Councilmember Kymberly Marcos Pine is demanding that the Hawaii Kai Community Association remove all of the debris and return it to holding areas in Hawaii Kai.

 

The City has cited SER Trucking, which was hired to truck and store the materials, for not having a proper grading permit. However, Councilmember Pine does not believe this is enough to stop the potentially illegal dumping.

 

“I will make sure that I do everything in my power, including exploring all legislative options to stop this private marina from dumping its sludge in our community and ensure that this unchecked dumping never happens again,” Councilmember Pine said.

 

Waianae residents are upset that the sludge is being dumped in their community and expressed their concerns. Responding to the community, Robert Clark, president of the Hawaii Kai Marina Community Association referred to Waianae residents’ concerns as “total ignorance,” saying, “if they were aware of what that material was, they would say please let me have more of it,”  (Hawaii News Now).

 

Councilmember Pine also responded to Mr. Robert Clark’s statements today, saying “I take great offense to Mr. Clark’s statement and demand that he apologize to the people of Waianae for his comments. The people of Waianae are smart innovative citizens who care deeply about their ‘aina.”