No new agencies
No new agencies
No more agencies. There is a proposal to create a new Hawaii County agency: the county Department of Agriculture.
We do not need any more agencies. The county government already is bloated with bureaucrats.
Bob Dukat
Pahoa
It’s all politics
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says the president should not be allowed to perform his constitutionally mandated duties in the last year of his term.
But there are 34 senators in the last year of their terms as well. I have not heard that Sen. McConnell intends to prevent them from voting during this year. I wonder why? Could it be because 24 of them are Republicans?
Dan Lindsay
Hilo
Under siege
I read with interest the article in your paper seeking input on mongoose and rodent control. Really?
Last year, I trapped 66 mongoose in my yard in Discovery Harbour, and my neighbor trapped 15 since the first of the year. Is it already too late for any kind of meaningful measures of control?
The ball was dropped on the coqui frog early on when it could have been dealt with effectively, and today they are just about everywhere.
The little red fire ant received only sporadic interest, not to mention feral goats, cats and chickens. Four chickens running loose were trapped nearby in my neighborhood recently. I was awake several nights ago listening to feral cats screaming their lungs out after watching one of them earlier in the day rip a nest of newly hatched American cardinals limb from limb before I could intervene. Nice!
Now, I hate to regale you with more bad news, but I also have feral pigs running amok. A hunter trapped one boar which did not end the problem, and thus I purchased my own trap.
Now I am driven to ask: What has Hawaii turned into? In addition to all the nasty critters and invasive plants and trees that have gotten a foothold, recently added are the coffee berry borer, mac nut felted coccid and ohia wilt, and thus we are rapidly becoming a showcase for everything that can go wrong within the ecosystem we live in today.
A former co-worker recently commented how fortunate it was for me to live in Hawaii, or “Paradise” as she called it. I held my breath and will continue to hold on to that thought.
Maybe we have reached a peak and things will gradually improve. As the idiom says, hope springs eternal!
Carl F. Goebel
Discovery Harbour
Cesspool ban
Lawmakers of the Big Island: I applaud Gov. David Ige’s ban on cesspools in the state (the only one of the 50 states still issuing permits) in spite of your opposition. This is something long overdue, and it might have been held up since inaccuracies of costs on upgrades were quite evident.
But first, a cesspool is nothing more than a hole in the ground that human waste is dumped into which then migrates through our watershed and eventually reaches the ocean. Costs about $3,000.
Second, a septic system (anaerobic) provides a holding tank for degradation of waste before the effluent is discharged into a leach field, usually not close to the ocean. Costs about $7,000 in the Kapoho area, not close to coastal waters, and which is mostly solid rock and a nightmare for installers.
Third, an aerobic septic system is much more efficient and usually installed in close, sensitive coastal areas where quick breakdown is needed. It is also more expensive, usually running about $15,000 to $20,000 in the Kapoho area.
However, it is ironic the coastal areas the tax credit will target, such as Kapoho and Puako, have some of the most expensive property on the island, most with values around $1 million. They should not need assistance from the rest of us taxpayers.
James Lehner
Pahoa