Kokua Line

By June Watanabe

Wednesday, March 11, 1998

Give 911 a call to report
smoke-belching vehicles

Whom can I call to report vehicles, especially tour buses and trucks, that emit excessive exhaust? I often see tour buses and trucks trailing heavy smoke. This kind of exhaust is obviously harmful.

Whenever you see an offending vehicle driving by, call police at 911, providing license number, description of vehicle, company name, where you saw the vehicle, time, etc.

"The police department has jurisdiction," said Kathy Hendricks, enforcement supervisor for the state Department of Health's Clean Air Branch.

"I've heard feedback that the police do send people to the companies and follow up that way," Hendricks said. Police would be the ones to cite any violators.

State rules say there should be no visible emissions from gasoline-powered vehicles, Hendricks said. Diesel vehicles, such as buses, are allowed five seconds of emissions from start-up: "So if they're going along the highway and they are spewing out exhaust, then there is definitely a violation."

Some Moanalua High School students recently came by to sell some Project Graduation lucky drawing tickets. Is this legal?

As long as there is a mechanism by which people can get free tickets, it's legal, according to the Honolulu Police Department's narcotics/vice division.

On the ticket, it says gratis tickets are limited one to a person and gives details on how to obtain one.

Who is allowed to use the swimming pool at 250 S. Hotel St., the old Hemmeter Building? Are state workers using it and, if so, why are taxpayers paying for a pool for government personnel?

No one is using the pool, state workers or otherwise.

"It's not our building," said state comptroller Sam Callejo. "We lease office space."

The former Armed Forces YMCA Building, purchased and remodeled by developer Chris Hemmeter, is now owned by Bigi Corporation.

The pool "is never used and is maintained strictly as an amenity" for tenants, said Sharron Bynum, of ProPacific Corp., which manages the building. It's a simple matter of liability, she said.

I recently saw a vehicle driving on Kailua Beach. Is it legal to drive on the beach?

No. Sec. 10-1.5 of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu states, "No person shall operate, park or store or otherwise exert control over any unauthorized motor vehicle on any public beach with the exception of areas specifically designed to accommodate motor vehicles, such as paved roads for boat launchings."

Exceptions are government vehicles or contractors hired to care or maintain beach areas; vehicles operated by water safety officers and other emergency and law enforcement vehicles while carrying out their duties; and any vehicle with a valid permit issued by the city parks department.

If you spot a violation, call police at 911.

Staff at the beach park in question may also be contacted; be sure to get a license number, said a parks department spokeswoman.

Mahalo

To the city Department of Transportation Services. In December, our wheelchair joined the long queues of applicants for a disabled person's parking permit. Sometimes we shivered in the wind and rain. But "behind the clouds is the sun still shining."

The staff was well-organized, explaining the new placard, giving us printed rules and regulations. It may have seemed like an inordinately long wait, but the task was performed competently and politely. Bravo, civil servants! -- Mabel Chang