Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Question: I live near where there is drilling going on on the slopes of Punchbowl. They start drilling quite early, sometimes as early as 7 a.m. The noise is quite severe. This is 6:10 p.m. on April 25 and they are drilling as I speak. How much longer is the work expected to take and shouldn't they be quitting earlier, around 4:30 or 5 p.m., to give people who live in the area a break? Punchbowl gets relief
but drilling must go onAnswer: You should have gotten your break more than a week ago.
The Board of Water Supply, which is drilling a monitor well there, has instructed the contractor not to start any drilling until 7:45 a.m. at the earliest and 3:30 p.m. at the latest, said Clifford Jamile, agency manager and chief engineer. The contract allows work between 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., he said.
A Board of Water Supply inspector inspects the project several times a week, but was not aware that drilling was continuing past 3:30 p.m., Jamile said.
The well will be drilled to a depth of 1,500 feet, on the Prospect Street side of Punchbowl near Stevenson Middle School and is meant to "observe water quality in our Nuuanu aquifer," he said. It began in February and is scheduled to be completed in August.
Q: What is happening with the new structures being built in Kailua Beach Park? It seems that they are 80 percent done and there has been no workman around for weeks! Why don't they finish the job and get the park cleaned up?
A: We visited the park recently and saw a few workers at each of the three clusters of buildings there: a restroom pavilion at one end; a canoe halau and pavilion area in the middle; and what looked like three pavilions at the Lanikai, or old Camp Kailua, end of the park.
Work on "Comfort Station A" was finished April 10, while work on "Comfort Station B" was completed last December, according to Clifford Morikawa, acting facilities design and engineering chief in the city Department of Design and Construction.
One other comfort station, "C," is on the books at the Lanikai end of the park. Once it gets started, it is expected to take about five or six months to complete.
The current work is part of a nearly $2.4 million improvement project at the park, which includes a canoe halau and open-air pavilions, Morikawa said. The costs break down this way: $456,000 for the comfort station yet to be built; $158,000 for the renovation of two bathhouses; $868,000 for the canoe halau; and $872,000 for landscape improvements, including walking paths.
The Parks Department is working with canoe clubs to determine use of the halau, which is located in the middle of the park.
Asked about your observation that no work was being done, Morikawa said, "We try not to have long times of inactivity," but there could have been a lull if materials needed to be shipped in or drawings revised.
At this point, everything should be completed by the end of the year, he said.
Mahalo
To Elsie, with the driver's licensing station on Dillingham Boulevard, for her patience and courtesy in helping me, a hard-of-hearing senior citizen, renew my driver's license. She also was a very pleasant lady to converse with. -- J.Tom
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