Kokua Line June Watanabe

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Fountain sprinklers fixed after complaint

Question: How often is the city Parks Department supposed to check sprinkler heads? The grass around the fountain by the Elks Club on Kalakaua Avenue has virtually all of its sprinkler heads gone, but they still try to water it six days a week and, for the last three months, the water pours into the street, down the sewers and into the ocean. It's very irritating to see thousands of gallons of drinking water wasted in this manner when homeowners are constantly being told to conserve water. Who is supposed to be responsible for checking these things?

Answer: Because of your complaint, the sprinkler heads in the area were checked last Wednesday, and "several heads" were repaired Friday, said Dana Takahara-Dias, deputy director for the Department of Parks and Recreation.

Sprinklers at Kapiolani Park, including the area around Dillingham Fountain, are activated at night.

"As a result, broken sprinkler heads are not immediately observed by park staff," said Takahara-Dias, explaining why the broken heads were not immediately discovered.

She said the department recently completed extensive repairs to the irrigation system along the Kalakaua Avenue medial strip next to Kapiolani Park.

The high volume of delivery trucks and other large vehicles, "coupled with the constant flow of cars along Kalakaua, does pose challenges to our irrigation systems," she said. Because of that, "this specific area has been a constant challenge to upkeep the irrigation system in this medial strip."

She asked that the public call the Kapiolani Park Office at 971-2510 to alert the department to broken sprinkler heads "so that we can repair them promptly and do our part to conserve water."

As a side note, the Dillingham Fountain is named in honor of Louise Dillingham, wife of Walter F. Dillingham, often called "Hawaii's greatest builder."

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Q: You previously said that human ashes are not allowed to be scattered in a state forest preserve or watershed area ("Kokua Line," June 18, 2006). Is the Pali Lookout area considered a no-no?

A: Yes.

"We discourage ashes to be scattered at the Pali Lookout, out of consideration for others," said Deborah Ward, spokeswoman for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

In addition to being in a state park and forest watershed area, "it is also a very windy location frequented heavily by the public," and the ashes might be blown onto people, she said.

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Q: Who is responsible for re-striping Geiger Road from Kapolei to Fort Weaver Road? The marking is light and hard to see at night.

A: Geiger Road is a city roadway. We passed on your concerns to the Road Maintenance Division.

For similar concerns about city roads, call 484-7644 or contact the Department of Customer Services complaint office: 523-4381 or e-mail complaints@honolulu.gov.