Question: Who is responsible for cleaning up the perimeter of the Beachwalk Street sewer project site? This small block is in the center of Waikiki between Royal Hawaiian Avenue, Seaside Avenue, Aloha Drive and Manukai Street. Originally slated, we believe, for a "vest pocket" park, it is used for temporary construction offices and staging and storage for equipment and materials. The sidewalks around the property are a mess with piles of leaves and trash.
Answer: The city’s contractor, Frank Coluccio Construction Co., is responsible for maintaining the staging area and base yard for the Beachwalk Force Main Project, said Collins Lam, director of the city Department of Design and Construction.
"Coluccio employees mow the lawn and pick up the trash weekly," Lam said. "In response to complaints about excessive trash, such as plastic bags blowing up against the fence, the contractor has agreed to step up its maintenance."
Lam said the city supports developing that area for a neighborhood park, but only after the Kuhio Avenue sewer rehabilitation project is completed. Once that happens, "formal planning for a park on that city-owned staging area will start," he said.
The Kuhio Avenue project is slated to begin early next year and be completed in March 2013.
Meanwhile, construction of the 5,800-foot Beachwalk sewer force main, from Moiliili to Ala Moana Beach Park, is scheduled to be completed late next year. At that point, contractors will remove the remaining above-ground sewer pipes along the mauka side of Ala Wai Canal and at the entrance to the park, Lam said.
The project was prompted by a rupture of the 42-year-old existing force main on Kaiolu Street in Waikiki in March 2006. Because there was no backup system, the city was forced to pump 48,000 gallons of raw sewage into the Ala Wai Canal, which led to the closure of nearby beaches for a week.
Updated information on the Beachwalk sewer project can be found online at www.beachwalkforcemain.com or by calling 543-8374.
Question: Was the issue of money owed the University of Hawaii by former football coach June Jones ever resolved?
Answer: Yes, in December 2008, following an 11-month dispute after Jones terminated his UH contract to become head coach at Southern Methodist University.
Jones’ five-year contract extension at UH was to run through June 30, 2008, but he left six months earlier for SMU. His agent claimed that Jones fulfilled his contract because he coached five seasons and that former UH athletic director Herman Frazier promised he could leave after the third year without penalty.
Under the settlement, the June Jones Foundation donated $100,010 to the Na Lei O’iwi Scholarship Fund in the name of the late Kanalu Young, a professor of Hawaiian studies, while an anonymous donor contributed $100,000 to "be used at the discretion of UH-Manoa Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw."
MAHALO
To all those who helped after I was hit by a speeding bicycle on Nov. 5. My husband and I were strolling along the pedestrian path from Kailua Beach Park toward Lanikai. We had been on Oahu only a few days. I took one step toward the beach access path and was slammed by a speeding bicycle. I flew through the air and landed on my face, losing consciousness for a couple of minutes. An ambulance was called, and I ended up at Castle Medical Center’s emergency room. I want to send a shout-out of gratitude to the paramedic, Gary, for his kindness and professionalism, and for the wonderful care of RNs Erica and Heather and Dr. R at the ER. Please tell any cyclists you know to always call out a warning or ring a bell when behind pedestrians. Just this small consideration could have saved us so much pain and grief, not to speak of $$. — Alexandra Palley, Santa Barbara, Calif.
Write to "Kokua Line" at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
