Question: We attended a special homeowners meeting in our recreation center. There was a large crowd but only one gate was opened. A large majority of owners are senior citizens and/or disabled, and we were concerned. Whom can I call to ask the Honolulu Fire Department to advise the board members as well as the site manager how many gates should be open?
Answer: A fire prevention inspector did visit your condominium building and found all the required doors were open.
The 75-person posted capacity assembly hall (recreation center) in question has two exit doors, as required, that should always be unlocked when the hall is in use, explained Capt. Terry Seelig, spokesman for the Honolulu Fire Department.
The hall is surrounded by an enclosure that also has two gates.
“Both gates should also be open and unlocked when the hall is in use to provide access for those leaving the hall,” Seelig said. “The HFD inspector was told by the building’s management that it is their practice to always open the gates when the hall is used.”
Anyone with questions about fire safety or possible fire code violations can call HFD’s Fire Prevention Bureau at 723-7161. A fire inspector “will gladly provide information and guidance and will even make a site visit to confer with the building’s management or owner if necessary,” Seelig said.
Question: Can you tell me where I can park now at the Department of Health? I saw that they took out all the meters and posted a Lot L sign, so I just drove away. I’m truly puzzled as to why they would do that.
Answer: If you had driven into the lot, you would have seen two automated pay stations that replaced the meters.
Sixty-one parking meters at Kinau Hale, the Department of Health building at 1250 Punchbowl St., were removed and replaced by the pay stations in July 2011, according to the state Department of Accounting and General Services. Rates remain the same: $1 an hour.
Eleven informational signs were posted in the parking lot directing people to the stations near the entrance to Kinau Hale.
You can choose the time you need to park, then pay either with quarters or Visa or MasterCard credit cards. You will receive a receipt indicating the prepaid time, which you are directed to place face up on your car’s dashboard to verify payment.
We’re told patrolling officers check the dashboards to ensure compliance.
DAGS also operates a pay station at the State Office Building in Kapolei.
Question: When will the new half-cent bottle recycling fee go into effect?
Answer: Sept. 1.
The fee actually is set for manufacturers, distributors and importers of beverages, but is expected to be passed on to consumers.
Currently, HI-5 labeled containers have a deposit fee of 6 cents: 5 cents refundable when a container is turned in for recycling, and 1 cent as a nonrefundable handling fee paid to recyclers operating redemption centers.
In September the handling fee will increase to 11⁄2 cents. For more information, go to www.hi5deposit.com.
Mahalo
To everyone who came to my aid when I fell and suffered a severe abrasion on my head on Sunday evening, July 22, as I crossed Kalia Road to the Hale Koa Hotel. My cellphone, glasses, pen and papers also fell on the street. Dazed and shaken, I was helped to my feet by six or seven compassionate folks who helped me up the steps to the lobby, sat me down, placed ice on my forehead, wiped the blood and called the Emergency Medical Service responders. I am very grateful to the EMS folks for their help and thorough checkup, and most appreciate the unnamed people who picked me up off the street and sought to my care. They acted simply out of kindness for one (badly) in need. — John C. Oberholzer, age 76, Flourtown, Pa.
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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.
