Question: For more than two months now, the beautiful Hawaiian net-mender fountain across from the Fasi Municipal Building hasn’t been working. Why isn’t the fountain running? When will it be working again?
Answer: There’s a problem with underground electrical cables connected to the fountain’s pumps, said Ross S. Sasamura, director of the city’s Department of Facility Maintenance. Crews are working on the problem and hope to have the fountain fixed and operational by April 30, he said.
When it is working, the fountain provides a waterfall backdrop for the bronze sculpture “Ka Mea Ku‘i ‘Upena” (The Person Who Stitches the Net), which is the main feature of a landscaped rock garden at the triangle where King Street, Kapiolani Boulevard and South Street converge. The 1989 artwork by Charles W. Watson depicts a seated male figure using a tool to mend a fishing net.
This is not the first time the fountain has malfunctioned. An August 2012 Kokua Line column addressing a similar question said it was inoperable for months due to a major leak.
According to that column, Watson, who died in 2002, was a former president of Hawaiian Dredging and Construction Co. who had a prominent second career as a sculptor. Hawaiian Dredging’s new headquarters will be at a historic building across the street from the sculpture and waterfall. The company has been renovating the old News Building at 605 Kapiolani Blvd. and plans to move in soon.
Q: Will they still have Summer Fun in Palolo?
A: Yes. The city’s popular youth recreational program at Palolo Valley District Park “will remain, and continue to use other facilities within that park that are not closed for repair,” said Nathan Serota, a spokesman for the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation.
The park’s swimming pool, gym and weight room closed Monday for repairs that will take until fall to finish. However, the work is being done in a way that should allow for incremental reopening, Serota said.
“We hope to open up certain facilities as those particular repairs are finished. This applies to the pool, which we would very much like to have open during the summer if this renovation project allows,” he said.
The closure is necessary because leaking roofs have caused extensive water damage, including to the pool’s shower building.
For more information about Summer Fun, which runs roughly seven weeks at more than 60 sites on Oahu, see 808ne.ws/rec4summer. Registration begins in May.
Tax update
Heading into the April 20 filing deadline, it’s taking about seven weeks to process state income tax refunds, according to Mallory C. Fujitani, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Taxation. The department’s website advises taxpayers not to check the status of their refunds until 16 weeks after filing, but it’s not taking that long to process most returns, she said, even though the department has implemented additional processes to detect fraud. Taxpayers are encouraged to e-file, and to accept electronic deposits of refunds, which is quicker than waiting the roughly two weeks it takes the state Department of Accounting General Services to cut and mail a paper check after the Tax Department processes the return.
Auwe
To the driver of a beige SUV for an incident that occurred Saturday around 9 a.m.: “You do not have the right of way coming from Anuhea Street onto 16th Avenue. You didn’t even check to see if a car was there. You think brake-checking me makes you a big person, but you’re just compensating for a tiny brain.” — P.T.
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.
