Q. Waimanalo District Park has been torn up since March and not a lot of progress is apparent. Everyone complains about teen punks, then the city takes out a major source of healthy recreation for a community that lacks a lot of other resources. Why is it taking so long?

A. City officials said there are two projects going on at the same time and delays in one pushed back the other. City design and construction director Eugene Lee said the first contract is with Paul's Electrical Service Inc. to install lighting for the play courts, and the second is with Road Builders Corp. to reconstruct the play courts and provide landscaping.

Lee said the plan was to have the electrical work done, but it got delayed due to permitting issues. When he saw the second contract called for reconfiguring the court layouts, he decided to coordinate the two projects. He said the approach had some good points: It avoids any of the electrical work from having to be redone, and it theoretically reduces the amount of time that the courts would be closed. Unfortunately, Lee said, the weather and the contractors' schedules caused some delays.

He said the final play court and fencing work is expected to be completed by late March, if the weather allows. He said it would take another 90-day maintenance period to complete the landscaping work. He said it hasn't been determined whether the courts can be opened before that's done.

Q. Why is the city not properly maintaining the soccer fields at the Waipi'o Soccer Complex? The weeds have become widespread, water stands on some fields and the ground needs aeration.

A. City parks director Lester Chang said he's aware of concerns at the soccer fields. "The weeds are a challenge," he said. The city maintains the big park with existing staff, he said, and crews strive to balance competing factors. They don't want to use too many strong chemicals to kill the weeds because people play on the fields. They won't want to close the fields for chemical treatment because the park is popular.

Reach the Bureaucracy Buster by mail, e-mail or phone: