Rental fee too much for board
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer
The Kuli'ou'ou/ Kalani Iki Neighborhood Board is looking for a new place to hold its monthly community meetings, saying it can't afford to comply with rules requiring that handicapped-accessible restrooms be made available to all who rent meeting rooms after hours at the 'Aina Haina Public Library.
New emphasis on efforts to comply with the federal Americans With Disabilities Act in 'Aina Haina means the library must pay an employee overtime to allow access to a handicapped-accessible restroom. That means the board will have to pay $100 per month more than it had been paying to rent a meeting room at the library, its home for nearly 20 years.
The rental fee for the Kuli'ou'ou board would go from $20 a month to $120 or more depending on the number of hours the staffer is required to stay. The board has an operating budget of about $1,500 a year to spend on copies and rental fees, said Robert Chuck, chairman of the community board.
The change at 'Aina Haina is part of a policy that the library system has been putting into effect since late 2001, said Lynn Masumoto, administrator for the public libraries branch. For an unknown reason, 'Aina Haina was late in enforcing the new fee structure, Masumoto said.
Any group renting the meeting room must pay the rental fee and the hourly rate of the staffer who volunteers to stay and keep the library's restrooms available, she said.
"We're trying to develop procedures so organizations can still use the space and we can meet the regulations," Masumoto said.
The tiny air-conditioned meeting room that has been home to the Kuli'ou'ou/ Kalani Iki Neighborhood Board is adjacent to the library proper, and connected by a door that typically has been closed and locked during board meetings. People entered and left the meeting room via a separate door to the outside.
The meeting room has no restrooms, and people attending meetings tended to use a nearby McDonald's restroom, board members said.
"We've been meeting here for 20 years and never had access to the restroom," said Chuck.
"As chairman, I prefer to continue meeting here," Chuck said. "We should pay each time and see where we are after that. The rest of the board is comfortable there and it's convenient for the community and there is a lot of parking."
The board has discussed where it should meet at the past two meetings and will discuss it again at its meeting at 7 p.m. June 3, Chuck said.
The Kuli'ou'ou neighborhood board is the only O'ahu board affected by this policy, said Carol Costa, city spokeswoman.
The board has looked into other sites, including the 'Aina Haina Elementary School cafeteria, which would require a $14-per-hour fee and doesn't have restrooms available, and the Kalani High School cafeteria, which charges a flat fee of about $100.
"We're still looking for a place," Chuck said.
Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.
