Q. You wrote last year that there was a plan to put up signs at the city's Waipi'o Soccer Complex to tell you what field you are playing on. The city built this great park but doesn't have basic signs telling you field numbers. So, what happened?

A. City Parks and Recreation Director Lester Chang tells us the park signs along the main roadway were just installed last month. "These signs will direct people into the general area of the field they are looking for," he said.

But he's less certain about whether the city should put up more signs for individual fields. "We want to see if the signs along the main street do the job as we are trying to keep the number of signs around the playing areas down to a minimum," he said.

Q. Also, at the Waipi'o Soccer Complex, what's the story on the new bathrooms? Are they really coming or is it just an urban legend? I still see parents running their minivans taxi-style so kids can go to the bathroom while still playing in their games. Could you tell me the schedule for the bathrooms?

A. You know the old expression about making a federal case out of something? Well, it turns out this really is a federal case and that's what's taking so long.

That's because a portion of the Waipi'o Soccer Complex sits on land leased from the Navy that has a "blast zone" designation, according to city Design and Construction Director Eugene Lee.

Lee said his understanding is that the park is built on part of a military buffer zone. "As I understand it, the blast zone is an area that the Navy has determined would be affected if there should be an explosion at its loading operations at Pearl Harbor," he said.

That means that any above-ground structures built in the blast zone must "meet certain extraordinary requirements imposed by the Navy." Lee said the city was exploring the possibility that the Navy might redefine the zone or relax its construction requirements but that didn't happen, so the city's consultant is proceeding with a design, in consultation with the Navy's blast zone specialists.

"At this stage, it's not clear whether the $1.55 million provided in the fiscal year 2007 capital budget will be sufficient to build two comfort stations or just one," Lee said. The city will be putting a project out to bid by the end of this year but Lee said he can't hazard a guess as to when actual construction will begin.

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