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Earth Day occurs every year on April 22^nd. However, you can participate in helping the environment year-round by remembering to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Did you know you can recycle your cans and bottles right here in our building? In case you missed it, you can read all about our recycling program in a previous blog: Happy Earth Day!

Here are Earth Day events happening in and around our community published by the City and County of Honolulu.

CELEBRATE EARTH MONTH Throughout the month of April, residents can visit www.maukatomakaiexpo.com for activities, educational materials, and to view upcoming events. Kama’aina can also complete a scavenger hunt while visitng the Waikīkī Aquarium to receive a free swag bag full of educational goodies, limited to one per household while supplies last.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Join us April 9th at the Waikiki Aquarium Come view as volunteers create a chalk mural and banner! Guests will also have the opportunity to “stop, drop and chalk” to create their own drawings on the sidewalks within the aquarium. April 23rd with FREE admission to the Waikiki Aquarium for first 100 kama’aina. Enjoy educational activities from a number of local organizations and earn a free native plant (one per household, while supplies last). Get into the Earth Day spirit on April 22nd with the Waikīkī Aquarium! Contribute to ocean conservation by removing litter along the Waikīkī coastline! Register by signing up today!  https://forms.gle/ZEkdPHd8YFWAqnhv6 April 23rd at the Waikiki Aquarium Free workshop with hands-on instruction on how to manage stormwater sustainability at home.  Full registration details can be found at https://bit.ly/GSIWorkshop22

Earth Month Volunteer Opportunities- Click here for details Congratulations to those that participated in this years competition!  Tune in on April 20th to view the awards ceremony on cable channel 49 or on demand at olelo.org/49 Take the pledge and join over 300 residents who are helping to protect our local waters!

Every month, the Community Policing Team publishes a newsletter containing useful and important information of events happening in Waikiki. Check out this month’s edition here:

https://oahusurf2.com/wpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/March-2022-Newsletter.pdf

Get involved and help make our community and safer and cleaner place to live.

HPD’s District 6 Community Policing Team (CPT) strives to be the liaison between the general public and patrol officers. According to their web page, “CPT uses the philosophy that promotes organizational strategies that support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime.”

To keep up with the latest policing events happening in our neighborhood, check out their web page:

District 6 – Waikiki

Every month, CPT publishes a newsletter containing useful and important information. Check out this month’s edition here:

https://oahusurf2.com/wpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/February-2022-Newsletter-with-Flyers.pdf

Get involved and help make our community and safer place to live.

The surge in costs resulting from the pandemic impacted our building’s spalling repairs and painting project. Combined with the current Fire Safety ordinance, these large expenses have put a financial strain on budget projections. This is why your Board of Directors is in favor of amendments to Bill 37, currently pending in the City Council. The ordinance being proposed by Bill 37 requires high-rise buildings to install fire sprinkler systems or pass a Life Safety Evaluation (LSE). The amendments will provide some relief to associations that are facing financial challenges. Here is an article published in Building Management Hawaii that goes into detail about amending the Fire Safety ordinance:

https://oahusurf2.com/wpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/2021-12-Bld-Mgn-mag-FSE-Jane-Sugnura.pdf

The trash chute is now open again!  It was closed due to misuse. To avoid a permanent closure and/or a fine, use the trash chute in a proper manner.  Remind neighbors if you witness them breaking any of the following rules:

• NO BOXES.  No pizza boxes, no shoe boxes, no Amazon boxes. Take them down to the dumpster and break all boxes down flat. Put Styrofoam peanuts and packing material in a bag and dispose of in the dumpster. We don’t get trash service on Sunday mornings, so especially on weekends, PLEASE BREAK DOWN YOUR BOXES FLAT AND CARRY IT DOWN TO THE DUMPSTER.

• NO LOOSE ITEMS.  BAG ALL TRASH.  Don’t like roaches and rats? Do not dump trash down the chute without a bag. Any infestation will cause an immediate closure for cleaning and fumigation.

• NO FULL 13 GALLON KITCHEN BAGS.  If you have to shove it through the door, IT WILL NOT GO ALL THE WAY DOWN. The chute will be stopped up, another reason for roaches and rodents. If it happens, the chute will be closed immediately and perhaps permanently.

• NO BAGS OF DOG POOP AND KITTY LITTER.  To dispose of these items, take them directly down to the dumpster.

• NO LEAKY BAGS.  Is your bag dripping? DOUBLE BAG IT! An extra bag is cheaper than a fine. After this building remodel, hallways will be maintained for cleanliness. Make sure that all bags are securely sealed.

• FOR LARGE ITEMS, GO ONLINE TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT.  If your trash is large like pieces of furniture or things that won’t crush (metal, wood, etc.), go to Opala.org to schedule a bulky item pick up.

Mahalo for your cooperation!

When you live in a condominium, you’re bound to come within 6 feet of other residents in the lobby, elevator, and other common areas. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, we all must wear masks when outside (at least for the next 100 days, President Biden’s first executive order). There are people carrying the coronavirus that won’t know it until they get tested and are notified with a positive test result. Once they do, they are advised to self-quarantine for 14 days and notify people they’ve been in close contact with. The Department of Health will notify the places they’ve visited as part of their contact tracing procedure. Strangers who have had close contact with the infected person may never get notified. However, thanks to technology, there’s a solution.

AlohaSafe is a mobile app for iPhone or Android that will notify you if you were in close proximity to someone who reported being tested positive for COVID-19. It uses your mobile phone’s low-energy Bluetooth running in the background to detect your proximity to others and doesn’t share any of your personal information. The AlohaSafe Alert app is the official app of the Department of Health and is based on Google/Apple’s Exposure Network (GAEN). To download the app, go to https://alohasafealert.org or search for “AlohaSafe” in the App Store or Play Store.

For exposure notification to work effectively, everyone must use the app. Therefore, let’s spread the word and not the virus.

In an earlier blog, we mentioned various DIY treatments to rid an apartment of ants and roaches. If the “pesty” problem still persists after trying those techniques, we recommended hiring a professional licensed exterminator.

Well, this year we’ve made it convenient for our residents to have a professional treat your bathrooms and kitchen, if needed. For the special price of $20 per treatment, you can signup to have the exterminator service your apartment on a 2nd Tuesday of the month. The exterminator will be on premises from 9 AM to 12 PM.  Simply sign up for service using the signup sheet in the lobby, or text the RM your unit number and the month you would like service.

For the most effective treatment, please empty your kitchen and bathroom cabinets prior to the service time, so that they can be treated as well. Payment (cash or check) will be collected when they service your unit. If paying by check, make it payable to “Able Pest Management LLC”.  Therefore, please be home during the service time if you signed up for treatment.

Treatment Schedule for 2021 (9 AM to Noon):  January 12, February 9, March 9, April 13, May 11, June 8, July 13, August 10, September 14, October 12, November 9, and December 14.

 

Nobody likes unwanted guests. No, we don’t mean people at your party that weren’t invited, drank too much, and won’t leave. We’re talking about ants and roaches. They are nasty, relentless, and can carry germs. If you have them in your kitchen or bathroom, here are ways you can get rid of them and prevent them from coming back.

Clean Your Apartment

• Properly seal all non-refrigerated foods and snacks.
• Don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink.
• Clean up crumbs and sticky residue from spilled drinks.
• Keep your counters and range top free from grease build-up by using a lemon or vinegar cleaning solution
• Use a kitchen trash can with a lid and take out the garbage regularly.
• Don’t leave water and food out for service animals overnight.
• Wipe sinks before going to bed.
• Fix any leaky faucets.

Setup Baits and/or Traps

• Use gel-based bait because without water, roaches will naturally seek moisture for survival.
• You can make your own bait by mixing equal parts of cocoa power, flour, and boric acid. If you want a safer concoction, then mix equal parts of sugar and baking soda, but it’ll take longer to kill them.
• Use sticky traps if you don’t mind dealing with the disposal of live roaches. You can also make your own trap by placing sliced potato in a jar and lining the inside walls of the jar with petroleum jelly.
• Be sure to keep baits away from where service animals and young children can reach them.
• Check and replace your baits and traps every couple of weeks.

Deter Entry

• Get some insecticide that keeps working for months after application and spray areas where pests can enter your unit. For a safer solution, you can spray lemon juice, cinnamon oil, or peppermint oil at entry points.
• Seal any cracks in floor baseboards, ceiling lights, windows, and around wall plates.
• Roaches have been known to emerge from shower or sink drains, so cover them up after use or simply get drain strainers.

In conclusion, removing sources of food and water by keeping your apartment clean is the best way to deter ants and roaches. Some people have had some success using an ultrasonic pest repeller, but it must be EPA approved as some people and service animals may be sensitive to the sound it emits.

Of course, if all else fails, hire a licensed professional. Your Resident Manager can recommend a few since the building hires exterminators for its common areas on a regular basis.

Have any other tips for residents? Submit them in the comment section below.

Barking is the way dogs communicate their thoughts, feelings, and needs. Dogs may bark for a variety of reasons such as to notify you of potential danger, to fend off trespassers, to let you know he wants attention (e.g. exercise, food, water, injured, etc.), or just to join other dogs barking nearby.

Regardless the reason, it’s against City & County of Honolulu law for a dog to bark constantly for 10 minutes, or unprovoked for 30 minutes on and off. If the noise disturbs you, you can contact the Hawaiian Humane Society at 356-2250. The Humane Society helps to resolve complaints by working with pet owners on how to remedy the situation.

If the barking dog happens to live with your next door neighbor, the Mediation Center of the Pacific can help. Neighbor-to-neighbor disputes can often be resolved to ensure the complaint is openly received and that the pet owner does not become defensive. Call 521-6767 for mediation support.

Quiet neighborhoods are important to everyone, but so is the wellness of dogs that live among us. By informing the Humane Society or police of a constant barking dog, you could potentially be rescuing the dog from abuse.

Governor Ige has recently announced that the Safer At Home order is now the Act With Care order.  Although many medium-risk businesses are now re-opening, it is still important to practice social distancing and to wear a face covering when near other people not in your household.  Please be respectful of others when in common areas especially in the stairwells, lobby, and elevators.

The pool on the rooftop will remain closed until Honolulu C&C public pools are open or as advised by our management company.  When it is re-opened, there will be signs reminding residents to shower before entering the pool and prohibiting large gatherings.

Due to more residents staying home and satisfying their shopping needs through online ordering, we have installed more parcel lockers.  The new lockers are located on the opposite side of the existing lockers in the lower parking garage.

Our spalling and painting project will be underway soon.  We will post the schedule here when we have further information from our Project Manager.  Now would be a good time to start thinking about what you want to keep or toss that is on your lanai.

Lastly, we understand that some of us may be experiencing hardships during this pandemic.  If you need any type of assistance during these trying times, don’t hesitate to email or call our Management Executive at Hawaiiana Management.

Stay strong mentally, physically, and spiritually.  Aloha!