Question: I was trying to find out about reserving Paki Hale from the city. Turns out that it is not available Saturdays or Sundays because of staffing problems. The city put a lot of money into renovations, and it’s a great venue, so this lack of public access is troubling. It’s hard to believe that the city cannot work out a solution to this problem. Surely they don’t have to have a staff member on hand to rent it out — a deposit and a key pickup should suffice. What’s going on?

Answer: The city confirmed that a staffing shortage limits availability of the stately building at 3840 Paki Ave. It is looking to hire additional workers to expand public access to the facility but has no intention of permitting community groups to use it without supervision. Here’s the full statement from Michele Nekota, director of the city Department of Parks and Recreation:

“The Paki Hale facility located within Kapiolani Regional Park is available to nonprofit organizations for meetings and/or workshops, Monday through Friday (except holidays) during regular business hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; and Monday through Thursday evenings (except holidays) pending staff availability. The facility is not available Friday evenings, weekends and holidays. The current availability is due to insufficient staffing to cover weekends, nights and holidays. We are actively recruiting for qualified, responsible individuals to hire for facility coverage.

“The department’s protocol is to have paid park staff scheduled to open, monitor and secure any park facility whenever a permitted nonprofit group is authorized to use a park facility. Facility keys are not issued to anyone who is not a park employee.”

As you mentioned, taxpayers funded a lengthy, expensive renovation of the three-story, 1900s-era home at the base of Diamond Head a few years ago. Unanticipated water, mold and termite damage prolonged the project beyond the relatively minor repairs first envisioned and left some neighborhood folks complaining at the time that the building was out of commission as a public meeting space for too long. The renovations ended up taking about four years and costing $361,807, according to news reports in early 2007, as the work wrapped up.

For more information about use of Oahu park facilities, see 808ne.ws/ 1Noam1u. To check availability of Paki Hale specifically, call 768-4623.

Q: Could guppies be a solution to the dengue fever outbreak?

A: Yes, guppies and other mosquito-eating fish can help deter the spread of dengue fever, which has infected 230 people on the Big Island as of Thursday, according to the state Department of Health. They are considered one tool in an outbreak that demands many, and must be deployed carefully.

Dengue-carrying mosquitoes breed in standing water, so the preferred approach is to clear out the standing water altogether. When that is not possible, the Health Department says that mosquito-eating fish such as guppies may be placed in “unused swimming pools, constructed fish ponds with no outlet to the environment, or other large containers that cannot be removed or emptied of standing water” and which are not chlorinated.

Those “large containers” can include rainwater catchment tanks that are a source of drinking water, irrigation and other uses in some Hawaii island homes. The addition of mosquito-eating fish is an option for water catchment tanks that cannot be drained or covered adequately and are not chemically treated, according to the Health Department. The guppies will eat mosquito egg larvae (wigglers) and possibly the pupa stages.

There are downsides: “Fish are live organisms and therefore will discharge waste, reproduce and die, at rates dependent on the food and oxygen supply. Any dead fish must be removed and disposed of, as the remains and waste discharges will adversely affect the taste and potability of the water.”

Guppies placed in rainwater catchment tanks, ornamental ponds and elsewhere should never be released into the environment, the Health Department emphasized. Doing so would endanger Hawaii’s rare native species and aquatic habitats.

For more information, see 808ne.ws/1P9oHV3.

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.