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It’s a short week, but there’s always something interesting going on at Honolulu Hale.

Civil Beat is reporting from the inside.

Rail Appeals Opened to Public

5:35 p.m.
The public will get to know what’s said during the rail contract appeal process starting later this month. Senior Hearings Officer David Karlen ruled this afternoon that the hearings will be mostly open — except when confidential information is being discussed — despite objections from Ansaldo, the company that the city said should get the Design-Build-Operate-Maintain contract.

Inside Honolulu filed this morning asking to be allowed to attend the hearings, saying the hearings process “is deserving of public scrutiny principally because it involves public agencies who are proposing to spend large amounts of public funds on a major public infrastructure project.”

That decision was among the handful of rulings handed down today. State Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs spokeswoman Cathy Yasuda shared the following rulings via email:

• The 45-day rule applies – deadline for OAH decision should be Aug. 15 (but David will verify since Bombardier raised questions)
• Sumitomo and Bombardier’s protests will be heard separately since their arguments are significantly different
• Summary judgment motions for Bombardier will be heard on July 19 at 9:00 a.m.
• Summary judgment motions for Sumitomo will be heard on July 20 at 9:00 a.m.
• Evidentiary hearings for Bombardier will begin on July 21 at 8:00 a.m.
• Evidentiary hearings for Sumitomo will begin on July 25 at 9:00 a.m.

Carlisle’s Public Sked

2:57 p.m.
If you want to catch a glimpse of Mayor Peter Carlisle in the next seven days, here are your best chances:

Saturday, July 9th

• 12:30 pm—Mayor Carlisle delivers remarks at the 10th Annual Korean Festival. Kapiolani Park Bandstand.
• 6:00 pm—Mayor Carlisle delivers remarks at the Filipino Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii 57th Anniversary and Installation Banquet. Hilton Hawaiian Village, Tapa Ballroom.

Sunday, July 10th

• 7:45 am—Mayor Carlisle addresses the Hawaii Bicycling League and leads Zachary Manago’s Ride in Paradise to promote safety awareness. From the State Capitol to the Waikiki Police Station.

Monday, July 11th

• 6:30 am—Mayor Carlisle attends a blessing ceremony for the beginning of Hawaii Five-O’s second season production. Eye Productions Inc. sound stage (former Honolulu Advertiser building).

Tuesday, July 12th

• No public events.

Wednesday, July 13th

• 10:00 am—Mayor Carlisle delivers remarks at a blessing ceremony for the Villages of Moae Ku housing development. Behind the Ewa Elementary School and Immaculate Conception Church.

Thursday, July 14th

• No public events.

Friday, July 15th

• No public events.

Ethics Panel To Decide on Violations Tuesday

12:41 p.m.
Two high-ranking city officials and two other employees investigated for possible ethics violations could get answers Tuesday when the Honolulu Ethics Commission holds its monthly meeting.

The provided to Inside Honolulu includes the following action items:

• Financial or business conflict of interest and failure to disclose conflict of interest by a city officer¹
• Financial or business conflict of interest by a city officer
• Acceptance of a gift or acceptance of compensation from an outside source for doing city work, and misusing city position and city funds by a city employee
• Misuse of city resources for personal benefit by a city employee

The agenda doesn’t name names or provide any other details. And because all four items fall under the executive session header, the discussion and decision-making might well happen behind closed doors.

Smoke on the (Waste) Water

10:58 a.m.
Windward residents: Don’t get paranoid if your pipes are smoking next week.

The city’s Department of Environmental Services it’ll be conducting smoke testing on a portion of the wastewater collection system in Heeia between Tuesday and Friday of next week. Here’s how it works:

ENV crews pump smoke into sewer pipes, examine whether smoke escapes and record its location. The smoke used is non-toxic, harmless and minimal odor. The smoke is neither a fire hazard nor health hazard to humans or pets.

Tests locate broken pipes, illegal connections, open cleanouts and other paths for runoff to enter the sewer system. Runoff from heavy rain can overwhelm and surcharge the sewer system and treatment plants, causing sanitary sewer overflows.

Three Oahu Projects in Environmental Notice

10:39 a.m.
The semi-monthly Environmental Notice is out, and it contains three environmental reviews for Oahu projects:

• for Hilton Hawaiian Village‘s 10-year master plan, which includes construction of two new time-share towers, a 350-foot, 300-unit tower to be built over the existing bus loading area, and a 260-foot, 255-unit tower as part of the redevelopment of Rainbow Bazaar.
• for the Kalaeloa Energy Corridor in Ewa.
• for a 70-megawatt wind farm on Kamehameha Schools Kawailoa Plantation lands.

All links are PDFs, and big ones at that. You can also get a taste by reading , which is put out by the state’s Office of Environmental Quality Control.

County Governments Gather in Honolulu

Representatives of Honolulu, Kauai, Maui and Hawaii Counties will get together this morning at Honolulu Hale for the monthly meeting of the Hawaii State Association of Counties.

HSAC saw its lobbying at the Hawaii Legislature bear fruits earlier this week when a bill protecting firefighters and lifeguards from assault was signed into law. Those public servants are employees of the respective counties, not the state.

Stanley Chang is Honolulu’s HSAC representative.

General Plan Process Under Way

The first in a long line of meetings was held last night. Read Civil Beat‘s coverage here.

Read Previous Editions of Inside Honolulu

July 7: T-Minus One Hour to General Plan Meeting; Rail Contractor Protest Closed To Public; What to Read This Morning.

July 6: Oh Godbey, New City Lawyer in the House; Derailed: Tom Berg Q&A; Steinberger Slams ‘Anti-Synagro’ Resolution; Ag Land Property Tax Bill Heads Back to Committee; New Chair, New Seats; Council Gathers Early to Fete Honorees; Martin, Anderson Ink Op-Ed.

July 5: New State Law Protects County Firefighters, Lifeguards; Federal Highways Rep: City and State Need to Play Nice; Leeward Politicians Push for Bikeway; State Officials in the Hale for Transportation; Ernie Martin’s First Agenda as Chair; No Crime Stats for HPD.

July 1: City Parade to Cost $20K; Furloughs Are Over, Pay Is Up; No Laie Decision At Next Council Meeting; Housing Office Open For Business; HART Kicks Off New Era for Honolulu Rail; Happy New Year!; Martin Tabs Kobayashi as Budget Chair.