Q: It was my understanding that dogs can be off leash at the beach as long as they are swimming and actively playing in the water. Is this true?

A: I’m sorry, but this is not true. Maui County Code requires that dogs on property other than the owner’s must be secured on a leash of not more than 10 feet in length. This includes all beaches and parks in Maui County, except leash-free dog parks.

To report a leash law violation, please call the Maui Humane Society at 877-3680, ext. 211. You can also document the violation if you have a cellphone or other camera handy. Maui County regulations are intended to ensure the humane treatment of Maui’s pets and the safety of our community, and restraint regulations, such as leash laws, protect public safety, as well as your pet, from any number of dangers.

The county has three dog parks: Keopuolani Park in Kahului, Kilohana Park in Kihei and the Upcountry Dog Park at Mayor Eddie Tam Complex in Makawao.

For more information, please visit Maui Humane Society’s website at www.mauihumanesociety.org.

Q: Are there any updates on the Waiehu Golf Course and clubhouse? Any help you could provide would be appreciated.

Mahalo for your question, and I’m pleased to report many exciting things happening at our municipal golf course.

The Department of Parks and Recreation completed a $220,000 renovation this past year, which included refurbished restrooms and the conversion of 4.5 acres into state-of-the art grass at the Waiehu Golf Course.

The County of Maui’s course is the first in the state to plant Seastar Paspalum on its greens. Seastar is one of the top-rated paspalum grasses commercially available on the market today. The conversion marks the first major grassing renovation at the Waiehu course since 1971.

The department is currently in the process of redesigning the clubhouse and has spent well over a year analyzing future needs and community input, as well as preparing preliminary concepts. The final concept for the clubhouse plans to be done by the end of 2020.

In the meantime, the department is working on the replacement of a required grease interceptor and will be able to reopen the restaurant once construction is completed.

I do want to thank Golf Course Superintendent Todd Allen for doing a fabulous job overseeing these improvements that were completed in-house by the Waiehu Golf Course and Beautification staff. Our golf course staff have ambitions to design the clubhouse so it is capable of hosting tournaments and accommodating over 200 people. The only unfortunate issue is that Waiehu isn’t quite long enough in yardage for a PGA tournament, but it can be conditioned to be challenging enough for Junior PGA, Amateur, Maui Interscholastic League and collegiate events.

Many golfers have told me that they’ve been playing at the course their entire life and say this is the best greens and conditions they’ve ever seen at Waiehu. Our parks staff also found that the county’s course remains the most popular on Maui and recorded nearly 12,000 rounds of golf from July 1 to Sept. 30 — a more than 2,000-round increase over the same period last year.

Our county golf course has a very promising future and I encourage all our residents and visitors to play a round of golf there and thank the staff for doing an awesome job.

For more information on Waiehu Golf Course, please call 270-7400 or visit www.mauicounty.gov/Facilities/Facility/

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* Want to Ask the Mayor? Submit your Maui County related questions to Mayor Michael Victorino by email at askthemayor@mauicounty.gov, by phone at 270-7855 or by mail at 200 S. High St., ninth floor, Wailuku 96793. Questions submitted will be considered for inclusion in the “Ask the Mayor” column; to request a personal response to a concern, email mayors.office@mauicounty.gov.