When bids for the Lono Kona sewer project came in earlier this year, the county tossed them out, hoping for a better deal. The opposite happened when the new set of bids was opened Thursday — the bids came in even higher.
Four companies responded to the first bid request in January, with bids ranging from $7.7 million to $10.4 million. Two companies — Nan Inc. and Jas. W. Glover Ltd. — responded to the latest request, with bids of $8.5 million and $9.6 million, respectively. Isemoto Contracting Co. Ltd., the apparent low bidder the first go-round, didn’t submit a bid the second time.
The county had anticipated bids to be around $5 million to $6 million.
A $4 million U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service Grant was to fund the bulk of the program. The County Council previously approved authorizing a $2.4 million general obligation bond, which will be repaid by property owners hooking up to the system.
In the meantime, the County Council on Wednesday added $4 million to the budget by approving county money to make up the difference. Bill 124, passed unanimously on first reading, relies on general obligation bonds and money from the capital improvement fund for financing. The bill faces one more reading from the council.
“Hopefully, the bids came back lower,” said Kona Councilman Dru Kanuha on Wednesday. “We do not want to lose those grants.”
Environmental Management Director Bill Kucharski said Thursday the county had no choice but to reject the first bids because there wasn’t enough money in the budget to cover them.
“We didn’t have the funds encumbered to do it,” he said.
Kucharski said the county can’t seek other grants or low-interest loans, such as from the state revolving fund, because of the money coming from the federal government.
But Kona resident and former blogger Aaron Stene, who doesn’t live in the subdivision but closely follows government contracts, wasn’t happy about the situation.
“As it stands now, the project’s future is in a much precarious position than where it was in January,” Stene said in a letter Friday to Kucharski. “The residents of Lono Kona subdivision, and the taxpayers of the county, deserve better.”
The project will be built mauka of Kuakini Highway in an area residents have dubbed “Hamburger Hill.” The subdivision dates back to 1962.
Several landowners within Lono Kona received violation notices from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for their continued use of large-capacity cesspools. The project area is a higher-density urbanized area where lot sizes generally do not have sufficient area for on-site disposal systems that require leach fields, according to county consultants.
The EPA banned large-capacity cesspools in 1999 and mandated their closure by 2005.
At a 2015 public hearing, residents had mixed reactions about the necessity and cost of the project. But few had outright opposition. The residents voted to tax themselves to pay for the project.
The design and bid process is expected to take at least a year.
Officials in November had estimated completion by July 2019. It’s now set to be complete by December of that year.
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.
“The county had anticipated bids to be around $5 million to $6 million”
Again, who is doing the estimating for the County? If this happened in the private sector the estimator would be fired! Being off 30-40%, millions of dollars, is unheard of.
Who is doing the estimating, Willey Coyote’s ACME estimating Service?
This is simply the legal mafia in action folks. Time and time again when it comes to any project in Hawaii it always costs far more than estimated.
Remember when Mufi Hannemann claimed that the Disneyland ride in Honolulu would NOT cost over 2.7 Billion? It’s now in the range of $10 Billion (and not over yet). Then, he is later handed the cushy job as
head of the Tourism Authority, and now Mufi has no problem with all the Island’s in Hawaii tourism taxes contributing to the union joy ride on Oahu. Hmm.
The Legal Mafia in action.
Another example is we Now have racist Kahele robbing taxpayers and giving it to his fellow racists and partners in crime.
To compare Wile E. Coyote to a stupid demo rat is insulting coyotes. None, not even Wile E. Is that stupid.
Harry Kim and his staff of losers at it again. Cancel contracts and pay more.
Demo rats elect dumbasses that know nothing other than over tax and over spend. One would think that the dumbasses that elect these dim wits would realize just how stupid they all truly are. How can anyone deny the demo rats stuck on stupid agenda is detremential to all residents and taxpayers, including the dumbasses that voted for these dumbasses.
Hey shit for brains.
You do realize you have shit for brains.
Got it? Shit for brains?
Ok shit for brains.
Hilo,
You know you and your buddies could attack ideas right?
Persuade me that you aren’t all idiots?
Burned out:
You know, you and your buddies could post something other than the rehashed cut and paste right wing lunacy such as the same dribble you and people like shit for brains Steve Dearing post daily.
Persuade me that you have a functioning brain and that you are something other than a Russian troll bot paid to post your cut and paste memes – and further, that you can utter a real thought that you came up with on your own.
Look at the budget, see that almost 70% goes to wages, retirements and other perks like 40% increases in salaries. The government piggy is outgrowing the ability of the residents to sustain it. The residents get a whole 2% to provide for the plethora of needed services and 4% to parks and rec.
Seems to me bankruptcy is looming.
Demo rats are in fact bankrupting families and businesses to sustain the demo rats unstainable agenda.
Something is obviously very wrong. It was over-budget when it initially went out. So they modified the plans and it now costs more. Doesn’t make sense to now throw more money at it!