COM 0341.010 1996-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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u8 lb' 87 1:'. aJ $ 808 929 8919 AECOS Leh of HI. ppl AECOS LABORATORY OF HAWAII Frame 10 Center • 75-5586 Ololi Rd. Suite 207 . Itailua-Kona, HI 96740 Telephone (8081 3 29-84 1 1 • Fax (808) 329-6343 f)6/l5/97 Mr. lohn Aay County Councilmen- Kohala 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, HI %720 Sl1B1ECT: HAWAU C,OIIN'IY CONTRACT SUSPENSION AND IT'S IMPACT ON THIS SMALL BUSINESS. Aloha Councilman Ray. I want to describe to rho County of Hnuaii the impact oC the decision ro immediately suspend convacu with private sector businesee has had on my pattiwlar business. AECOS Iainratory of Hawaii began in a small shed in Holualoa in 1991. The business has grown steadily end in 1996 a stau of Ute art analytical chemistry facility was established in dowvloun Kailua-Kona. The swpe of the work is u CoUowc: wastewater compliance ksting requirod for our resort dec(inalio¢s es well es small wastewaer trwtaseN plmts such as those along Alii Drive, drinking water wmpUance les¢ng for small w.rrv purveyors and oearshorc and odsltore marine pollulion monitoring. All three of these acnr,uts are mandated by Stare of HewaU Thpar~eat of Health aM arc under the Fedcrel umbrella of Ne Emmoamemal Proration Agency. Private contracts iwolve dye testing, Uopdwaur compliance design plans, Private baseline nearshore monitoring, sm•emI school and student projects tmrolving eavironmemal monitoring and marine education, catchment tank surveitlaace, hotel water features and grneral information distribution to the public corarndng water quality and envLoanrental issues of diverse sublect5 are among our tuks. We submitted low bid Cor the NPDES permit mmimring for the County of Hawai in 1995.The RFP was publicizsd statewide. Tlda pemdt allows Uie wunry b depose of the !reeled a®utnt from tlu'ee ~ wastewater ueamtrnt plants (Hilo, Kuhtimeno and Papaikou7 into the ocean This permit requires monthly ,y -apes Doan menimriag aCshnre of the wastewalu treamrent pW W and alw an erztensive [ozicity testing i ~ :o(the waalewereT e9lrmat. We signed this three year wntract in good (aitl4 compUed ui[h the Gooneys T - _~instrrance requirements aM purchased regtrircd EPA eapeosive wmputcr softwvre all m put the County -'-into complimce with EPA.This is a large oontrem far us wmprising 35-00%of our monthly gross _ C1 income. r__ Suddenty on 05/29/97 wt rcoeive vtia facsimile the message that om mnoact has beau suspended. G~ Apparently our services stem to have been per[orroed custornarily and histonwlly by civil service I .y L, - cmpkry~ep somewhere. Not on the Big Island.Thm aMr two woks of phone rolls with variow wrrlliming ( i ~ opinions from a generous sprialdng of County employees we tearer that we are not even Boing to be -7 V Q compensated for the work eubmitlM and inwiced in early May bJore the contract suspenmon. U To be treated in such a utannu is uawmprthWSible end outrageous. We cwrenUy are not sure of the long C7J term impact this suspension will have nn this burinpa. The immediate impaq was to lay off tun experienced and educated personnel that provide the bulk of the expertise needed for this DrojafThc financial impact is severe rnough; howwer, the pychological impact is overwhelming. There were do personal phone rolls from the County personnel expressing anything, much less conwm over rtes actions that had ocemred. The lines oCeommuniwfion seemed to be blocked among the County people as well. AECOS LABORATORY OF HAWAII Frame 10 Center • 75.5586 Ololi Rd. Suite 207 • I<ailua-Kona, HI 96740 Telephone (808) 329-8411 • Fax (808) 329-6343 This, was to uc, the more awry of events. Where U the Itadershlp we have elocled and appointed1 And I W where is the State end thew concem7 Leadership as Depumunt Chiefs or COry0181e Cowteel could have at Isi!R, i~J. lean made some rolls of reaanuance or rympathy or something. There were only a taw more that aoo 1 r, C cootracta Jos dump all these aoatrae[ Iaberees and businesses wilhwt a word oFCOacern7 ~ ' 'vr''... L G: The County aiU soon be out oCwmplianw with Ure permits being that no one in the County can pro.tide C. TOI rhea wrvi~ and ac soon as the Stau aM the Federal gowernmenk arc rwafi W of aonwmpliancc, Tl, severe! a~eaU may happen. Om being a hdty fine rosy M: imposed at a daily nu upon the County' and FLE?. I i Br,Q~, r)(~i i j - 7 I~:J J We sxoad a probable withdrawal of the permits authorizing the disPOCa! of the tBlucnt. - ~ -