2006-05-18 Cost of Government Commission Minutes

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6. PRESENTATION AND QUESTION /ANSWER SESSION BY THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS Mr. Joseph introduced Jiro Sumada, from the Department of Public Works ( "DPW ") Mr. Sumada said that he is the deputy director for the DPW, which has about a $34 million budget and employees about 300 people. The DPW takes care of building permits and the maintenance of County facilities and buildings. It has several divisions. The Automotive Division takes care of County vehicles, except those of the Police and Fire Departments. It also assists other divisions, such as Solid Waste, in major equipment repairs such as the refuse trailers, which need major overhauls to keep them running. The Highways Maintenance Division maintains about 1,000 miles of County roads, compared to State Highways, which maintains 200 -300 miles of road. It also has flood control facilities around the island for emergencies. The Traffic Division deals with traffic signs and markings. The employees stripe the roads, make the signs, and install the signals at intersections. They also take care of the intersections and signals that belong to State Highways, which reimburses the County for this. The Engineering Division takes care of regulatory inspections and issues like grading and grubbing permits. It assists in the review and inspection of the construction of new subdivisions that are proposed or built and the roadways that are dedicated to the County. The Administration Division deals mainly with personnel issues, payroll, hiring, etc. It also deals with the administration of contracts. Any maintenance, repair, or construction contracts, as well as other contracts that go through other departments such as Solid Waste or Wastewater, or for a new police or fire station, all get processed by the DPW. Mr. Sumada provided the commissioners with a handout, and the commissioners took a break to read the handout. (A break to read the handout was taken from 11:14 to 11:21 a.m.) Mr. Joseph asked if there were any questions. Ms. Stremski brought up the narrow bridge that is at the end of Kilauea Avenue, near Haihai Street. She asked if that was a County road, and Mr. Sumada said yes. She asked whether any study was being done about widening that area, as the traffic, both incoming and outgoing, was very bad. Mr. Sumada said he is familiar with that area, but they have no plans right now to replace that bridge. The island has 126 bridges, and the County is focusing its attention on those that are structurally limited as to the weight they can hold, as this prevents fire trucks from crossing. Ms. Stremski asked if it could be considered to make that area one -way, which would alleviate some of the problem, and Mr. Sumada said sure. 10