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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0521.013 2002-2004 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS Response to Questions -Reviewing Bills 23~~n~(~3$6 fl~ 1.1 52 CAPITAL BUDGET ? County Building Renovations at 25 Aupuni Street op~.tQtiHtf and ~ ~''~"?'`,ll maintenance costs are already included in the Building Division's Budget. ? West/East Hawaii Drainage Improvements -this project was set up to address complaints as they occur. OPERATING BUDGET REVENUES Item #1. Increase in fees is due to the amount of permits issued along with the cost of construction. Item #6. Highway Maintenance Division: With no increase in funding, our Division will need to concentrate on our primary responsibilities throughout the island. We will do resurfacing only when the districts have achieved their primary responsibilities and resurfacing will be very minimal or not at all. We may have to go back to extensive patching, which is time-consuming. Another alternative may involve overtime, which would include working on Saturdays. Traffic Division• The back-uo plan is the status quo budget o We will not be able to be proactive in catching-up or keeping-up with our striping work orders. Striping work will fall behind, as well as other types of work; i.e., municipal parking lot maintenance work, other County agency's requests, ADA parking adjustments, etc. o We will not be able to build our Kona facility, to house our west-side Traffic Division crew. o We will not be able to add onto our Hilo facility, to increase warehouse space for our valuable traffic signal and street light equipment. o We will not be able to replace and get new equipment to meet our growing needs in Kona, and to address the concerns for public safety and the safety of our staff. o We will not be able to increase our administrative support staff; To address public concerns on the numerous parking violations and other nonmoving violations. To address traffic complaints and other roadway concerns. To maintain the Division's equipment, supply, and material inventories. o We will not be able to be proactive and install more underground (antique) street lights, or pedestrian embedded crosswalk lights. Comm. No. .7 2~3 Ref. To: C Ref. Uate ^ o We will have difficulties in addressing underground traffic signal or street light circuit problems immediately. We may need to take on larger contract projects to address the major problem areas and safety concerns, which will lead to more delays. Item #7. The preparation of our proposal, work to compile information, review and transfer it into a balanced budget worksheet involved a tremendous amount of time. Unfortunately, the timing may not coincide with the budget review. EXPENDITURES PUBLIC WORKS -BUILDING Item # 34. We plan to add a commercial plan reviewer for Kona, along with a plan reviewer for both the East and West Side (one for the East Side and one for the West Side). The responsibility of this position is to help out for both residential and commercial plan reviewers when help is required. On the very slow times this position will also double as a roaming building inspector handling both inspections and complaints. Positions were not added at this time due to the fact that we have unresolved issues and evaluations are on-going. How are we addressing the employee risk management issue? We can do only so much. When on inspections if they feel that they are tired, they are to pull on the side away from traffic and take a break, and if they need to rest, go ahead and rest. If complaints come in about a County Vehicle on the side with a person sleeping I will answer to that complaint. Item #35. Planning and Building felt that house numbering was a better function in Planning because it related to TMK, and house numbering could be easily assigned when new subdivisions were created. The transfer of this position to Planning left a hole in the Design/Maintenance Section of Building Division. Originally, house numbering was to be only 15% of the duties of the position (Engineering Drafting Tech. III). From the mid 1900's it was taking 100% of his/her time. For the Design/Maintenance Section to be productive/efficient we plan to request another position. Item #36. Building Code Amendments. It is presently with Corporation Counsel for their review of the legal matters. Corrections were made and a copy of the amendments was sent via a-mail to Legislative Auditors Office, with a note that "Building Energy Efficiency Standards" were not included, and it needed to be inserted. Once we receive the comments from Corporation Counsel we will submit it formally. Cause of the delay is lack of personnel. We hired a private consultant to work on the amendments. Item #37. The 8 vehicles are used for building, plumbing and electrical inspectors. The vehicles have high mileage (well over 100,000), and in recent months and years have been spending a lot of time in the shop for repairs. In the West Side sometimes as many as four (4) vehicles are in the shop at one time. This hinders the inspectors' ability to perform their work. Inspectors need the vehicles to do their inspections. They travel an average of 100 miles per day. EXPENDITURES PUBLIC WORKS -ENGINEERING Item 38 There are 3 vacant engineering positions and we are presently interviewing for all 3 vacant positions. The fourth is a Drafting Tech position. We had conducted interviews but the selected applicant declined. We will be calling for a new list. It is difficult to find qualified applicants with engineering background. Considering a downward reallocation and placing emphasis on engineering. However, this may reduce the pool of qualified applicants. Item 39 Had 2 existing unfunded positions, a CE IV and a CE III. The CE III replaced a former Right-of-way Agent position (both positions have the same salary rating). The positions were defunded to meet past budgetary constraints. Because we had increased the shortage differential for engineers in 12!03, we are now in better position to fill these vacancies and have now funded the positions. Item 40 It is already "built-in" and is part of our funding request to the State DOH for Federal Highway Funds as a percentage of project's budget. There is no "line item" for this but we must submit a report of time spent to get reimbursed. This is a standard practice for all of our Federal Highway projects. Reimbursements are deposited a revenue account (3401.51 ENG DIV SVC CHG TO PROJ) Item 41 In light of lawsuits that had arisen out of the 2000 flood, we see a need to promote/educate the public of the principles outlined in the Chapter 27, Section 27-3 of the Hawaii County Code which has its basis in the U.S. National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 and the U.S. Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973. EXPENDITURES PUBLIC WORKS -HIGHWAY FUND Item #42. Please show justification for all positions funded by fuel tax increase. TRAFFIC Civil Engineer V Will be part of the newly formed Traffic Engineering Design Team, and will be proactive in addressing traffic roadway issues and traffic safety concerns. This will include, but not be limited to the following. • Finding solutions to relieve the traffic congestions island wide. • Finding roadway solutions to manage growth and long-term visions. • Proactive compliance with municipal parking lots design adjustments and ADA parking compliance. • Addressing traffic and roadway problem areas and safety complaints. • Assisting other agencies, such as, Parks & Recreation with roadway and parking lot adjustments and redesigns. • Assist our Highway Maintenance Division with their resurfacing program striping. • Assist in the review of land development plans and studies; including traffic studies. • Provide design assistance and traffic data studies that will include traffic calming measures, traffic pattern (one-way, turning lanes, etc.) adjustments, parking analysis, sight distance analysis, and speed studies. • Will work on the design and construction contracts for traffic engineering projects. Electrical Engineer IV Will be part of the newly formed Traffic Engineering Design Team, and will be proactive in addressing traffic roadway issues and traffic safety concerns. This will include, but not be limited to the following. • Assist the Traffic Signals and Street Lights Operations and Maintenance Section with electrical design and redesign matters. • Proactive in the planning, design and operations of traffic signals and street lights, including beacons and embedded crosswalk lights. • Assist in the review of land development plans and studies; including traffic signals and street light project plans and specifications. • Will work on the design and construction contracts for traffic signals and street lights. Present staff is responsible for operations and maintenance, both County and State. Electrical Maintenance Suaervisor Will be working with the existing Traffic Signals and Street Lights Section, and will be responsible for, but not limited to the following. • Supervises the electrical maintenance staff on the operations and maintenance programs for traffic signals and street lights. • Addresses problem areas and complaints. Clerk II Will be working with the existing Administration Section, and will be responsible for, but not limited to the following. • Assist with the clerical functions of the Division; i.e., receiving calls, request, and complaints from the public, making certain that adequate information is provided and/or properly transferred. • Keep controls of all correspondence, contracts, and plans, and all other types of incoming and outgoing materials. • Assist the traffic engineers in keeping files on all traffic accident reports, and obtains information on traffic fatalities. • Assists the Account Clerk and Accountant I with data entry and with equipment and material inventories. Account Clerk Will be working with the existing Administration Section, and will be responsible for, but not limited to the following. • Maintain the Division's equipment, material, and supply inventories. We have over a million dollars in our traffic signals and street lights inventory, alone, and have consistently failed the County's financial audit. • Assist with the bulk purchasing of highway materials. • Prepares invoices for payment, posts to and maintains ledgers, and classifies and codes expenditures. • Assists Accountant I with all fiscal functions. Violations Clerk Will be working with the existing Administration Section, and will be responsible for, but not limited to the following. • Address public concerns on on-street parking violations, and other nonmoving violations, island wide. • Assist the Police Department in the enforcement of nonmoving violations. HIGHWAYS From 1997 to 2003, over 58 miles of roads (including drainage facilities) were dedicated to the County with no additional personnel. To address the maintenance of our existing 903.47 miles of roadway, to keep up with our primary responsibilities and the yearly addition of roads and drainage structures, the Highway Maintenance Division assessed its programs and determined that 5 miles per employee is a reasonable beginning in addressing this goal. The 5 to 1 Proposal would allow our Division to keep all programs active and to maintain and continually make improvements to the County's roadway transportation system to permit the safe and efficient movement of people and goods around the island. Our Division evaluated the six road districts and found the following (as of June 2003): Distnct Mileage Emolovees Ratio (MilEmp) i _ _ . S Hilo 276_.33 _ 45 6.14 N Hilo/Hamakua { 101.78 ~ 20 5 09 N/S Kohala 127.72_ 19 6 72 _ NIS Kona :149.55 20 7 48 Ka'~...._. 60.60 _10 6O6 Puna :187.99 i 22 ' 8.55 _ . . - - Totals ' 903.47 136 6.64 . _ ............._.J Our Division also compared other road maintenance entities within the State and found the following (as of June 2003): Entity . Mileage Emolovees a Ratio (MilEmo) State (Island of Hawaii) 335.00 i 109 ' 3.07 City/County of Honolulu 1,156.00 400 2.89 County of Kauai 220.00 70 3 14 1, County of Maui 607.00 130 4 67 - - _ County of Hawaii 903.47 ~ 136 6 64 In this proposal, we are requesting thirty-five (35) employees and thirteen (13) pieces of equipment to update our present workforce. This includes twenty-nine (29) Laborer Ils, six (6) Equipment Operator Is, seven (7) 6-Passenger Dump Trucks and six (6)Truck-Mounted Boom Mowers. We feel a ratio of 5 to 1 is the best workable ratio for the maintenance of roads within our County. Our plan is to budget this over atwo-year period, with positions, equipment and associated costs to be requested incrementally. Our 5 to 1 Proposal commenced in FY 2002-03 by establishing eleven (11) new positions. However, due to budgetary constraints, these positions remain unfilled. We now request funding for FY 2004-05 and a fuel tax rate increase may be necessary to fund this proposal. The proposal would accomplish the following: _ Present Present Ratio 'Proposed :Employees I Mi/Em 'Add New ' Proposed Ratio District Mileage Ias of June (as of June 'Positions 'Emolovees Mi/Em/Em S Hilo ' 276.33 45 6.14 6 51 5.42 N Hilo/Hamakua 101.78 20 5.09 20 5.09 N/S Kohala 127.72 ' 19 6.72 3 22 5.81 N/S Kona 149.55 20 7.48 9...... 29 5.16 ' _ _ Ka'u 60.60 10 6.06 2 12 5.05 i Puna 187.99 22 8.55 15 37 5.08 Totals 903.47 136 6.64 35 171 5.28 Item #43. Are miscellaneous contracts expected to increase substantially due to the fuel tax increase? TRAFFIC: The fuel tax increase will increase our price-term agreement striping contracts, whereby helping us to catch-up on our backlog of work, and may assist us in keeping-up with our normal maintenance work. If we do well, we may shift the contract work to Highway Division's resurfacing program striping work. The fuel tax increase will also increase our price-term agreement excavation and electrical contracts. This will help us to; (1) address any underground traffic signal or street light circuit problems immediately, (2) help in the conversion of direct burial cables to underground ducts, (3) enhance our underground street light and antique street light program, and (4) enhance our pedestrian embedded crosswalk lights program. HIGHWAY: No anticipated increase.