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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0717.039 2004-2006 [Y Or L Harry Kim •7 Bruce C. McClure Mayor Direc(or .y. ~~~Of M'~ Jiro A. Sumada ~IIixn~~? II~~M~ 22t`t ~PuO'Direcror DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS Aupuni Center ]Ol Pauahi Street, Suite 7 ~ Hilo, Hawaii 96720-0224 (808) 961-8321 ~ Fax (808) 961-8630 March 29, 2006 Honorable Virginia Isbell, Chair and Members of the Committee on Finance Hawaii County Council 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, HI 96720 RE: Questions relating to FY 06-07 Operating and Capital Budgets and Program (Memo dated March 15, 2006) Transmitted on attached document are our responses to the questions addressed to the Department of Public Works. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at 961-8324. Bruce C. McClure Director Comm No. Ref. To ~r County of Hawaii is' an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer. Ref. Uate 1. What is the status of the LIDAR Mapping System for flooding analysis in FY 06($221,000)? LIDAR contract still being processed tentatively looking at 5!1/06 notice to proceed. It will cover the mauka portion of Puna from Mt. View to Paradise Park, an area where we currently have no maps. 2. Where are the priority floodways? Priority seems to be wherever it is flooding at the moment. This is the problem, we have no flood plain management program to give guidance, set policies, etc. Our budget proposes a new Civil Engineer IV position, who would develop and operate a Flood Plain Management Plan, which would be many faceted. If you are referring to projects, we have the 3 Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) projects, Keopu, Palai and Waiakea. Priority is based on available funding and progress. Right now the ACOE is continuing work on Keopu and Palai but Palai is ahead in terms of project development. Waiakea is last and may not have enough money. 3a. Why Super Unleaded Gas? Some of our County vehicles require super unleaded gas, the police vehicles use it and the super unleaded gas has a higher octane content which helps the engines perform more efficient. Also if we were to use regular unleaded gas we would have to put in separate gas dispensers and storage tanks. It is also my understanding that past administrations have tried regular unleaded gas at one point and the vehicles did not perform correctly and the other departments complained. 3b. How will ethanol affect vehicle operations and cost? Under normal conditions it is not suppose to affect the performance of the vehicles. As far as the costs it was predicted to lower the cost of gasoline but in my opinion it has not been in use long enough to determine that. 4. Briefly explain Building Division's request for 14 new employees? Building Division in the past five fiscal years has averaged an 11.5% annual increase of building permits per year, or 65% over a 5 year period with no increase in staff. Fiscal Year Permits Issued 2000-2001 3,233 2001-2002 3,495 (+7%) 2002-2003 4,245 (+18%) 2003-2004 4,444 (+4%) 2004-2005 5,341 (+17%) The increase of six (6) staff will assist the building permit processing, along with inspections and violations: East Hawaii West Hawaii Building Permit Clerk Building Permit Clerk Building Violation Inspector Building Violation Inspector Electrical Inspector Supervising BLD Permit Clerk In the design section, we have an existing staff of five(5): Building Projects & inspection Manager Building Projects Coordinator Projects Inspector (2) Architectural Drafting Technicians Responsibilities include facilitating all building construction for new facilities, maintenance of existing facilities, assisting in the bidding, construction and inspection of facilities under the jurisdiction of other departments. Increasing the staff (6) is essential to achieve our departmental goal by providing timely construction and consultant work. Building Projects Coordinator II (2) Building Projects Coordinators (2) Building Inspectors Architectural Drafting Technician I Increasing staff (2) necessary for the Repair and Maintenance Section, with the increasing number of facilities that we maintain. Electrician Plumber 5. Briefly, what is the status of the major roadway projects to alleviate congestion in West Hawaii (Ali'i Highway, certain mauka-makai roads, Kuakini Highway, etc.)? Alii Highway -Preparing to go back to Burial Council; redesign project Kuakini (Palani to Hualalai) -Estimated completion 9/06 Kuakini (Hualalai to Alii Highway) - EA/Planning 6/07 Lalopua Connector Road (Ext of Keanalehu & Manawalea Rds1 -Design contract with Belt Collins being processed. Lako Street -Corporation Counsel is trying to negotiate a settlement with plaintiff, who raised some issues with the project's Environmental Assessment. Hopefully settlement can be reached. La'aloa Street Extension -DPW in process of selecting an engineering consultant to: a. Assist with completing project EA with Ron Terry. b. Because of dozens of written comments and concerns by residents, we believe utilizing the context sensitive soiution(CSS) method of addressing concerns would be effective. c. Exploring feasibility of alternative routing of traffic to relieve traffic thru lower La'aloa Avenue. d. Roadway design would follow upon resolving issues in a, b, and c above. Mamalahoa Bypass Road, Hokuli'a -traffic study, being done. Kealakehe Connector Road- coordination and contract with Kealakehe Community Association (gatekeepers). Mamalahoa Highway Improvements (Honalo to Captain Cook) (a) Captain Cook Town; two-way left-turn lanes and left-turn pockets at Captain Cook Road, Kinue Road, Kamakani Street, and Kiloa Road. Bid Opening Date: 27 APR 2006 (b) Kainaliu Town - No parking thru Kainaliu Town; pending on public parking lot replacements and turnaround areas. Negotiation and planning numerous off-street parking lots, bus pull-outs, and turnaround areas. (c) Kealakekua Town • Phase I; two-way left-turn pocket (Kamagaki Market and Hale Ke'eke'e Place) Bid Opening Date: O6 APR 2006 • Phase Il; two-way left-turn center lane thru town is progressing. Planning and design is progressing. • Phase III; off-street public parking lot (Kamigaki lease). Planning and design is progressing. (d) Honalo Town; land acquisitions and widening for two-way left-turn lane through town. • Submitted 2006 CIP Financial Impact Statement for budgeting improvements. Estimated cost $12,150,000. • Honalo junction Right-Turn Only test, with DPW-TRF. 6. What positions will not be filled in FY 07? We anticipate filling all vacant positions in FY 07. While certain Kona positions take longer to fill than others, their funds are still needed at this time so that the existing continuous recruitment can proceed. If funds are diverted, then recruitment must stop at the time that the funds are transferred. 7. What is the status of the roads-in-limbo project? The Roads-in-Limbo project is in the move again. A series of six public informational meetings will be held in April. These meetings will help to confirm the specific roads that are eligible for inclusion on a list of Roads- in-Limbo. These meetings will be followed by the drafting of an ordinance which list the eligible roads, the design guidelines that will address their design, and lastly provide a funding mechanism for their on-going operation and maintenance. The ordinance should be presented to the Council this fall. 8. Is there any reason why we only resurfaced 3.38 miles of County roads in the first six months of FY 06 (Departmental & Agencies' Six Month Progress Report on Program Objectives for FY 05-06, page 4, goal for FY 06 is 35 miles)? The 3.38 miles is mainly Palani Road Resurfacing (funds from the special highway fund balance appropriation). We encountered delays in repaving due to difficulty in obtaining paving oil. Current contractors only had limited supplies. Also, the incremental (2004-2006) appropriations from fuel tax for local road resurfacing was not approved until September 2005 (Ord 05-130), deVayed due to the proposal of a new district apportionment formula (which factors in the cost of asphalt concrete which varies between East and West Hawai i). However, we anticipate we will meet our goal of resurfacing 35 miles. 8a. What is the status of the AKANDA system (Part I, Volume II, page 232)? The AKANDA system is a building permit application and processing system. Where it was previously done manually, we now process in a computer system the building, electrical and plumbing applications/information, inspection information and records (in the AKANDA system in conjunction with the Real Property Tax IAS system. We are currently upgrading the system to make it more efficient. We anticipate that by June, 2006, the public will be able to obtain status information of permits through the Real Property Tax Division CARE website (permit number issued, date of issuance, and permits that have been finalized) from 1980 to present. 8b. Traffic Division, Traffic Signal and Streetlight section, is operating at 60% of staffing. Why are the three vacant positions so difficult to fill (Departmental Agencies' Six Month progress report on Program Objectives for FY 2005-06, Highway Fund, page 2)? The Traffic Electricians and Traffic Technician !V positions are extremely difficult to fill for two reasons. One, both classes of work is extremely specialized and rare throughout the State. Two, the Traffic Electricians require a journeyman electrician's license which is in great demand throughout the State in private industry. The Department has temporarily reallocated downward these positions and is in the process of interviewing to fill all vacant positions before the end of FY 05-06. 9. Capital Budget -West Hawaii Civic Center, Phase 3 has been increasing annually. A total of $17,000,000 will be appropriated for the $30,000,000 project. What is its current status? The consultant Urban Works is actively working on the master plan and has been through several design schemes. Meeting with the various agencies for their present and future staff and program requirements, along with the square footage of various office spaces and common spaces have increase substantially from the original contract., thus an increase in cost (estimate now $35 million). Urban Works is reevaluating the space needs with the various user agencies to bring the project within budget. We are paying extra attention to the design of the facility, because we want a facility that is user friendly and inviting to the surrounding areas. We have a preliminary design that we feel meets these requirements. Urban Works is presently working on refining the design before presenting it to the public for their review and comment.