WEST HAWAII TODAY
September 22, 2011 - 10:10pm

Water board looks at HOVE well operation

BY CHELSEA JENSEN

Ownership, maintenance and the ability to collect user fees on the nearly completed Hawaiian Ocean View Estates well facility will soon be decided.

The Hawaii County Board of Water Supply will determine whether to approve an agreement putting operation of the $6 million well facility, which the county currently controls, under the auspices of the water board during its monthly meeting to be held Tuesday in Hilo. The Department of Water Supply has recommended the board approve the agreement, which also requires mayoral approval.

Because funding for the project came from the state Legislature to Hawaii County, the county, under the proposed agreement, would continue to own the facility, but the water board would take over responsibilities of maintenance, operations and collecting user fees, Water Supply Spokeswoman Kanani Aton said Thursday. She added the department was asked by then-Mayor Harry Kim to oversee the project's construction, which began in 2007.

"With the construction and development nearing a close, the question remains: Because it is a county facility, who will run it?" Aton said. "We naturally come to an understanding (with the county) that (the water board) will have to do this as another part of the manifestation of this facility."

Had the project been funded privately or through the department's capital improvement funds, the board would not have to secure the agreement. Though uncommon, Aton said instances of a well facility not being physically owned but only operated by the Board of Water Supply have occurred before, particularly on Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, which can't be dedicated to the county.
Well user fees, under the agreement, would be assessed at the current rate of other county water users, until the board has a chance to address the issue, Aton explained. Like all fees collected by the department, which is semi-autonomous and does not receive funding from county revenues, the money goes directly into the department's maintenance and capital improvement funds used to maintain, improve and construct water systems, she said.

The project remains slated for a Sept. 30 completion. Construction of the Ocean View water facility project began in 2007 to put an end to residents having to travel more than 40 miles for potable drinking water because of a lack of county water infrastructure.

Shortly thereafter, the project began hitting bumps including voids that needed to be filled before the drilling of an exploratory well, paperwork delays, acquiring funding for a larger tank and, in 2010, a legislative investigation into how money appropriated for the project was being spent.

Additional funding of $400,000 was subsequently secured to increase the tank from 100,000 to 300,000 gallons and the Legislature's investigative committee found "major obstacles to the project have been resolved."

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Ocean View well woes continue

Residents decry pace of project

by Erin Miller
West Hawaii Today

Thursday, July 29, 2010 8:54 AM HST

The back-and-forth between Ocean View residents and county Department of Water Supply officials continues while community members await a long-hoped-for well.

Rell Woodward and Loren Heck have followed the well's progress -- or lack thereof -- for years. They say Water Supply Manager Milton Pavao is misleading island and state officials when he claims the delays in the project, which broke ground in late 2007, are Ocean View residents' fault. That residents asked for significant changes in the $6 million project's scope was the official Water Supply response provided to state Legislators this summer when an investigation into the project was convened.

"I'd like them to state what changed," Heck said Wednesday. "It's just not true. That's what irks me the most. They're blaming the people of Ocean View. That's just spurious."

A Water Supply spokeswoman directed West Hawaii Today to review online updates about the project, when a request was made to speak with Pavao. Pavao previously noted community members were unhappy last year when they learned the reservoir for the well would hold only 100,000 gallons.

But asking for a bigger tank -- which community members successfully did -- wasn't a change, Heck and Woodward said. They point to the final environmental assessment, issued in late 2007, which said the plan was for a 500,000-gallon tank. That figure was repeated at Water Board meetings through 2007 or 2008; in 2009, they learned the tank would only hold 100,000 gallons of water, less than half a days' supply for the growing community according to surveys they commissioned.

Pavao said in 2009 the high cost of a concrete tank caused the department to decrease the reservoir size. Heck and Woodward questioned the use of a concrete tank, instead of glass-lined steel, as other counties use.

In his May letter to legislators and Mayor Billy Kenoi, responding to the investigation inquiries, Pavao said the rate of seismic activity in the Ocean View region was one reason to use a concrete tank. Water Supply spokeswoman Kanani Aton, asked about concrete reservoirs damaged during the 2006 earthquakes, said the new tanks being constructed would be built to withstand stronger seismic activity. The department is still working to repair reservoirs damaged in those earthquakes.

Heck said he can accept that Pavao has decided the department will build only concrete reservoirs, though steel tanks are cheaper. Woodward said he was concerned the standards Pavao referenced were personal preferences unilaterally set.

The fill station, with spigots and standpipes, is another point of contention. Community members learned earlier this year design-build contractor Bolton Inc. had removed fencing and landscaping between the fill station and a property which abuts the easement owned by Kirk Mattos.

"It was just a horrible plan," Mattos said. "Dan (Bolton's) idea of protection was boulders. They can see everything I own with no fence or landscaping."

Worse, Mattos and other residents said, was that the environmental assessment had included fencing, landscaping and other mitigation measures. Building the fill station without those violated the assessment, which was accepted nearly three years ago. When he learned of those changes, Mattos and other community members approached Rep. Robert Herkes, D-Ka'u, asking for help.

Finally, Woodward said, Pavao acknowledged that though Bolton had a fair amount of autonomy in designing the site through the design-build process, the failure to conform to the environmental assessment meant that design wouldn't work. Bolton is working on a new design, the residents said.

"The only resolution is if you go back to the original environmental assessment," Mattos said.

Water Supply officials said the project may be completed by September 2011

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Well, well, well

When it comes to Ka'u water project, county, state representative, residents tell conflicting tales

by Erin Miller
West Hawaii Today
 
Wednesday, June 23, 2010 9:32 AM HST

Department of Water Supply officials say the completion of an Ocean View well and fill station was pushed back from 2009 to 2011 after community members requested a larger-than-planned-for storage tank.

Community members -- and state Rep. Robert Herkes, who convinced his House colleagues to call for an investigation into the state-funded project -- say that's not true, and claim the larger tank was part of the original design, then taken out for some reason, then added into the design again.

"When we did the request for proposals with Bolton, they came up with the most acceptable design and the most reasonable cost," Water Supply Deputy Manager Quirino Antonio said. "Then the community comes, 'can we have this, can we have that?'"

Ocean View residents have asked for their own well and fill station for more than a decade. The state appropriated $6 million for the project several years ago, and the Department of Water Supply broke ground in late 2007. The drilling contractor encountered delays when larger-than-expected holes were found in the well site.

Community members wanted a larger storage reservoir; water supply spokeswoman Kanani Aton said the initial design included a 100,000-gallon storage tank. The community went to their councilman, Guy Enriques, who, along with fellow council members and the county administration, found $400,000 to fund a larger reservoir. No specific reservoir size or type was included in the environmental assessment.

A larger reservoir meant a redesign, Antonio said, which is now under way. Bolton is awaiting permits, and could be ready to proceed with construction within a few weeks, with a new completion deadline of September 2011, Antonio added. Bolton's fill station design did not comply with what was presented in the environmental assessment and had to be redesigned as well, he said.

Herkes claimed the initial design did include a 300,000-gallon steel reservoir, but water supply officials decided they wanted a concrete storage tank instead. Ocean View residents, in written testimony to the Board of Water Supply provided by Herkes, agreed with their representative they never asked for changes in the storage tank size.

Herkes said lawyers working for the House of Representatives found it unusual that former Mayor Harry Kim never sent a formal letter to DWS giving the department the go-ahead to build and operate the well, which is on county-owned land within the private subdivision.

"Our attorneys find it curious there was no agreement," Herkes said.

Antonio said DWS is administering the project, but that ultimately it is the county's project and the county's responsibility to decide which agency will run the system.

"In the end, somebody needs to decide if the county wants to run and operate that system," Antonio said. "I can only presume the county will dedicate it to the board."

The county could choose to have Ocean View residents operate the system, he said, though that could raise other problems.

In April, Herkes announced a special investigative committee to look into what happened to the money for the project. He said he just wants to see that the project is completed.

The funds are still in state coffers, Antonio said, and will be until the work is done and the contractors may be paid. Documents provided by water supply officials to Herkes, Mayor Billy Kenoi's office and the Legislature show the money is encumbered for different project phases.

Antonio declined to comment on whether water supply officials believed the investigative committee creation was political move in an election year in which legislators enacted few other measures to benefit Ka'u residents.

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Pavao welcomes Ocean View well investigation

Water Manager: 'We Have Nothing To Hide'

by Erin Miller
West Hawaii Today
 
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 8:20 AM HST

The Department of Water Supply manager said he'll welcome an investigation into the contract process for an Ocean View well project.

"There is no doubt in my mind that we did everything professionally," Milton Pavao said. "We have nothing to hide."

Pavao spoke Monday about a resolution, introduced by Rep. Robert Herkes, D-Kona, Ka'u, Puna, that House of Representatives members approved Thursday night authorizing a committee to investigate the $6 million Ocean View-Kahuku water system project.

Herkes never came to talk with the Department of Water Supply about the project, which was authorized in 2006, which was disappointing, Pavao said. The department broke ground on the project in late 2007, then expecting to spend about two years digging the well, creating a reservoir, laying down water lines and building a fill station for Ocean View residents. The well and reservoir are to be located on a lot near Kahuku Park, with transmission lines running to three lots located along Hawaii Belt Road and Lehua Lane.

Funding for the project needed to be encumbered -- obligated for a contract -- by June 30, 2008. Pavao said to meet that deadline, the department opted to use a design-build process.

"Mr. Herkes does not understand the bureaucratic process," Pavao said.

Nor does Herkes understand the design-build process, the manager added.

Herkes sent a lengthy list of community concerns to Mayor Billy Kenoi, asking for documentation showing expenditures of the $6 million the Legislature appropriated for the project, asking for an update on the project's overall status, whether Bolton Inc. was retained in compliance with procurement procedures and whether an updated environment assessment is necessary.

"It is unfortunate that, despite efforts by many groups and individuals to obtain information on the project, many questions remain unanswered," Herkes said in a press release Friday. "The community is depending on the completion of this project, and there have been severe roadbocks and delays from the department."

Speaker of the House Calvin Say is to appoint committee members from the House of Representatives. The committee is to conduct its investigation between this legislative session and next year's session, then submit a report before the 2011 session convenes.

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Herkes: Why no water for Ocean View?

Legislators want to investigate county's use of $6 million

by Jason Armstrong
Stephens Media
West Hawaii Today

Saturday, April 24, 2010 7:11 AM HST

Hawaii's House of Representatives wants to know what happened to the $6 million the state gave to Hawaii County to build an Ocean View-Kahuku water system.

House members Thursday night adopted a resolution authorizing the creation of a committee to investigate and audit the county's semi-autonomous Department of Water Supply.

Exactly four years ago, the department received the state money to develop a well and storage system large enough to service four water-hauling trucks simultaneously.

Well construction was finished about two years ago.

"I think it's time we got to shake them up and just find out what the hell is going on," said state Rep. Bob Herkes, D-Puna, Ka'u, Kona.

Herkes said he introduced the resolution last week, leaving too little time to seek the Senate's support.

"We want to know what happened to the taxpayers' money and why aren't people in Ocean View getting water," he said. "It's that simple."

Mayor Billy Kenoi also will be receiving a letter officially seeking a "complete audit of all funds" received for the project, along with numerous other information, Herkes said.

"I hope we can get some answers, so we don't have to get into subpoenas," he said. "But if we have to, we will."

The project was delayed because the state money was insufficient to meet the community's concerns, Kenoi said via telephone Friday.

Specifically, area residents wanted more capacity and additional spigots, he said.

"We added county funds to make that happen," Kenoi said of the $400,000 the county is spending to subsidize the expanded project.

The design changes required more time to finish, he said.

Kenoi said he met with residents and has worked with Ka'u Councilman Guy Enriques to "support community concerns."

"The project is on-track," Kenoi added. "It's projected to be completed in 14 months at the latest, and it will address all of the concerns of the community."

After-hours efforts Friday to reach a Department of Water Supply official and Water Board members for comment were unsuccessful.

According to Herkes' resolution, House Speaker Calvin Say, D-Oahu, will appoint a nine-member investigative committee comprised solely of House members. Herkes will be the chairman, while state Rep. Faye Hanohano, D-Puna, will be the vice chairwoman.

The committee will start its work after the Legislature adjourns Thursday and must report its findings to the House no later than 20 days before the start of the Legislature's next session, which begins in mid-January 2011.

The rural Ocean View community includes Hawaiian Ocean View Estates, the self-described world's largest subdivision with 10,500 lots and a "few thousand" residents, according to its Web site.

The area lacks access to municipal water, which is something Herkes said he's been working to change for the past 14 years.

"The community is so up in arms. They can't get any answers," he said of the water project.

Herkes, who served on the County Council from 1984 to 1987, said he doesn't feel comfortable as a state legislator talking directly to a county department. So, he wants to go through the mayor "because that's where the money went."

The state appropriation initially went to then-Mayor Harry Kim, who turned it over to the Department of Water Supply. Kim left office Dec. 1, 2008, which was the same day Kenoi became mayor.

Herkes said the community liked the project's initial design, which called for fencing and landscaping between the fill station and an adjacent home. However, department has since hired a replacement consultant, who redesigned the project to exclude the privacy buffer and make other unpopular changes, he said.

Herkes' office provided excerpts of testimony Loren Heck, president of the Ocean View Community Development Corp. and a former Water Board member, gave to a House committee that considered the investigation resolution.

The corporation has not received regular updates or information that deadlines are being met, Heck said in supporting the resolution.

Also, area residents have been paying private water-haulers -- that price is ten times more than the department's rate -- which saved the department the cost of delivering water to Ocean View, he added.

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West Hawaii Today

OPINION

Ocean View well
Friday, March 26, 2010 8:51 AM HST

Audit the project, end the standstill.

It seems that when Ocean View is not at the end of the line with regard to government services and infrastructure improvements, we are ignored entirely. A number of us have endeavored for over 15 years to get a local source of water. For our population of 6,900 (based on 2010 Ocean View Dwelling Survey), it is still a 28-mile round-trip to the nearest water source.

Six million dollars was allocated by the state for our water project. Rep. Herkes, Sen. Kokubun, and Gov. Lingle helped tremendously in securing this funding.

The well has been drilled and the water source proven 14 months ago at a cost of approximately $2 million.

We are now informed that it will be another year before water flows to our community.

This is impossible to understand. Construction of the tank/reservoir, installation of the pump and completion of the loading facility have been at a standstill.

Since the money for the project was supplied largely by the state, I feel that a state audit is definitely called for. The Dept. of Water Supply for the county should be required to explain the innumerable delays in completion of this vital project, how the state taxpayer's money was spent and where the balance of the $6 million is currently.

Don Nitsche

Water Committee Chairman

Ocean View Community Development Corp.

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