Invest in Hawaii Act

BY ERIN MILLER | WEST HAWAII TODAY

State administration and legislative officials are touting the Invest in Hawaii Act of 2012 as a $500 million boon to the state’s economy.

But county officials are still waiting for more information on the capital improvements program, noting that a provision to exempt projects funded by Senate Bill 2012 from county permitting would also relieve the county from inspection duties.

The bill would authorize the state to issue a $500 million general obligation bond, with $150 million for the Department of Education to use on school maintenance and repairs, $60 million for the Department of Accounting and General Services, $40 million for the Department of Human Services and the Hawaii Health Systems Corp., $90 million for the University of Hawaii at Manoa and Hilo and another $25 million for the university’s community college system.

Duane Kashiwai, the DOE’s public works administrator, said the exact projects are still being determined.

“Everybody will get something,” Kashiwai said, adding that means every school. “We just don’t know what yet.”

Several projects at Kona Community Hospital and Kohala Hospital are “shovel ready,” CEO Jay Kreuzer said Monday afternoon. At Kona Community Hospital, projects include replacing chillers, installing a power surge protection system, a photovoltaic light system in the parking lot and extending the elevator to the helipad on the hospital’s roof. Kohala projects include removal of an underground storage tank and driveway repaving, as well as $2 million worth of general repairs and upgrades, Kreuzer said.

Projects at both sites are generally related to safety and energy-saving measures, he added.

Testimony from state departments, submitted to the Senate Ways and Means committee last week, was supportive of the measure. The committee passed the bill, with some amendments, Friday morning.

Only one group, the Sierra Club of Hawaii, opposed the bill, noting the provision exempting the state projects from the county permitting processes. County Planning Director Bobby Jean Leithead Todd said that provision also raises questions for her.

The problem, she said, is if the state’s contractors don’t get county permits, “we’re not going to send somebody out to inspect” the completed construction. “When you build a building and electric goes in, somebody needs to inspect it. Typically, it’s done by county employees.”

The move to exempt projects from county permits, although not county codes, is being done to fast-track projects, Leithead Todd said.

The state doesn’t have the number of inspectors the county does, and if the contractors have to find their own inspectors, that could add to the project’s cost, Leithead Todd said.

But, she added, that exemption language shows up in a number of bills this year, and she’s waiting to see what the final language is, or whether the state can offer more information about who will perform those inspections.

Sen. Gil Kahele, D-Ka’u, Puna, Hilo, said he doesn’t have a problem with exempting the projects from county permits.

“Part of the thinking is to get things moving,” Kahele said.

He said he supports the package.

“I feel good about it,” he said, speaking of the bill’s chances for passage. “We’ll see what the House does. We all know we need to keep the economy moving.”

Sen. Josh Green, D-North and South Kona, North and South Kohala, said he originally asked for $60 million in appropriations for Big Island projects. He said he plans to meet with each state department director to advocate for the projects he outlined in his capital improvement project list, to make sure those projects are funded.

emiller@westhawaiitoday.com