Several amenities have been trimmed from the plans of a long-awaited Waimea district park after the construction bids came in higher than anticipated.
The first phase of the project, originally expected to cost about $30 million, has been downsized to $23.87 million, because of “insufficient funds to award the contract at the basic bid amount,” according to a Sept. 14 letter from the Department of Public Works to winning bidder Nan Inc.
The County Council Finance Committee on Oct. 6 agreed to add $89,582 to the original $1.9 million contract with the design firm, Akinaka & Associates Ltd., to revise the plans to lower the construction costs.
“The bids came in too high so they helped us to change the scope of the project to stay within our budget,” Finance Director Deanna Sako said at the time.
The first phase of the park, on 24 acres of land, was originally planned to have a covered play court, multi-use community building, community gathering/family recreation area, a comfort station, a pavilion, two multi-use regulation-size football/rugby/soccer fields, one youth baseball/softball field and a multi-use walkway and trail, according to an environmental assessment last year.
The revised plans do away with the comfort station, one of the multi-use fields, a detached maintenance facility, utilities infrastructure, some of the parking spaces and some of the landscaping, Parks and Recreation Department spokesman Jason Armstrong said Wednesday.
“We put in things that we initially expected to be in our estimate in the event we get a favorable bid,” Armstrong said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get that.”
Armstong said bids have been coming in higher as the economy improves and contractors have more work.
The project is one of 48 projects funded with a $99.75 million bond issue proposed by Mayor Billy Kenoi and approved by the council in June. The state has kicked in $6.5 million for the project.
Kohala Councilwoman Margaret Wille said Thursday she hadn’t realized so much of the original plan had been reduced. She particularly was concerned about the comfort station, she said, as Waimea’s older residents often can’t walk that far to a restroom. Armstrong said restroom facilities will be included in the covered play court.
“I’m disappointed to hear the comfort station and some of these other items are being deleted,” Wille said. “I would have hoped to have the money available to complete it.”
Wille later reported she’d contacted Armstrong for a more detailed list and is looking for other sources of funding for the removed components. She said if all else fails, she’ll try to put money in the capital improvements budget for the new fiscal year that begins July 1.
It’s hoped the first phase will be complete by next fall.
The park will be developed in two phases with the first phase comprising approximately 24 acres as a district park. A second phase would add some 26 acres to the park, thus expanding it to a regional park.
The second phase is slated to include an additional football/rugby/soccer field, an additional youth baseball/softball field, two regulation baseball/softball fields, extension of the walkway and trail, two additional comfort stations, and, if the budget permits, converting the covered play courts that were constructed in the first phase into a gymnasium.
Land for the park’s first phase was obtained as a condition of Parker Ranch Land Trust’s approval for the Waimea Town Center. Parker Ranch has also agreed to reserve the additional lands for expansion.
The site is bordered by Ala Ohia Road on the northwest, Parker Ranch headquarters to the west and undeveloped, vacant lands to the north, south and east. A new driveway, connected to Ala Ohia Road, between the intersections with Mamalahoa Highway and Kaomoloa Road, will provide access to the park.
The site for the park was selected in 2009 from nine sites in the Waimea area and a master plan completed thereafter.
Wille said the community has been clamoring for a park since at least 1989. She said she went to Honolulu to testify in support of the state funding.
