HILO — Parks and Recreation officials told a County Council panel Tuesday that contractors on a second project in addition to the Ka‘u gym are likely to receive county-subsidized overtime pay to hasten completion.
The county and contractor are currently in negotiations that could result in the county paying overtime on the $17 million Hilo Municipal Golf Course project, Deputy Director James Komata said.
Komata described loss of revenues for the county and the concessionaires, as well as dangerous conditions when golfers try to maneuver around heavy equipment.
“We feel it’s warranted to get this facility back on schedule,” Komata said.
He made the statement during a session of back-and-forth grilling by Hilo Councilman Aaron Chung, who struggled to get his questions answered.
“First of all, I don’t buy it. … I don’t see what the rush is,” Chung said. “From a fiscal standpoint, I don’t really like the idea of paying contractors overtime.”
The golf course is the only other project slated for county-paid overtime, Komata said after the meeting.
Neighbors of the Kukuihaele park project near Waipio Valley told the newspaper Tuesday that construction contractors have been working 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. six days a week there. But Komata said any overtime on that project would be handled by the contractor. The park is not set to be completed until February or March, he said.
The pending cost attributed directly to overtime on the $18 million Ka‘u gym project is about $97,000, according to Parks and Recreation Director Clayton Honma. The county is paying only for the overtime premium (the “half” in the “time-and-a-half”) as the contractor’s contract includes the straight-time cost component for the work, he said.
It’s not yet known how much extra the county would be on the hook for on the golf course project, which is slated for completion in two phases in mid-November and mid-December. Komata was unable to give an estimate.
Nor could he assure Chung that the county won’t be paying retroactive overtime once a change order is signed. Asked outright if the contractor is already counting on the county’s reimbursement, Komata said he didn’t know.
“What kind of management is that, if we don’t know if there’s overtime or not?” Chung shot back. “Are they under some kind of understanding that they can pay overtime?”
If any project deserves overtime, he added, it’s the Kaumana Drive repaving project in Hilo, which sits partially completed while contractors race to finish other jobs. If anything is a safety issue, it’s that road, he said.
Chung called for a thorough discussion of the golf course issue at the Oct. 4 Finance Committee hearing.
“This is important because it’s going to have ramifications to our budget,” he said. “Don’t pay overtime at the county’s expense. Just don’t do that.”
Kohala Councilwoman Margaret Wille, a frequent critic of Mayor Billy Kenoi who is seeing the end of her council term in December after losing her re-election bid, said she understands how people want to finish what they started before leaving office. She feels the same way.
Still, she said, it shouldn’t cost extra.
“The administration shouldn’t be focusing on paying more to get things done during this administration,” Wille said.
Komata disagreed that finishing before Kenoi leaves office is a motivating factor.
“There are a lot of projects that won’t get done in this administration,” he said.
