His department should know by Friday what caused the estimates to exceed the county’s anticipated cost.
BY ERIN MILLER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
emiller@westhawaiitoday.com
Bids for a long-anticipated roof repair in Honokaa have come in more than three times higher than county officials expected.
According to Department of Public Works documents, the Honokaa Gym roof repair was estimated to cost $150,000. The lowest bid, from Society Contracting LLC, was $553,365. The highest bid, from Site Engineering Inc., came in at $945,000.
The high bids have prompted the Parks and Recreation Department to take a closer look at bid submittals, Director Bob Fitzgerald said this week. The project in question is the Honokaa Gym roof repair, which has been on the books as a needed project since the October 2006 earthquakes damaged the fire insulation inside the roof.
The discovery of leaks in the roof prompted the initial delay in the project, Fitzgerald said, because the insulation couldn’t be replaced until the roof stopped leaking.
“We were surprised,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re in a competitive market.”
His department is analyzing the bids, making sure the bids were done correctly and analyzing the numbers the contractors provided. He said the insulation is the costliest portion of the project. Changes to the county’s fire code may have contributed to the higher-than-expected estimates, he said.
His department should know by Friday what caused the estimates to exceed the county’s anticipated cost.