KAILUA-KONA — House Rep. Matthew LoPresti cried foul on Thursday, sending a letter to Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin requesting an investigation into possible collusion among contractors bidding for jobs that will serve a heat abatement effort to cool off classrooms statewide.
KAILUA-KONA — House Rep. Matthew LoPresti cried foul on Thursday, sending a letter to Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin requesting an investigation into possible collusion among contractors bidding for jobs that will serve a heat abatement effort to cool off classrooms statewide.
The Legislature appropriated $100 million to air condition 1,000 classrooms across Hawaii in its last session, with plans to start work Aug. 1. But Rep. LoPresti (D-Oahu) of House District 41 cited unusually high bids across the board in his request for an investigation.
“We cannot just wait for another round of bids and hope they are reasonable,” LoPresti said. “Classrooms in my district and across the state will soon be too hot for students to learn and teachers to teach. We must find a way to get this project moving forward. At the same time, the bids for the work came in so high that it is possible contractors who know the state is hard pressed to get this work done conspired to submit bids much higher than reasonable to make unreasonable profits.”
The Hawaii Department of Education has said the $100 million project must now either be delayed and opened up to another round of bidding, or proceed with the current bids and air condition far fewer than the 1,000 classrooms it planned to cool.
Gov. David Ige addressed the issue Friday at the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce installation luncheon held at the Four Seasons Resort at at Hualalai, saying the state is still committed to the heat abatement project.
“I was personally disappointed in the bidding environment,” said Gov. Ige, adding specific jobs estimated at $20,000 came in at bids of $135,000. “We’re hopeful these contractors can sharpen their pencils. … We continue our efforts to make and improve the environment in our public schools.”
The Attorney General was off-island Thursday, but his office said he has been made aware of the situation.
“We have received the letter from the representative,” said Joshua Wisch, special assistant to the Attorney General. “We will be reviewing it and responding to (Rep. LoPresti).”
Contractors also raised issues, as LoPresti cited their complaints that HIDOE’s bid specifications for relatively minor projects were at times up to 100 pages long, which rendered the bidding process more complicated and more expensive.
LoPresti also urged the department to examine the bidding process on its end and make it more accessible.
Dann Carlson, assistant superintendent with the Office of School Facilities and Support Services, said they are working to address that.
“We have heard back from members of the industry on ways to improve the bidding process moving forward, including making the packages bigger and therefore more attractive for contractors, and into a time frame outside of this month when a high volume of other bids are due for state and county agencies,” Carlson said.
In the meantime, LoPresti is asking “professional volunteers” to supply the project with manpower to help the cooling effort “at realistic and reasonable costs.” He is asking anyone with knowledge of air conditioning system installation to contact his office.
“If contractors are gouging the state at a time of great need in our schools and the students have to suffer because of this, the Attorney General must find them and prosecute to the full extent of the law,” said LoPresti. “The public deserves answers as to why bids are coming in suspiciously high, and we cannot just sit by and accept this.”