Posted on: Wednesday, August 1, 2001

Kailua gains sewer reprieve

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward Bureau

KAILUA — The city has delayed emergency sewer repairs scheduled to begin today on busy Kailua Road, sparing merchants at Kailua Beach Center who complained about potential losses during their peak business season.

Project contractor Trenchless Engineering Corp. said the city delayed the project until Aug. 16, but the subcontractor won't be able to start until mid-September.

The information was great news to Aidan Schmer, who along with other business owners at the small strip shopping center strongly objected to the city starting a project today as announced last month. The sales from this period help sustain businesses until the Christmas season, he said.

"(Starting in September) would be more than ideal," said Schmer, owner of Kailua Sailboards & Kayaks. "The summer season goes until Sept. 15. The major traffic is through Aug. 15, and if they can come up with a good traffic plan, it's almost acceptable."

Merchants were upset because they endured eight months of sewer line construction from late 1999 to mid-2000 that restricted access to the center and hurt business. However, the project was never completed because that contractor ran into problems with soil conditions.

Now the city must fix 190 feet of deteriorated 24-inch-diameter sewer line.

After meeting with the business owners, city officials decided to delay the starting date for the project.

"We received a letter from the city (Monday) canceling it until at least Aug. 15," said Mike Mentikov, project supervisor for Trenchless Engineering. He said work probably won't start until after Sept. 15 because his subcontractor has other obligations on the Mainland.

The contractor will explain the project to the community at the Kailua Neighborhood Board meeting at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Kailua District Park multipurpose room.

Linda Briggs, owner of Ocean Art Gallery at the beach center, at the corner of Kailua Road and Kalaheo Avenue across from a main entrance to Kailua Beach Park, said she thought the move to go to the neighborhood board was an attempt to bypass the merchants. The contractor had promised to meet with the business owners but hasn't, Briggs said.

"We've been waiting for a couple of weeks, but we've had no contact from them," she said. "It looks like they're going behind our backs."

Mentikov said he felt that the board meeting would satisfy his obligation to inform the businesses about the schedule for the project.

Board chairwoman Faith Evans said the board requested that the city and the contractor attend the meeting to answer questions about the project, including the nature of the emergency and why the problem wasn't addressed sooner.