Kailua merchants blast city over sewer repair

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward Bureau

KAILUA — The city has begun emergency sewer repair work on Kalaheo Avenue near the site where a $26 million sewer reconstruction project stalled last year because of unforeseen soil conditions that would have added to the construction cost.

The city is also considering emergency repair work on Kailua Road in front of Kailua Beach Center, but merchants there are opposed to starting the project now because it will come at the peak of their business year.

Residents can expect detours and slowdowns on Kalaheo near Kaiholu Place and White Sands Place, where the city is repairing 175 feet of severely deteriorated, 36-inch pipe. The project should last about two weeks and will use cure-in-place trenchless technology, which minimizes digging and traffic disruption.

"The corroded sewer lines are in danger of collapsing," said Doug Woo, with the city Department of Customer Services. "I can't tell you when but after reviewing it, they say it is in imminent danger."

The repair work at Kailua Beach Center is also considered an emergency, Woo said.

But merchants there met with the city yesterday and objected to the start date of Aug. 16, said Aidan Schmer, who owns Kailua Sailboards and Kayak. Merchants there already endured eight months of construction from late 1999 to mid-2000 that restricted access and hurt business. Now this emergency work intrudes at the busiest time of the year.

"We rely on this peak, which carries us to Christmas," Schmer said. "We need that peak in order to survive."

The city will repair 190 feet of 24-inch sewer line, tentatively beginning Aug. 1.

Schmer said the city showed little consideration when choosing that start date. In fact, he said, the contractor initially came to the business July 14 and told them work would begin July 16.

"Their timing is without regard to everybody involved," he said. "It clearly shows what kind of attitude the city has toward the residents here. We're talking tens of thousands of dollars."

But Woo said the city is trying to work out an alternative.

"The Design and Construction Department will go back and try to accommodate them," he said.