School won't get bridge after all
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer
'AINA HAINA — A month before the city was supposed to seek construction bids for a sought-after pedestrian bridge linking the Wailupe Valley Elementary School campus to a city park, the state has halted the project because of liability concerns.
The state Department of Education, on the advice of the state attorney general's office, said it does not want to assume the liability or the maintenance of the steel bridge that the city is willing to build so students can safely cross a dry stream bed to get to a neighborhood park.
Other than basketball courts, the school has no open space for sports. The school is next to a ridge and its sloping grounds are unsuitable for play areas. Neighboring it is the city park, separated by a rocky gulch.
"I'm very disappointed and outraged by this whole situation," said Tim McGivern, chairman of the School/ Community Based Management team and parent of a third-grader there. "Ever since the school was built, there have been efforts to get a bridge."
The school and state Rep. Bertha Leong, R-18th (Kahala, 'Aina Haina, Kuli'ou'ou), project champion, say the campus has no open space for students to play. The bridge is necessary so students don't have to waste their recesses and get parent permission slips signed every time they want to go to the park to run and play.
"The state doesn't want to give the city approval because of concerns for potential litigation," Leong said.
"I was really disappointed. I don't understand why the state didn't tell us this two years ago."
Typically, the state assumes all liability for education facilities, said state comptroller Russ Saito. He said he was not sure why the state Department of Education would halt the project because of concerns over liability.
Maintenance of such a steel bridge is estimated at $5,000 to $10,000 a year, said DOE spokesman Greg Knudsen. Even though the bridge would be guaranteed to last five to 10 years, and there would be a locked gate at the school end of the bridge, the DOE doesn't want to assume the liability, he said.
"We don't have additional funding to maintain a structure," he said.
If the project is held up because of liability concerns, the city may feel pressure to spend the $605,000 in construction money for something else, and the students won't get a bridge this year, said City Councilman Charles Djou.
The pedestrian bridge has been the top priority for East Honolulu vision team members. The project went out for bid late last year and came in higher than the $605,000 budgeted for construction. The city decided to revamp the plan and switch from a concrete bridge to a steel bridge, to save money.
The city had vowed to build the bridge sought by the school for more than 30 years. A shortage of money had put the project on the back burner, but in 2001 the community vision team adopted the project.
Craig Nakamoto, parent of a former Wailupe Valley student who is now an eighth-grader, said students have no place to run on campus.
"The potential for liability is small compared to the advantage to the students and the teachers," Nakamoto said. "I thought we had addressed the question of responsibility long ago."
Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.
