School bridge approved again

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer

Wailupe Valley Elementary School's footbridge is back on track.

Just days after the project was put on hold, the state has relented on its objections, said state Comptroller Russ Saito. The city has agreed to put the project out for bid by the end of the month.

The bridge will span a stream bed and provide a vital link to a neighborhood park for the students at the tiny elementary school that has no open space for physical education or playing.

Last week the project was stalled because the state Department of Education refused to accept liability for use of the bridge and did not have the money to pay for annual maintenance. But a meeting on Friday between Schools Superintendent Pat Hamamoto and the Board of Education settled those issues, Saito said.

"We don't have everything in writing yet and we still need to work out the terms and conditions, but I'm confident the project will move forward," Saito said.

The city is putting in the pedestrian bridge as a community vision project. Details of the memorandum of understanding must still be settled and signed, but Saito said the city and state have until the end of the year to sign it.

"If it does indeed go through, and we haven't missed any deadlines, I'm ecstatic," said Tim McGivern, chairman of the School/Community Based Management team there. "I had planned to appeal to the governor and to the Board of Education, but I hope that it won't be necessary."

The state Attorney General's office must still sign off on the terms and conditions between the city and state and that's a significant detail, said Greg Knudsen, state Department of Education spokesman.

The school is next to a ridge and its sloping grounds are unsuitable for play areas. The park is separated by a rocky gulch that is a dry streambed.

City spokeswoman Carol Costa did not have a date for when the bridge would be built. Costa did say the city wants the state to assume the responsibility of locking and unlocking the gate on the school side of the bridge.

The pedestrian bridge has been the No.1 priority of the East Honolulu vision team. It first went out to bid late last year and came in higher than the $605,000 the city had set aside for it because it was designed in concrete. The city revised the plans and was poised to seek contractors to build a steel bridge when, on the advice of the state Attorney General's office, the state Department of Education said it didn't want the bridge because of concerns for liability and annual maintenance.

"It's moving in a really positive way," said Lenny Klompus, Gov. Linda Lingle's senior communications adviser. "The governor has tried to push things along. We don't want things to sit."

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.