Posted on: Wednesday, July 14, 2004
City settles Palolo pool dispute
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
The city and a contractor have settled a dispute over repairs to the Palolo Valley District Park swimming pool, clearing the way for its reopening in early August, a year after it was closed for work expected to last half that time.
"We've come to an agreement and will send a letter to the contractor this afternoon," said Tim Steinberger, director of the city Department of Design and Construction. "We told them we want to turn it back over to Parks and Recreation by the first week of August."
The Palolo pool work is part of a $725,000 repair contract with KD Construction that also includes Kane'ohe and Booth district park pools. Booth and Kane'ohe have both reopened, but only after delays of several months due to the same kind of tile problems that have plagued the Palolo pool.
KD Construction did not return calls seeking comment.
Steinberger said tiles were replaced as part of renovations at all three pools. Other work was also done, including structural work, repairing cracks and rusting rebar, and mechanical work.
But a city consultant testing the tiles found that some were not laminated properly to the floor and said minor repairs were needed at the Kane'ohe and Booth pools, but that all the Palolo tiles needed to be replaced.
The contractor subsequently hired its own consultant, who said only some of the tile work at Palolo was defective and needed replacing and the two sides began negotiating.
The Palolo pool closed last August for the $300,000 project and was expected to reopen in February.
Having the pool closed for so long has been tough on the area's children, said Darlene Nakayama, chairwoman of the Palolo Neighborhood Board.
"Especially the Summer Fun children," Nakayama said. "Even the senior citizens swim in the pool and they are missing it just the same as the kids."
The city's Summer Fun program ends July 30 in Palolo. Counselors have been taking children on excursions to the zoo and the beach rather than using the pool.
Steinberger said yesterday that the city has agreed to accept the opinion of the contractor's consultant if the normal one-year warranty for this type of work was extended by an additional five years and if the contractor returns to check the tiles again before the warranty expires.
"The contractor will also bear all the costs of doing the inspection, pay for taking it out of service and the water charge for filling it back up again," Steinberger said. "We told them we wanted them (in Palolo) starting this week, on a 14-day schedule to finish the work, and we would like to turn it over to Parks and Recreation by the first week of August. We are all in agreement on that."
The agreement will not cost taxpayers additional money, he said.
The Parks Department will have to reschedule lifeguards and other pool staff and refill the pool, which can take two or three days.
City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi said the timing of the closure could not have been worse.
"This is when we need it the most," Kobayashi said. "There are a lot of housing kids up there that really need the pool. I just hope they get it open as soon as possible. Let's stop the squabbling and get the work done."
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
