Posted at 12:56 p.m., Thursday, May 24, 2007
Maui water department struggles to finish projects
By ILIMA LOOMIS
The Maui News
Staffing shortages, a booming construction industry and time-consuming land acquisition all contribute to delays in starting projects. But while new Director Jeff Eng acknowledged his task is daunting, he said he's still optimistic his department will buck the trend and accomplish more projects out of his expected $24.7 million CIP budget this year.
"All 24 million? Are you crazy?" he joked. Seriously, Eng added, "I think we can do it. You can hold me to it – but just don't put any money on it."
Eng acknowledged the water department has consistently struggled to keep up with capital improvement projects, and frequently leaves much of its infrastructure budget unspent. The department encumbered only $6 million out of $17.6 million appropriated for water projects in fiscal year 2006.
"It's not a pretty picture," Eng said.
He noted the department is "off to a better start" in 2007, encumbering $11.3 million, or 37 percent of its $29.9 million infrastructure budget in the first six months of the 18-month CIP spending cycle.
Eng acknowledged that his $24.7 million CIP request for 2008 may have been "fairly ambitious," but said that after he reviewed the list project by project, he couldn't justify making any cuts.
"When you hear out the needs of the department, there's just needs everywhere," he said. "I'm hopeful we can achieve most of it."
Council Member Michelle Anderson, who chairs the council's Water Resources Committee, said one reason she supported the department's budget request was that it's never clear which projects will actually be able to move ahead and which will stall.
It's also hard to plan ahead when the county's Water Use and Development Plan is incomplete, and council members can't see the big picture of projects in the pipeline – an issue Anderson has said she's pleased the department is planning to address.
Anderson said she was hopeful Eng would make strides at accomplishing his projects.
"We have a new administration that's very sensitive to these needs, and a new director who knowingly accepted the burden of trying to turn the department around," she said. "We've got to give him a chance."
Council Chairman Riki Hokama said he hoped Eng would bring his experience in the private sector to help change the department's poor track record at completing projects.
He also supported a performance audit of the department to look for ways to improve the situation.
Hokama said he was willing to support Eng's $24.7 million CIP request in spite of poor past performance, but said he wanted to see the department deliver results. He said he wasn't sure how he'd respond if the money went unused again.
"I'm hoping not to be in that situation," he said. "My expectation is the department will perform."
The council gave initial approval to the 2008 county budget on Tuesday, and is expected to vote at second-and-final reading next Wednesday. Key water projects in the budget include:
Eng said a number of factors may have contributed to the department's weak performance in completing projects. The county has had trouble recruiting and retaining engineers, leading to a manpower shortage. Certain projects may have been held up by delays in land acquisition, while others may have been dependent on state or federal funding that ended up getting cut. And the county's boom in construction has made it difficult to find contractors and led to bids coming in over budget.
Even though those conditions haven't shown signs of changing, Eng, who took over as director in January, said he still believes he can improve the department's record and take a bigger bite out of his department's project list.
"I can't compare to previous years – I don't know how things were managed," he said. "I just feel there's a lot of cooperation and support with the team I'm working with. Based on that, I feel I can make some achievements this year."
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