After a survey revealed the faulty placement of a picnic shelter within a recreational pathway project along the Kealia coastline, contractor Jas W. Glover Ltd. yesterday directed the relocation of the shelter farther south toward Kapa‘a town. A Jas. W.
After a survey revealed the faulty placement of a picnic shelter within a recreational pathway project along the Kealia coastline, contractor Jas W. Glover Ltd. yesterday directed the relocation of the shelter farther south toward Kapa‘a town.
A Jas. W. Glover employee at the scene yesterday said a survey by Esaki Surveying and Mapping showed the shelter was put too far north along the coastline and a decision was made to put it back among a cluster of three other newly built coastline picnic shelters by the town.
“There was a mistake, and it was corrected.,” the employee said.
The picnic shelter is one of nine installed by Kealia Beach, which is part of 4.3-mile bicycle and pedestrian project from Kapa‘a to Kealia
A group that included Doug Haigh, chief of the Building Division, an architect and engineer and others walked the coastline in February 2006 and laid out the location of all the shelters, the employee said.
Deputy County Engineer Ed Renaud said it his initial impression the shelter was relocated because it was put too close to a certified shoreline for the larger pathway project.
The picnic shelters were generally to be located between 40 and 50 feet mauka from the certified shoreline, he said. The eight other shelters were apparently put in the right places.
Yesterday’s work involved the demolition of a small concrete foundation and four concrete pillars with an excavator and the placement of an existing roof on a new frame and platform located among the three other picnic shelters.
The work also involved the relocation of a wooden bench and table from the demolition site to the new site.
All nine shelters were put within the second leg of a county-initiated, 16-mile pedestrian and bicycle pathway project from Nawiliwili Harbor to Anahola.
The county administration had secured $30 million in grant funds for the entire project, and had hoped to augment those funds with in-kind contributions, including land donations, from neighboring landowners.
The development of the second leg of the pathway project became controversial after Kaua‘i County Councilmembers Mel Rapozo and Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho voiced concerns over a decision by Mayor Bryan Baptiste’s administration to use a certified shoreline dating back to the early 2000s to place six rest areas on the coastline.
By law the shoreline certification is good for only 12 months, and Rapozo and Iseri-Carvalho argued a more recent one should have been done for the pathway project.
The Kaua’i County Planning Commission apparently agreed with the county Planning Department’s determination that there existed no state or county requirement to use a more updated certified shoreline throughout the construction of the pathway project.
The county Planning Commission also recently approved the installation of roofs for six rest areas within the 4.3-mile project.
The cost of relocating the shelter will be borne by Jas W. Glover Ltd.
• Lester Chang, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@kauaipubco.com.
