Contract bids may double – Spouting Horn vendors worried

KUKU‘IULA — In light of recent amendments to Kaua‘i County Code, the vendors at Spouting Horn say they’ve never felt so insecure about their futures at the park.

During a special meeting on Oct. 1, Kaua‘i County Council unanimously approved three major changes to Chapter 23, which directly affect Spouting Horn vendors.

First, the concessionaire contracts decreased from five years to three.

Second, the minimum bid for a contract was increased from $1,200 per month to $3,000. And third, another for-profit booth will be added to the current eight. (Previously, the ninth booth was reserved for nonprofit use at a drastically reduced rate.)

Another change, though not directly impacting the vendors, siphons their rent income to the Parks and Recreation Department instead of the general fund.

County Council had been considering such changes since February of this year but was unable to finalize them before the previous five-year agreement expired in June.

An extension secured those contracts through the end of last month, a day before the council could address the issues in special session, forcing the businesses to shut down briefly.

At last week’s meeting, the council ratified the amendments and again extended the contracts, this time through March 30, 2008.

Spouting Horn vendor Barbara Anderson, who co-owns Remember Kauai, said yesterday that she hopes the next round of bids takes place before the current agreements end next Spring.

“If there is a lapse, it not only hurts the business people, but the Parks and Recreation Department doesn’t get its monthly income,” she said.

Anderson, who has worked at Spouting Horn since 1985, described this year’s contract negotiations as the most difficult to date.

She said she expects rent to go up with each contract renewal, but the jump from starting bids of $1,200 to $3,000 is “huge.”

Four of the eight vendors currently at Spouting Horn say their rent already exceeds the new minimum bid of $3,000. And many fear that successful bids for the next contract will exceed $5,000 per month, as competition naturally drives up the price from the starting point.

Sue Schnelle, co-owner of Jewels by the Sea, agreed. With a business partner and three employees on the payroll, she said a reasonable increase would have been $2,000 or $2,500.

Dale Sutton, co-owner of Tradewind Creations for the past 20 years, added that the changes jeopardize her livelihood.

“If I don’t have my business and I don’t have my income, I will have to sell my business and move off-island,” Sutton said tearfully.

Steve Lauryn, owner of Koa Moon Imports, has been at Spouting Horn for 10 years and is shocked by the way this year’s contract negotiations panned out.

He said the council’s portrayal of the vendor booths as “goldmines” making tons of money on county property is not accurate. Lauryn cited the almost $30,000 annual salary paid to “packers,” employees contracted by the booths to set up and take down merchandise every day.

Furthermore, Lauryn argued, the message will likely attract new bids from businesses who think a booth will bring in easy cash, leading to failures.

“They’re asking for trouble,” he said. “We kind of know what the market could bear.”

The Parks and Recreation Department director, who is also charged with establishing the rules and regulations for peddling and concession operations, has until March 31, 2008, to make changes.

The term for new contracts, once bid to the public, will end June 30, 2010.

Current Parks and Recreation Director Bernard Carvalho, Director of Finance Wallace Rezentes, and council members Mel Rapozo, Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho and JoAnn Yukimura were not immediately available for comment.

Spouting Horn park consists of 4.44 acres and includes a comfort station and the nine vendor booths.

The main attraction, of course, is the coastal lava shelf that channels incoming waves through lava tubes, spouting water up to 50 feet in the air.

• Blake Jones, business writer/assistant editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or bjones@kauaipubco.com.