LIHU‘E — Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. on March 15 will submit to the Kaua‘i County Council the proposed budget for the county’s capital improvement and operational expenses for fiscal year 2013, which runs from July 1 to June 30, 2013.
LIHU‘E — Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. on March 15 will submit to the Kaua‘i County Council the proposed budget for the county’s capital improvement and operational expenses for fiscal year 2013, which runs from July 1 to June 30, 2013.
But Kaua‘i residents can get a glimpse of what may come in the CIP budget. The county Planning Department has already released an annual list encompassing 53 proposed projects for the next six years.
“It’s a rolling compilation of anticipated major capital projects, including permanent public improvements, but not programmed or routine maintenance costs,” county long-range planner Marie Williams said Jan. 10 at a Kaua‘i Planning Commission meeting.
The commission on Jan. 10 reviewed the list and unanimously approved submitting it to the council for inclusion as part of the budget submission for FY 2013.
The report, however, is not “necessarily a budget,” said Williams, explaining it measures the “extent of county needs.” She said a project’s inclusion does not mean it will be earmarked for funding.
Calling the report a “wish list,” she said various county departments proposed projects they believe are necessary.
The priciest items listed for proposed inclusion in next year’s CIP budget include two police substations at approximately $5.15 million each, an $8 million park expansion on the North Shore, a $2 million fix for a back road in Kapa‘a, $9 million to fund the expansion of Kekaha Landfill, $2.38 million for preliminary work related to a new landfill and $7.9 million in wastewater work island-wide.
The list also include a residential adolescent drug treatment facility. The administration in 2011 sited the facility in Lihu‘e, amid a flood of controversy. The department’s list states the project relates to the county General Plan’s 2020 Vision, which calls for a decline in crime and drug use. The $5 million facility, however, is not listed in any of the six years of the plan prepared by the department.
The administration told the council in 2011 that a Materials Recovery Facility would be built by FY 2016. The list, however, proposes $1.6 million in design expenses for the facility in FY 2016. The facility would only be built in FY 2018, with $7.15 million in construction and land acquisition costs. The county and the state government would split all costs.
One of the cheaper projects proposed for FY 2013 includes improvements to bus stops. But the construction is estimated at half the cost of the project’s design. The improvements, funded by the county, would cost $200,000 for design and $100,000 for construction.
For each of the subsequent five fiscal years, the design costs for the bus stop project would drop to $60,000, while construction costs would climb to $200,000, with an additional $40,000 for equipment.
The police substations would be in Kawaihau and Waimea districts. The list estimates planning for each substation at $150,000 and construction at $5 million each, all funded by the county.
The expansion of Hanalei’s Back Pot Beach Park is estimated at $8 million in land acquisition, all funded by the county.
Improvements to Kanaele Road in Kapahi would cost $2 million, with the county and state splitting the bill. The road is badly damaged in a section between Laipo and Apopo roads. Kanaele Road is one of the main roads used by Kapahi residents to access Kapa‘a Transfer Station, which is also proposed for reconstruction at $4.5 million, but not until FY 2014.
The administration sited a new municipal landfill in Ma‘alo, but since the end of 2010 there have been no public meetings held regarding the site, which is next to Hanama‘ulu. The report states that preliminary engineering and preparation of a required Environmental Impact Statement are under way.
Land acquisition for a new landfill would cost $2.38 million in FY 2013 and $550,000 in FY 2015, according to the report. The new landfill design, proposed for FY 2016, would cost $3 million. An additional $30 million is forecast for the cost of the new landfill, but no date is set in the six-year list. The administration recently told the council the new landfill is supposed to be operating by 2020.
A project to improve and expand Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall in Lihu‘e is estimated at $2.5 million. Design costs would be $500,000 in FY 2013, with the county and state splitting the bill. Actual construction would get under way in FY 2015, at a cost of $2 million, with the county and state again splitting the bill.
Improvements to the ‘Ele‘ele wastewater treatment plan would cost $3 million in FY 2013, funded by the state. At the end of FY 2016, annual improvements would total $15.6 million.
The expansion of the Wailua wastewater treatment plan and upgrades to the collection system would cost $3.8 million in FY 2013. By the end of FY 2016, annual upgrades would add up to $13.4 million, all funded by the state.
Design costs for the expansion of Lihu‘e’s sewer collection lines to Kupopo and Nawiliwili would be $600,000 in FY 2013. In FY 2014 and FY 2015, construction would cost $3 million each year.
Improvements to the Waimea R-1 reuse water distribution system would cost $500,000 in FY 2013 for the design. Construction for FY 2014 would cost an estimated $2 million.
The six-year CIP program report is an annual compilation of proposed county projects. The Planning Director and the Planning Commission are responsible for preparing the report in coordination with various county agencies.
Although numbers are offered in the report, the document states the projects included do not receive ultimate expenditure authority “until and if” they are incorporated in the annual capital budget.
The county’s charter tasks the department with establishing a method of organizing CIPs and priorities to be used in the report. The report states the department has not completed this action but is developing a prioritization method in the next General Plan update.
The projects were divided into eight categories: buildings, drainage, parks and recreation, roads and roadways, solid waste, transit, wastewater and housing.
Call the department’s Long Range Planning Division at 241-4050 to obtain a copy of the report.
