ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ

The City Council is continuing its budget briefings. Civil Beat is reporting from the inside.

Ansaldo, Kiewit Win Rail Contracts

2:30 p.m.
Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle announced the award of two new rail contracts. Ansaldo Honolulu will get $574 million for “core systems” including train cars and a system control-center. The company will also handle the first five years of operation and maintenance at an additional cost that chief rail planner Toru Hamayasu said isn’t yet finalized. The Pistoia, Italy-based company beat two other companies that bid for the project.

The city also hired Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. to work on design and construction of the second phase of the rail line, which will run from Pearl City to Aloha Stadium. That contract is worth $372 million, and it’s the second guideway-construction contract Kiewit has secured. The City and County is paying Kiewit $483 million for the first phase of construction. Kiewit beat one other company that bid for the core systems contract.

Carlisle said the AnsaldoBreda contract came in $218 million cheaper than planned, and the second Kiewit contract came in $53 million more than planned for a net savings of $165 million.

The mayor the overall project is still estimated to cost $5.5 billion. He estimates it will create about 1,000 new jobs by the end of the year. Rail construction approved by the Federal Transit Administration is still limited to utility relocation and property acquisition.

Ocean Safety Rescued Thousands Last Year

1:17 p.m.
Emergency Services Director James Ireland is briefing the City Council at this hour. He said in 2010, his department transported about 44,000 people to get medical help.

“Ocean safety did nearly 2,000 rescuses and did over 500,000 preventative actions,” Ireland said. “That’s when (an ocean safety official) sees someone who might be a visitor, warns them about beach conditions, says, ‘Maybe this isn’t the best beach for you,’ or ‘Maybe the surf is a little high for you and your children.’ We respond to calls, but in ocean safety, there’s so much in prevention that we’re actually creating a little less work for ourselves on the rescue side.”

Fire Fighters Boisterous at City Hall

12:56 p.m.
City Council Budget Chairman Ernie Martin had to mock-scold more than half-a-dozen Honolulu firefighters who kept chatting even after Martin banged the gavel to start a budget briefing.

“Stop talking story back there or I’ll make you come up here and answer questions!” Martin joked.

That got their attention. Fire Chief Ken Silva is now briefing the Budget Committee, and says the force is working to add more firefighters before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in November.

“We’ve been trying to process recruit classes as quickly as we can,” Silva said. “This next class we’re trying to get 60. Typically we do 24 per class. They’re going to be graduating prior to APEC. They won’t have much experience but we will have warm bodies.”

New Rail Contracts to be Announced at 2 p.m.

12:03 p.m.
Honolulu Managing Director Doug Chin confirmed to Civil Beat that Mayor Peter Carlisle will this afternoon announce the award of new contracts for the city’s $5.5 billion rail project. More details will emerge after a 2 p.m. press conference.

Mayor to Make “Major” Rail Announcement

10:24 a.m.
Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle is this afternoon making a “major announcement on the rail project,” according to a statement released by his press secretary.

One possibility? The award of two contracts for the $5.5 billion project. Asked last week when the announcement would be made, chief rail planner Toru Hamayasu told Civil Beat it would be “soon.”

The mayor’s press conference is set for 2 p.m.

Voice Sirens Not Replacing Traditional Warnings Any Time Soon

10:09 a.m.
Officials from the Honolulu Department of Emergency Management are briefing the City Council Budget Committee on their spending plans for next year. City Council member Breene Harimoto asked whether the department is still exploring new civil defense sirens that give residents instructions on evacuation.

The department’s Mel Kaku says issues arose in testing the technology.

“The test results varied, unfortunately,” Kaku said. “The variation was due to the environmental conditions, primarily the wind. On one of the test dates, the wind was gusty. It was very difficult to hear. In fact, the range we had anticipated was severely degraded.”

Even with new technologies, Kaku said there will always be a need for traditional notification systems.

“There are vehicles with loudspeakers,” Kaku said. “The more traditional way is to walk and go door-to-door. In coastal areas, that is required because of inaccessible areas available only by foot traffic.”

Kaku said the department doesn’t have any data to show how many Oahu residents evacuated as instructed versus how many stayed in their homes in evacuation zones during the March 11 tsunami warning.

Honolulu Police Department Encourages Hybrids

9:58 a.m.
Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha said his department is trying to watch how much gasoline is guzzled by police vehicles.

“One of the things that we really implemented now is a computerized system that actually looks at it gallon for gallon,” Kealoha told the Budget Committee this morning. “It’s more accountability. The other program that we’re looking at is the use of hybrid vehicles. We’re in the process of purchasing several fusion hybrid vehicles.”

Kealoha said the department also offers incentives for officers who choose to purchase hybrid vehicles.

Mayors Convene in Honolulu

8:56 a.m.
Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa told Civil Beat he’s at Honolulu Hale this morning to discuss the “nitty gritty” of labor negotiations. Arakawa is meeting this morning with Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle, Big Island Mayor Billy Kenoi and Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho.

The mayors will meet at the same time the Honolulu Police Department presents its budget to the City Council Budget Committee. That meeting is getting under way in minutes.

Emergency Services Turns to Social Media

The city’s Emergency Services director, James Ireland, says his department had already decided to take a more active approach to social media before the March 11 tsunami. In fact, the topic came up the day a tsunami hit Hawaii. Though it caused millions of dollars in damage, the islands were spared the death and destruction it caused in Japan.

Still, Ireland says the event moved him to create Twitter and Facebook accounts the next day.

“We had a meeting before the tsunami and discussed having the city as a whole use more social media to communicate with the public,” Ireland told Civil Beat. “After the tsunami, for me, I saw a role for this for both routine and urgent information.”

Check out the Emergency Services Department’s and pages.

Catch Up on This Month’s Inside Honolulu

March 17, 2011: City Council questions necessity of long-planned bond float for rail; Length executive sessions moves rail talks behind closed doors; Aging bus fleet, city workers.

March 16, 2011: City Council tables transit resolution; City Council members slam administration’s proposed fuel hike.

March 15, 2011: City Council member Ann Kobayashi tips off rail opponents to try to change City Council member Ikaika Anderson‘s mind; Rail arguments to continue in court next week; City Council members get an extension on HART nominations.

March 15, 2011: Honolulu spends $900 million on booze; Santa Claus moves to Pearl City; Mayor Peter Carlisle takes a 15 percent pay cut.

March 10, 2011: Landfill site-selection committee meets for third time, loses two members; HECO provides generators to family center; Like Honolulu, other cities and state grapple with spending on rail.

March 9, 2011: City’s rail groundbreaking ceremony costs about $30,000, consistent with Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle‘s estimate.

March 8, 2011: HART seeks $21 million in first budgetl; City IT Director Gordon Bruce works out kinks on new budget website; City gives HPD 9,000 hours in legal defense in two years; City moves forward with compost facility in Waialua; Could Honolulu ask residents to pay-to-play?

March 7, 2011: Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle says he doesn’t want a raise; Salary Commission recommends bump in pay for vacant medical examiner job; Tom Berg‘s chief of staff blasts HECO.

March 4, 2011: Landfill channel not designed to handle rainfall equivalent to storm that caused near-catastrophe; Six City Council members out of town.

March 3, 2011: Line-by-line budget to go online in about a week; Five City Council members are D.C.-bound.

March 2, 2011: Mayor Peter Carlisle raises taxes, fees in first budget; More money for autopsies; Liquor commish nominee Wesley Fong talks commission image issues; TheBus turns 40; Ides of March deadline for City Council’s HART nominees.

March 1, 2011: City Council member Breene Harimoto worries about bandaid approach to homelessness; Planning Committee advances North Shore communities plan; Parks and Rec eyes new dog park; Tom Berg pitches Matson containers as possible living space.