HART Board Hits A Snag In Deal Saving Taxpayers $130 Million
Recent changes increasing the rail board’s membership are hampering its ability to approve key actions.
Last year, rail officials with Hawaiian Electric, Co. for taxpayers to avoid spending an additional $130 million in utility work along the transit line鈥檚 western half.
It was a rare financial bright spot for the island鈥檚 20-mile, 21-station public works project, which has repeatedly struggled to stay on budget during the past three years.
But recent changes to the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board prevented that oversight body Wednesday from finalizing the deal with HECO.
Now, that cost-saving agreement is unexpectedly in limbo — and HECO says its ability to access all the overhead lines running along rail鈥檚 western guideway remains compromised.
鈥淲e鈥檙e already in a situation where for us it鈥檚 difficult to do our maintenance,鈥 a visibly frustrated Kathy Yonamine, HECO鈥檚 Project Management Division director, told the board Wednesday.
鈥淚t took us several years to get to this point,鈥 and it could take the same amount of time to renegotiate the deal if necessary, she said.
For years, HART and HECO have wrangled over what to do about the overhead utility lines that run too close to the rail guideway that鈥檚 being built. Consultants flagged the issue in 2009 but until 2013.
In February, they reached a deal for the city to buy for HECO that extend vertically like a telescope, allowing the utility to safely access most of the westside lines.
The city would still have to pay to bury some lines underground. That change covering the trucks and westside work totaled about $70 million.
The deal hit a snag Wednesday, however, when the HART board voted 7-1 in favor of it.
Previously, seven votes would have been more than enough for approval. But as part of rail鈥檚 most recent, $1.4 billion bailout package, state leaders increased HART鈥檚 board membership to 14.
The new state-appointed members don鈥檛 vote on agenda items — they’re on the board to give the state better oversight over rail’s progress. Nonetheless, eight of HART鈥檚 nine voting members now must vote 鈥測es鈥 for a measure to succeed because that reflects the new 14-member majority.
鈥淲e do need eight votes,鈥 HART board member Ember Shinn lamented Wednesday.
Glenn Nohara, the ninth voting member, didn鈥檛 attend Wednesday鈥檚 meeting. Then, board member John Henry Felix voted against the change order because he didn鈥檛 think the city negotiated a good deal with HECO. So the deal was not approved.
During its nearly seven-year history, the HART board has mostly voted unanimously and it rarely fails to approve change orders, which typically add project costs. On Wednesday, it was unable to approve a change order that鈥檚 estimated to save taxpayers about $130 million.
Board Chairman Damien Kim called the deal a 鈥渘o-brainer.鈥 聽If the city doesn鈥檛 buy those trucks, it would likely have to bury all the westside lines underground instead — and officials estimate that would cost about $200 million.
Meanwhile, HECO is using standard trucks to do some work along the westside, but there are power line sections there that it can鈥檛 service 鈥渁nd that鈥檚 a concern,鈥 HECO spokesman Jim Kelly said in an email Thursday.
As construction of the guideway moves further east, the utility could be unable to service other lines without the new trucks, he added. 聽As long as there鈥檚 no deal in place, the overhead utility access will be a problem.
On Wednesday, Yonamine told the board that the situation is 鈥渘ot optimal.鈥
After the vote, the HART board immediately went into executive session, where its members presumably discussed what to do. 聽When they emerged, they reopened discussions on the HECO deal and decided to defer it to their meeting next month.
Some board members, including city Transportation Services Director Wes Frysztacki, wondered why the city didn鈥檛 have a deal with HECO to get reimbursed if the utility uses the specialized trucks on other utility lines away from the guideway.
鈥淎gain, if not for the project, we would not need to get鈥 the special trucks, Yonamine testified.
Mayor Kirk Caldwell and the HART board hope that Honolulu voters might fix their by approving a city charter amendment later this year.
