MEDIA RELEASE

The county has finalized a new contract with Kamaaina Pumping Inc. to have the firm resume cleaning drywells and culverts islandwide.

The company’s bid price per unit for the new contract is approximately half the price Kamaaina Pumping was paid to do the same work last year. That means the county has an opportunity to save hundreds of thousands of dollars on the new contract because it requires Kamaaina Pumping to do the same work for about half the price.

The county paid Kamaaina Pumping a total of $1,029,440 last year.

Three companies bid to perform the drywell cleaning under the new contract. Kamaaina Pumping submitted the lowest bid, with the next lowest bidder submitting a per-unit bid that was 71 percent higher than the Kamaaina Pumping proposal.

The award of this contract was delayed last year after a company interested in competing for the drywell contract complained that the bid specifications had been written in a way that gave an unfair advantage to Kamaaina Pumping.

After a review of the bid specifications in question, the county in May 2009 declined to open the bids that had been submitted, and instead opted to revise the bid specifications and re-start the bidding process.

The new drywell contract covers the period from Jan. 1, 2010 through June 30, 2010. The County has the option to extend the new agreement from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011.

Mayor Billy Kenoi said the county is committed to a fair and open procurement process, and is considering other approaches to accomplish drywell and culvert cleaning.

“The Legislative Auditor recommended in a recent report that the Department of Public Works consider using county employees to handle drywell and culvert cleaning, and we will take a careful look at that option,” Kenoi said. “If it is feasible to handle this work in house, and if it will save the taxpayers money, then the county will shift this work to county employees.”