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Committee hears explanation of landfill scale change order; county staff cite operational needs and multi-year closeout delays
Summary
Department of Environmental Management officials told the Finance Committee that a change order for the West Hawaii transfer station resulted from a decision to install two scales (inbound and outbound) rather than replacing a single old scale, citing truck turning and capacity needs; committee voted to close the file on Communication 24.17.
Hawaii County Department of Environmental Management officials told the Finance Committee on Thursday that a recent change order for the West Hawaii transfer station reflects a deliberate decision to install two scales instead of replacing the single older scale.
Mike Rivera, Solid Waste Division chief, said the county chose a two-scale configuration so large modern trucks can enter, weigh in and weigh out without making unsafe turns or striking the facility: "If we had stuck with just replacing the old scale where it was, you have a couple of issues there...the larger trucks that we use today would not be able to make that turn correctly around to the right, as well as they were also starting to hit the building." Rivera said current daily volume is about 600 tons and West Hawaii traffic of 150–200 vehicles per day means a one-scale system would not meet present or projected needs.
Robin Baumann, business manager with DEM, said the construction was completed in 2020 but the contract closeout took longer than expected: "The construction was completed in 2020, and it always takes some time to get it closed out afterwards, but it really shouldn't take 5 years." Baumann said the original construction completion date was listed as September 2020 and the extended administrative closeout carried on until the present.
Committee members asked about the financial impact. Rivera said the additional scale increased costs but provided operational benefits and growth capacity; Baumann said a mathematical error discovered during routing produced only a small further adjustment. The communications packet noted the contract is at roughly 83% of the original contract value; Baumann characterized remaining adjustments as minor.
The committee voted to close the file on Communication 24.17 (report of change orders authorized July 2025). The clerk recorded eight yeas and one absent.
Committee members asked DEM to provide backup documentation on the replacement and final change order amounts. Council Member Galimba and others thanked DEM staff for their work and asked for better contract closeout practices going forward.
The explanation and vote occurred during the Committee on Finance meeting at the West Hawaii Civic Center.
