Hawaii County’s Mass Transit Agency is getting close to occupying its new bus baseyard, about a year after it was initially expected to be complete.
The approximately $11.3 million facility near the Hilo landfill will combine administrative offices with maintenance operations and includes several bays for mechanics to work.
Tiffany Kai, who is acting administrator, said construction is complete but the county is going through “punch list” items to make sure it’s ready for occupancy.
So far, floor paint was found peeling and will need to be redone, she said.
Administration might move in next month, with mechanics settling in to their new facility in January, Kai estimated.
Mechanics currently operate out of an inadequate facility on East Lanikaula Street.
The beleaguered agency has been hampered by bus breakdowns and other operational issues. Kai is hopeful the new baseyard will help it get moving in the right direction.
“I believe the new baseyard is going to play a huge role in operations,” she said. “It’s going to have a positive impact by allowing us to be more efficient with the facility that the mechanics are going to have.
“It will have more stalls, more maintenance bays. They no longer will have to work in the rain.”
Meanwhile, the county was close to hiring a new Mass Transit director on Thursday.
Wil Okabe, county managing director, said that afternoon that one of the approximately five applicants was being offered the job, but that deal hadn’t been finalized yet.
Mayor Harry Kim brought in Curt Sharp, a former U.S. Marine Corps officer, as a consultant to get the agency back on track earlier this year. His application for the permanent position was rejected by Human Resources because he wasn’t considered to have enough experience at the helm of a transit agency.
Sharp’s second 89-day contract expired in late October.
The county readvertised the position after a finalist declined the job offer because the salary was too low.
In the most recent round, the county increased the advertised pay from $67,728 to between $69,084 and $127,284.
Kai said she isn’t applying to keep the civil service post, and will instead oversee paratransit services.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
