Stink raised over
restroom stalls

The transportation chief
says quality tiles at 3 Maui
airports will cost less over time

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By Bruce Dunford
Associated Press

State Transportation Director Brian Minaai said state Rep. Bob McDermott was misinformed when he demanded an investigation yesterday into a contract requirement that expensive Corian be used in replacing 126 restroom stalls at three Maui airports.

McDermott (R, Salt Lake-Aliamanu-Aiea), an announced candidate for Congress, told a news conference the use of the solid polymer surfacing is a luxury that costs taxpayers four times as much as using a phenolic laminate such as Formica usually found in public restrooms.

In a news conference later in the day, Minaai said using the Corian-type material saves the state money in the long run due to lower maintenance costs and its longer life.

"Initial costs for solid surface materials are twice that of phenolic, not four times, as Rep. McDermott alleged," he said.

It turns out that the Corian-like product Gibraltar likely will be used by the low bidder, not Corian, nullifying McDermott's suggestion that the contract contains a "sweetheart deal" for the state's only Corian distributor, Minaai said.

While the Corian-like material costs twice as much to buy and install, after three years of use it would see the state saving money because of lower maintenance costs, he said.

The solid surface toilet partitions were specified because of the high use and abuse of restrooms in airports, Minaai said.

McDermott, who introduced a resolution calling for use of the cheaper material, said the contract requirement was "a good example of why Hawaii's people are the highest taxed in the nation and why our state government is rife with waste and apparent corruption."

He noted that the contract specified that the "Ultimate Corian System" to be used come from Shower Shapes, the state's only distributor of the product.

"Apparently, somebody wrote the contract requirement in such a way as to favor a certain party, substituting the standard material, phenolic, with a needlessly expensive luxury item that can only be purchase through one party," McDermott said.

Using Corian makes each stall cost $2,832, while using phenolic laminate drops the cost to $713, a difference of nearly $90,000 for the project, he said.

Minaai said it turns out the partition materials will come from Specialties Hawaii.

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