Pact lets the city complete sewer fix
A shopping center owner's agreement green-lights the work
The city has reached an agreement with the owner of Niu Valley Shopping Center that will allow a contractor to resume work to replace a 16-inch sewer force main along Kalanianaole Highway.
Work on the project will resume in January and is scheduled to be completed by mid-2007, city officials said yesterday.
The agreement was reached after representatives for landowner King's Cathedral and Chapels, including senior pastor the Rev. James Marocco, and the landowner's insurance carrier met Thursday with Mayor Mufi Hannemann and members of his administration.
"It was wonderful. We always wanted to allow the county to do (the project)," Marocco said.
Hannemann said King's Cathedral dropped some of its previous demands and will now allow the city temporary access to a portion of the shopping center's parking lot needed for the project's drilling equipment.
"I think the community at large, especially in East Honolulu, those who live in and around the Niu Valley Shopping Center, are going to be very, very pleased," he said.
Marocco said the church and its insurer wanted to have safeguards in effect to protect the church and its tenants from liability. "We're thankful that it all came together," Marocco said.
Work to drill under Kalanianaole Highway from Niuiki Circle to Kawaikui Park to install a flexible 16-inch pipe started in June, after the aging cast-iron pipe broke three times in February, forcing the city to install a temporary, above-ground bypass line.
Work halted in August as negotiations between the city and King's Cathedral bogged down.