Rail contractor will pay for lacking license

Ansaldo Honolulu JV has agreed to pay the state $150,000 to settle two pending cases that alleged that Ansaldo was not licensed when the company submitted responses to the city as part of the bidding process for the rail transit project, the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs said Friday.

Ansaldo won a $1.4 billion contract to design, build, operate and maintain rail cars, the city announced in March.

In August, DCCA’s Regulated Industries Complaints Office received two complaints alleging that Ansaldo failed to obtain a contractor’s license before submitting a proposal for the city’s rail project. Although Ansaldo was licensed prior to submitting best and final offers and before a contract for the rail project was awarded, the company was not licensed when the bidding process initially began.

According to the Contractors License Board, a contractor’s license is required to submit a bid on contracting work. Submitting a bid without a contractor’s license constitutes unlicensed contracting. The fine for unlicensed contracting activity ranges from $2,500 to as high as 40 percent of the total contract price.

"As with similar cases RICO has handled in the past, RICO took into consideration that, in these cases, no consumers were harmed and a contractor’s license was in hand before a contract was signed or ground was broken," said RICO supervising attorney Daria Goto. "The amount of the fine reflects the size of the project and the fact that Ansaldo was in the beginning stages of the bidding process when it obtained a license."

The department said in a news release that RICO has entered into similar settlements in the past to resolve situations in which the unlicensed person comes into compliance with licensing laws before there is any harm to consumers.

Although the licensing issue was raised in an earlier procurement dispute, RICO’s jurisdiction in these cases was limited to determining whether Ansaldo may have engaged in contracting activity before obtaining a license, according to the news release. As part of the earlier procurement dispute, David Karlen, senior hearings officer of DCCA’s Office of Administrative Hearings, had previously determined that Ansaldo’s licensing status did not disqualify the company from bidding on the city’s rail project.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Body in ravine ID’d as Hilo man

Officials said a body discovered in a Hilo ravine Tuesday is that of Edward Van Kleeck, 84, of Hilo. An autopsy was conducted Friday, the Hawaii County Police Department said.

The cause of death remained undetermined pending further tests, but the medical examiner ruled out foul play and determined that Van Kleeck’s injuries were consistent with a fall from a height, police said.

South Hilo police patrol officers found Van Kleeck’s body after responding to a report of an unattended vehicle just after 4 p.m. in the upper Kaiwiki Road area. Officers found a Volkswagen convertible registered to Van Kleeck, who could not be accounted for.

Police found indications at the scene that Van Kleeck might have been injured. Fire personnel helped search a nearby ravine, aided by the Fire Department’s helicopter.

At the bottom of the ravine, Fire Department personnel found the body of an elderly man with injuries. He was taken to Hilo Medical Center, where a doctor pronounced him dead.

No mixed waste at Kauai station

Kauai County officials said loose mixed waste is not being accepted at the Hanapepe refuse transfer station until further notice because of mechanical problems.

The facility is still accepting bagged trash, along with green waste, scrap metal, appliances, propane tanks, used tires, used motor oil and motor oil filters, and used cooking oil.

Residents wishing to dispose of loose mixed waste can take it to the Lihue refuse station or the Kekaha Landfill.

Call the Solid Waste Division at 241-4839.