Maintenance backlog and utility costs to be reduced at 49 Oahu parks

One out of every 6 city parks on Oahu are in store for improvements such as reduction in electricity and water use as well as a tackling of deferred maintenance.

City officials announced Wednesday that a contractor has begun work on the first of 49 parks slated for upgrades that include installation of energy- efficient lighting, high- efficiency electrical transformers, plumbing fixtures that save water, irrigation line replacements and weather-influenced irrigation control systems.

The contract for the two-year project, awarded to Massachusetts-based energy efficiency firm NORESCO through competitive bidding, also includes installing 14 pump systems at city park pools to produce chlorine naturally using salt and performing deferred maintenance work that frees up city staff for other needed park upkeep.

NORESCO is being paid a portion of what the city saves in utility expenses at the 49 parks — a cost reduction estimated to be $97 million over 20 years, and $3.4 million in the first year.

“It’s going to pay dividends across the island through these investments for community, for our economy and especially for our environment,” Nicola Hedge, deputy director of the city Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency, said during an announcement at Herbert K. Pilila‘au Community Park in Waianae where work has begun to improve irrigation controls and install indoor and outdoor LED lighting, including ball field lights.

Hedge said upgrades are projected to save 210 million gallons of water, 4.3 million kilowatt- hours of electricity, 156,000 gallons of chlorine and 7,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to taking 1,500 cars off the road. “This is really significant,” she said.

Kehaulani Pu‘u, deputy director of the city Department of Parks and Recreation, said pool staff will no longer have to put chlorine into pools daily and that NORESCO will take on complex deferred maintenance projects that have kept some park facilities closed for years.

”This is going to help us to address deferred maintenance, which is a huge challenge in DPR right now,” she said at Wednesday’s event. “A lot of our maintenance projects become so large and significant that they actually become capital improvement projects … and these projects can take several years to complete.”

For instance, pools at district parks in Waipahu and Pearl City have been closed for several years because of problems.

Waipahu District Park is slated for pool, lighting and irrigation improvements, starting with lighting installation in April. Pearl City District Park is to receive the same things, with lighting installation slated to begin in June.

NORESCO is maintaining a website at bit.ly/efficientparks to inform the public about the scope and timing of work at each park and whether temporary park closures are scheduled to accommodate work.

The city has 306 parks on Oahu, including mini­parks, beach parks, dog parks and botanical gardens.

Prior to the NORESCO contract, the city had done some similar upgrade work at parks under contracts covering one park at a time. For instance, Ala Moana Regional Park became the first city park with complete LED exterior lighting two years ago in a project done by Pacific Power Electrical Contracting LLC involving 570 lights and an estimated 60% energy use reduction saving $80,000 annually.

If the current project proves to be a success, more multipark projects may be launched, according to DPR spokesperson Nate Serota.

City officials awarded a tentative contract to NORESCO two years ago under then-Mayor Kirk Caldwell for the park improvement work subject to an assessment of detailed needs and solutions among all city parks.

Laura H. Thielen, DPR director, said in a statement that maintenance and energy conservation projects that will deliver the greatest benefit to park users and the environment were selected for the final contract agreement with NORESCO.

Nicole Velasco, senior account executive at NORESCO, in a statement said more than 400 jobs will be needed to carry out the work and that over 80% of the jobs will go to Hawaii residents. “Our team at NORESCO is honored to collaborate with DPR and design a project that not only safeguards the longevity of our beloved parks, but also contributes to the sustainability and economic prosperity of our community,” she said.