A delay in building permits was expected, but it’s worse than contractors suspected – and the county had previously reported – in the transition to an online permit system for two county departments .
As of last week, only 110 permits out of the 1,700 permit applications received since the system went live in July have been issued and there are 1,500 other pending permit applications that were submitted prior to the commissioning of the system. new system, public works director Ikaika Rodenhurst told the county. Committee of the Council on Public Works and Public Transport at a briefing on Tuesday.
Permits were issued for 554 of the previous permit applications in August and September, he said.
The contractors sounded the alarm bells last month, alerting county officials and the newspaper that something was wrong. A county spokeswoman told the newspaper at the time that the department had dealt with “the sheer volume of permits and technical workflow issues.”
The new Energov program integrates data from property records, zoning, critical habitat, infrastructure like sewers, contractor licenses, building and plot designs, and more into a single system-based system. cloud which will allow inspectors from several departments to work simultaneously on a permit request. , rather than shuffling paper from office to office.
The county has budgeted $ 15 million for the transition to software dubbed “EPIC” for Electronic Processing and Information Center.
“EPIC was launched in July and since then we have processed permits, issued permits and we have struggled with transition issues with legacy to EPIC as well as IT issues in the EPIC system which are expected in any kind of update. Said Rodenhurst. “This has created a lot of setbacks in the way we do our work in the building division. … It’s a bit difficult to expect what you don’t expect. … We are working as best we can to find workarounds while we resolve these computer issues.
Rodenhurst said his department has created a web form for contractor assistance requests, with the aim of responding to them within two business days. This takes some of the pressure off the phone staff and makes the process more efficient, he said.
“Our staff work extremely hard and sometimes the community doesn’t see it and they just see that their license isn’t getting the attention they think it deserves and so sometimes they go after our staff,” he said. said Rodenhurst. “I would ask the community not to pick on the staff. If you’re going to be mad at someone, be mad at me. Don’t be mad at my staff.
The contractors say the county needs to take the problem seriously.
“In the end, if Hawaii County was looking for a way to cripple the construction industry, it did so successfully… no permits were issued, inspectors ordered no work to be done. courtesy inspections … and so far no relief in sight, “Jan Weber, a Kona project engineer for Calvin’s Plumbing Inc., said in written testimony:” Construction is the only industry that has remained strong throughout from the pandemic of the past 18 months… their work will stop… and without work construction staff will be unemployed until the COH “fixes the problems” and gets the permits back on track.
Council members were sympathetic.
“We have to do better – we have to do it,” said Puna city councilor Matt Kaneali’i-Kleinfelder, who requested the update. “I’m very worried to hear the same response I know they get, which is ‘we’re working on a resolution.’ Of course we are. We have to. But in this case the government … we really have to move on. move up a gear now and find a solution for our contractors so that they can get those permits and start rolling.
Puna City Councilor Ashley Kierkiewicz said everyone knew there would be startup issues, but communication was key.
“It sucks all around. It sucks for the county, it sucks for the community, ”Kierkiewicz said. “People just need that consistency – they need to know when.”
Solar and photovoltaic entrepreneurs have been among the most vocal in voicing their concerns. There has not been a single photovoltaic or solar water permit issued in the 12 weeks since the EPIC system went live, they said. Representatives of the solar association urged the county to create a “band-aid” or workaround until the system is caught up.
The Building Division also needs to better communicate with contractors awaiting permits, they said.
“We need the building permit process to work, to be predictable,” said Charlie Jeffries, regional operations manager for Sunrun Solar, the island’s largest solar installer. “An unpredictable work schedule for our team members and the residents of Big Island also means unpredictable income for them and their families in an already difficult time we are going through. “
Rodenhurst said there are currently 217 PV permits in the system, but denied that no PV permits have been issued in the past three months.
Once the public works backlog has been cleared, the next stop for many permits is the planning department, where manager Zendo Kern has said his staff are trained and ready.
“We expected it to be painful and it is. It sucks, ”Kern said. “There is no lack of efforts, there is no lack of will, the fact of wanting things to be good. … The good thing is that the system is pretty darn decent. We just have to keep moving. “
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at [email protected]
