GCA Rodeo Benefits Special Olympics

Below, Perez Brothers’ John Castro prepares to show his excavator skills using a basketball at the Guam Contractors Association Construction and Truck Rodeo in Hagatna.

Excavators and basketballs were just one attraction at the third annual Guam Contractors Association (GCA) Construction and Truck Rodeo held Feb. 27 and 28. The benefit for Guam Special Olympics also featured carpentry and electrical wiring competitions, a mixer truck pull and a “best-dressed” truck contest that entertained hundreds of spouses and family members of men and women who work in or in support of the Guam construction industry. Together with entry fees for the various competitions from more than 20 teams and sponsorships by local businesses, the event raised a total of about $17,000, GCA office manager Ann Marie Pelobello said.

Three trucks entered in the best-of-show contest at the rodeo event, now in its third year.

Teams from Guam construction and contracting companies take part in an electrical wiring competition. The association’s construction and truck rodeo is a benefit for Guam Special Olympics.

Building Industry, June 2010

By Donovan Brooks
Activity on Guam is heating up. This special report explores a range of issues relating to the military buildup on Guam. First, we explore what the opposition has to say. Who are they and why do they disapprove of the transfer? We also highlight new residential developments as well as multimillion dollar contracts awarded by the Navy.

Opposition Grows

As politicians in Japan continue to debate Okinawa’s future as a U.S. military forces platform, opposition is quietly building to an already sanctioned plan to move 8,600 Okinawa-based Marines, about 9,000 family members and support personnel to Guam.

Even as more than $1 billion in construction contracts are being awarded for work in support of the announced Marine Corps move, the centerpiece of a planned $10 billion Guam buildup, members of the Guam community living here and elsewhere, both young and not-so-young, have embarked on a worldwide public education program about particular facets of the plan. They are leapfrogging but not ignoring traditional methods like town meetings, television and radio programming and printed information, and instead are using blogs, Facebook and other Internet portals to inform anyone interested about the Defense Department’s November 2009 Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Guam.

The document details the newest strategic plan for the American territory and how those plans, if implemented, will affect life on the 212-square-mile island. Some of those plans involve using additional land for military use. The military currently owns a third of the island. Other plans call for dredging Guam’s Apra Harbor so aircraft carriers can safely enter and exit berthing, impacting 71 acres of coral reef in the process, something the federal Environmental Protection Agency has called “environmentally unsatisfactory” after reviewing the DEIS, which the agency then gave its lowest possible rating.

In February, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service submitted a letter outlining its “key issues of concern” with the DEIS. The coastal and marine resources management and conservation agency observed that “[t]his action is unprecedented in the Pacific as it is the largest troop movement since World War II, includes the largest dredging action in U.S. history, and touches every aspect of the environment, community, culture and economics on Guam…”

After a collective of concerned citizens began assessing the DEIS and publicizing simple summaries of the plan’s goals and requirements, community concern began to mount.

We Are Guahan, a self-described multiethnic collective of individuals, families and grassroots organizations concerned with the future of Guam and the region, circulated a petition asking President Barack Obama to personally hear Guam residents’ concerns about the DEIS when the president visits Guam. The visit is still officially in the works, part of a presidential visit to Asia and the Pacific Rim. The group said the petition received 11,000 signatures. On Facebook, the We Are Guahan page has 2,236 members.

Another page, Say No to the Military Buildup on Guam, has about 250 members. Other environmental and human rights organizations also have weighed in on the Guam buildup.

More than 9,000 comments were submitted to the Navy in response to the NEPA-mandated (National Environmental Policy Act) environmental issues DEIS.

The Navy’s Joint Program Guam Office is the liaison between the Navy and Guam for buildup issues and maintains its own web site. The office states that the DEIS was prepared, “in accordance with (NEPA), which requires federal decision makers to consider the environmental consequences of a proposed action before making the decision to take the action.”

NEPA requires federal agencies to publish a DEIS for public comments. Under the heading, “Maximizing DoD Resources,” the office summarizes the need for the Guam military buildup, stating, “Currently, the Department of Defense owns 40,000 acres on Guam – approximately 29 percent of the land mass. The availability of DoD lands on Guam and the existence of global mobility capabilities at Andersen Air Force Base and the Naval Base Guam significantly lowers estimated relocation costs over any other potential location in the Western Pacific.

“The Department of Defense maintains extensive global mobility capabilities at Andersen Air Force Base with robust Air Force Air Mobility Command capabilities to support onward deployments for Marines and other forces proposed to be relocated to Guam.

“The runway at Andersen Air Force Base can accommodate any tactical or strategic aircraft in the U.S. arsenal, including all strategic lift and strategic bomber/strike aircraft. Similarly, the U.S. Navy Base on Guam is capable of expansion to accommodate the embarkation and deployment of Marines and other forces by naval shipping. Forces often train in areas where joint and combined exercises can be performed. Guam and the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI) provide potential training areas for up to battalion-sized forces.”

Some Guam officials feel the best they can do is ensure Guam is protected from possible environmental damage as much as possible.

“I think there will be a delay but it’s not a deal breaker,” James Martinez of the Guam Contractors Association said about the concerns over the DEIS.
“It’s going to happen,” Guam Buildup Office director Paul Shintaku said. The office acts as a clearinghouse for information the government receives and needs to disseminate. “The timing is one of the big issues, whether they can meet the timetable.”

Originally, the Defense Department said the entire process could be complete by 2014.

“It’s obvious that the construction schedule is very ambitious,” Shintaku said. “They haven’t even broken ground for the port expansion. That’s the first step to (getting) ready to accommodate this level of activity.”

Guam Sen. Tina Muna-Barnes recently traveled to Washington D.C. with three other members of the Guam Legislature to speak directly with as many officials as possible during a full week of meetings.

“We’re asking for additional time,” to continue to review and seek alternatives to Navy proposals in the DEIS, Muna-Barnes said.
Essentially, Guam wants to maintain a certain quality of life, with clean water, adequate health care, navigable, safe roadways and a safe community.

“What’s happening inside the fences should also happen outside the fences,” Muna-Barnes said.

Beyond the Buildup

Besides buildup preparations, ongoing construction projects also include two new residential developments.

• Emerald Oceanview Park
The four residence towers of Emerald Oceanview Park continue to rise above the Guam landscape, already dwarfing the nearby Sheraton Laguna Resort and another luxury condominium.

When complete, the four reinforced concrete towers, two 19-floor and two 16-floor structures, will offer panoramic views of the island and unobstructed views of the ocean. The project also includes 20 villas built in three two-level complexes.

The Sunjin Architecture and Engineering and W.B. Flores Engineering design was still under construction in early May by contractors Hanil Construction Inc. and (right) Younex Builder Corp. General manager Yoon Suk Hwan said it was taking work crews about a month to pour concrete for one complete level in each of the four towers. Yoon said 13 levels in one tower, and 10, 11 and 12 levels in the other three towers had been completed, using about 436 cubic yards of concrete per level. Concrete pouring should be complete by December. The project has just accepted bids for aluminum windows and for waterproofing. Subcontractors include Kevin and Steve Corp. for electrical work, and DS Guam for mechanical work. Younex is handling the structural engineering, Yoon said at the site, which sits on roughly 20 acres of Oka, Tamuning cliffline property, adjacent to the Guam Memorial Hospital.

Work on Emerald Oceanview Park began in June 2008 and is expected to be complete around May 2011. Each tower will have two three-bedroom and two four-bedroom units per floor. A pair of penthouses sits atop each tower as well. Amenities will include a community center, swimming pool and tennis court. Glass elevators located on the exterior of the towers will provide residents and guests with a view of the surrounding areas as they ride to their destination floor.

Below, The view from the 11th floor of Grandview Corporation’s Guam Beachfront Residences in Tumon

• Guam Beachfront Residences
Grandview Corporation’s Guam Beachfront Residences complex in Tumon is the result of a complete renovation of a 12-floor structure originally built and operated as a hotel.

“Everything is new,” leasing agent Willy Onglao said.

Paxia Builders stripped the beachfront property down to beams and columns, which were then reinforced with steel plates recommended by a structural engineering survey. Then, new water lines, sewage lines, electrical wiring and elevators were installed, Onglao said.

New partitioning pared down the former 200-room hotel to just 83 units, 19 three-bedroom, 29 two-bedroom and 35 one-bedroom units, many with spectacular ocean views, which were offered for lease starting in January. Currently, 24 units are occupied. Rates range from $2,200 per month to $4,600 per month.

A 1,000-square-foot exercise center will be complete in about 60 days. The complex also features a swimming pool located just a coconut toss from the beach. Each residence unit has one covered parking space, and there is ample parking for guests, within the ground level parking area. The complex also has two vacant ground level commercial spaces, a 6,000-square-foot space at the front of the building, and a 2,000-square-foot space facing the ocean, Onglao said.

Lucrative Contracts

The Guam Small Business $500 million Multiple Award Construction Contract (MACC) was awarded on March 10, 2010, according to the Joint Guam Program Office. It was awarded to six contractors:

• Guam Pacific International, LLC, Barrigada, Guam

• Bulltrack-Watts, JV, Marysville, Calif.

• Niking Corp., Pearl City, Hawaii

• Overland Corp., Ardmore, Okla.

•P&S Construction Inc., Lowell, Mass.

• Pacific West Builders, National City, Calif.

Workmen pour a concrete wall section at Tanota Partners’ Bayview Five project adjacent the Hyatt Regency Guam in Tumon.

Each was awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) MACC for new construction, renovation/modernization and routine repair/maintenance of government shore-based facilities in Guam. The dollar value for all six contracts combined is $500 million. Guam Pacific International, LLC, has been awarded task order 0001 at $12.96 million for the complete design and construction of a combat support vehicle maintenance facility at the northwest field area of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online web site, with 13 proposals received. These six contractors will compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Marianas, Guam, is the contracting activity.

In May, NAVFAC Pacific awarded a $4 billion maximum capacity IDIQ design-build MACC to seven companies for construction projects at sites in Guam and other areas under its jurisdiction. It’s the largest contract ever awarded by NAVFAC Pacific.

The seven companies are: CNMS, A Joint Venture, based in Honolulu; Core Tech-AMEC-SKEC LLC, Honolulu; dck-ecc pacific guam LLC, Clairton, Pa.; Guam MACC Builders JV (GMB), Honolulu; Hensel Phelps-Granite-Traylor Pacific JV, Greeley, Colo.; Kiewit-Mortenson Joint Venture, Kapolei; and Tutor Perini Corporation, Sylmar, Calif.

“This is certainly a major milestone,” said NAVFAC Pacific Vice Commander Capt. Paul Fuligni at the time of the announcement. “We now have in place a large contract vehicle that we can use immediately for construction projects on Guam and elsewhere unrelated to the relocation. More importantly, this contract will be available to award construction task orders for the military relocation after the Environmental Impact Statement Record of Decision (ROD) is signed.”

“This is an incredible opportunity for our team and something (for which) we had been preparing for a long time,” comments Denny Watts, managing partner of GMB and president of Watts Constructors. “I am hopeful that this will be the catalyst for economic growth on Guam and prosperity for its people.”

All work under the MACC will be initiated by task orders that are competed among the seven companies. Projects will require incorporation of sustainable features such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building standards.

Under the terms of this contract, a $23.41 million task order was awarded to dck-ecc pacific guam, LLC for a seed project that includes the design and construction of a new two-story consolidated training, submarine learning center (SLC), and headquarters facility for Commander Submarine Squadron (CSS) 15. The seed project is not associated with the Guam military relocation, and all work for this task order is expected to be completed by November 2011.

An artist’s rendering of Emerald Oceanview Park