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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF HAWAI#I ---o0o--OKADA TRUCKING CO., LTD., Petitioner-Appellee-Petitioner-Respondent, vs. BOARD OF WATER SUPPLY, CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU, Respondent-Appellee-Respondent-Respondent, and INTER ISLAND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES, INC., Intervenor-Respondent-Appellant-Respondent-Petitioner. NO. 22956 CERTIORARI TO THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS (DOCKET NO. PCH 99-11) AUGUST 29, 2002 MOON, C.J., LEVINSON, NAKAYAMA, RAMIL, AND ACOBA, JJ. OPINION OF THE COURT BY LEVINSON, J. We granted the application for a writ of certiorari filed by the intervenor-respondent-appellant-respondentpetitioner Inter Island Environmental Services, Inc. (now known as Inter Island Construction, Inc.) [hereinafter, "Inter Island"] in order to review the order of the Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA) dismissing Inter Island's appeal in Okada Trucking Co., Inc. v. Board of Water Supply, No. 22956 (Haw. Ct. App. Apr. 29, 2002) [hereinafter, the "ICA's order"]. The ICA's order

dismissed Inter Island's appeal as moot on the basis that "Okada Trucking ha[d] already completed performance of its contract with [the Board of Water Supply (BWS)] to construct and install the Kaluanui Booster Station, Phase II and that the remedies sought by Inter Island when it sought judicial relief [could] no longer be provided." ICA's order at 1. As discussed more fully infra

in section III, we hold that Inter Island's appeal falls within an exception to the mootness doctrine, because it involves a matter of public concern and is capable of repetition yet evading review. Accordingly, we vacate the ICA's order and remand this

matter to the ICA for consideration of the points of error raised by Inter Island in its appeal from the hearings officer's decision, as instructed in our prior decision in this matter, Okada Trucking Co. Inc. v. Board of Water Supply, 97 Hawai#i 450, 40 P.3d 73 (2002) [hereinafter, "Okada I"].

I.

BACKGROUND

The present matter involves a dispute over the interpretation of the Hawai#i Public Procurement Code, Hawai#i Revised Statutes (HRS) ch. 103D (1993 & Supp. 2001),1 and its

The Procurement Code applies "to all procurement contracts made by governmental bodies[.]" HRS

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