Vandalism to heavy equipment used for a controversial project at Waimanalo Bay Beach Park, known as Sherwood Forest, could be a major setback to complete grading to protect the native Hawaiian hoary bat.

City Councilman Ikaika Anderson said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommended the measure to allow grading work until June 1. The environmental assessment says it would be harmful to the bats if grading work were allowed during the breeding season (April-August) and the pupping season (June 1-Sept. 15). But the assessment did not prohibit grading during April and May.

Phase 1, the only portion of the project that is funded, is a 4-acre parcel including a multipurpose sports field, a children’s playground and an 11-stall parking lot which will cost $1.43 million.

“Hawaiian hoary bats roost in woody vegetation and leave their young unattended in ‘nursery’ trees and shrubs when they forage,” the environmental assessment says. “There is a risk that young bats could inadvertently be harmed or killed if trees or shrubs suitable for bat roosting are cleared during the bat breeding season of April to August.”

Department of Parks and Recreation spokesman Nathan Serota said the grading work was on track to meet the June 1 deadline before vandals set fire Wednesday night to an excavator and bulldozer.

He said the contractor is aware of the deadline but, with just a week left, will have to assess the situation.

Protesters stand every weekday outside the area with signs opposing the project.

Opponents say there wasn’t enough advance notice about the project prior to its commencement in mid-April, when the felling of a section of the “forest” of ironwood trees began.

“I could have better communicated this project to the community,” Anderson said. “I recognize that fact, and I’ll own it and I apologize. It’s my fault.”

He said he asked the mayor three times to temporarily halt the project, but the mayor did not agree.

“The City Council does not have the authority to stop any project once funds are appropriated,” Anderson said.

The mayor did not want to lose the funding for the project.

Others said Anderson and Mayor Kirk Caldwell failed to meet and speak with them to discuss the issues.

However, Anderson said he met with two leaders of the opposition group on April 25, attended a community meeting April 26 in Waimanalo, has been in contact by phone with the leaders, and spoke and met with others in the community for and against the project to hear their thoughts and concerns.

Many say that the city should repair the existing parks or perhaps look to the schools for possible places for ball fields.

Anderson said he’s met with youth sports organization coaches to discuss the creation of these ball fields. He said the Caldwell administration — “not me” — concluded it is not financially feasible to repair the Waimanalo District Park field.

The coaches said youth players have suffered broken and sprained ankles.

His office worked for the city to receive soil and cinder, had heavy equipment to spread it, and the administration even put in a commercial sprinkler system to keep it watered. “But when it dried, the new soil disappeared through the cracks,” he said.