2004-04-15 Veteran Advisory Committee Minutes

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Veterans Advisory Committee Page 3 April 15, 2004 Landscaping Improvements — Update Following the March meeting, items have been removed from the cemetery and a letter was sent to West Hawaii Today to inform public and request for volunteers. Reporter Kim Eaton will be interviewing Mr. Highley tomorrow. Mr. Highley shared a letter he sent to West Hawaii Today. He shared that documents required by the County which addressed liability needed to be processed prior to commencement of work project which caused a delay in the proposed start up date of March 22"d. The project will fall under the County's "Friends of the Park" program. Mr. Highley said that on April 1st, veterans met at the cemetery and it was decided that a major makeover was necessary. Looking at the site, there is no soil, it was recommended that a minimum of 450 cubic yards of soil be brought in. In order to accomplish leveling this amount of soil, this task would require the removal, temporary storage and replacement of all headstones to its original location. Golf Course Association is willing to do this through global positioning equipment, however, they would like to receive blessings of family members first by sending letters and obtaining their permission. Because of the extent of this current proposal, accomplishing all of this by Memorial Day is not possible. It was agreed during the April 1st meeting that the start date should instead be June 1st following Memorial Day. In the meantime, the irrigation system could be upgraded and existing grass should be kept alive until commencement of project. In the interim families of interred will be contacted for permission. If someone objects to removal of a headstone, volunteers would have to work around those headstones, which could be accomplished, but would make job more difficult. Donations for Project: DeLuz Trucking in Kona 450 yards of soil Kukio Golf Course Seashore Paspalum sod to cover present burial site area - the entire ' /z acre. (Approximate Value - $30,000) Offered more than 3,500 gallons of water per day. Kona Irrigation Donating equipment and supplies needed to upgrade system to include automatic watering. It will take approximately 6 to 7 weeks for sod to become lawn. Parks staff were unaware that improvement project was delayed and stopped watering and weedeating cemetery. Director Engelhard shared that the last communication to the Department of Parks and Recreation from Golf Course Superintendent's Association stated that they would begin tn spraying poison on April 5