2005-03-17 Veteran Advisory Committee Minutes

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Veterans Advisory Committee Page 2 March 17, 2005 STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC Minoru Hanato thanked Director Engelhard for use of the backhoe. He reported that the gate was installed manually since the backhoe was down for a long time; it is now up and running. Previous Meeting Minutes — February 17, 2005 • The Minutes of the February 17, 2005 meeting were approved as submitted. STATE VETERANS ADVISORY BOARD — REPORT Delbert Nishimoto, Big Island representative on the State Veterans Advisory Board reported the following: Veterans Cemetery II Mr. Nishimoto reported that Pat Pavao visited Cemetery II and strongly recommends installing a gate. Veterans Cemetery III — West Hawaii Columbarium Mr. Nishimoto asked if Mr. Highley could recommend at least three (3) small local contracting firms to get bids from to install a temporary columbarium at Veterans III. Mr. Highley said he couldn't think of any, but he would need plans and specs to discuss with possible contractors. Mr. Nishimoto said that the plans and specs are being worked on (he only saw a draft sketch) and the State DOD engineers will send a letter and handle bids directly with the local contractors if we provide the names and addresses. He also said that other Kona veterans may have recommendations. The following large firms such as Isemoto, Sonomura, Glover and Lawrence were mentioned, but could take awhile to get started. Mr. Highley asked if liability concerns was the reason that volunteers could not do the job and Mr. Nishimoto responded that the State has the funds so let them handle project. There may be other projects that volunteers will be needed for in the future. Mr. Highley shared a concern that urns are being buried in regular size body burial plots. Director Engelhard said that urns are being buried on the outskirts and in areas where it is hard to dig because of rock. Minoru Hanato confirmed that urns are being buried in regular cemetery plots. Director Engelhard will check with staff as she had previously asked about urn burials and the response was that they were not using regular sized plots. Reforestation Proiect Jeff Knowles reported that the USDA grant was approved which should cover $47,000 approximately 75% of the cost of installing a fence and that Dr. Stevens received another grant which should cover the balance of the cost. The next step will be for Jeff, Dr. Stevens and Director Engelhard to discuss details during a scheduled telephone conference next week.