2007-09-20 Veteran Advisory Committee Minutes

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Veterans Advisory Committee Page 5 September 20, 2007 them up as best they can. It is true that the dirt shifts and they end up not being aligned after awhile, but in response to that, we will do the best we can. Rule 7 - Review for Possible Amendments Chairman Highley said he reviewed Rule 7 and doesn't believe that a lot of the rules are adhered to. Doesn't know if it's a concern of this committee to have these rules amended and a public hearing held. Many of the rules leave a lot of room for discretion. Wanted to ask committee if some of these rules should be amended or an effort made to follow rules. He said he understands that the lack of funds the county receives to maintain the cemeteries is also a dilemma relating to the enforcement of rules. Director Engelhard asked Chairman Highley to be more specific as to which rule is not followed. Chairman Highley said that Rule 7 states: 1) The cemetery opens at sunrise and closes at sunset. (West Hawaii Cemetery sometimes is open and sometimes is not, it's a hit and miss as to when the cemetery opens and closes.) 2) The flag is raised and lowered at sunrise and sunset. (That's never been done at West Hawaii Cemetery.) 3) That urn burials will be in a separate location. (At West Hawaii Cemetery the urn burials and the casket burials are all mixed in at this time, which is what's always been done.) Director Engelhard addressed each concern 1) Opening and Closing of cemetery - We have no staff there so that's why we are opening and closing when we do. We've also thought about sending Freeman Guards out there, and tried to combine with State Parks, but it would probably cost about $25,000 a year to send someone out there just to open and close gates and that is an undue burden. Unless somebody wants to volunteer to do it, we're going to have to open at 8 am and close at noon as much as we can. 2) The same is true for raising and lowering the flag. In Hilo where we have electricity we are able to keep a light on the flag all the time. In Kona where there is no electricity, it's a problem, there was some discussion about trying to get a solar light there, but nothing happened with that or if it did it wasn't reported to us. The Pretsch's were going to see if they could get a solar light out there. (Chairman Highley said that the solar light did go on the top of the pole, but its very dim and the flag could be seen better with a flashlight.) 3) Relating to urn burials, P &R tried to set aside a place at the end of the cemetery closest to the Pu'u because there are a lot of big rocks in there, but it has been that there are urns and caskets all mixed up because the cemetery is new and its hard