2008-02-14 Veteran Advisory Committee Minutes

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Veterans Advisory Committee Page 4 February 14, 2008 Gebhardtsbauer, of VA (Project Manager, State Cemetery Grants Program, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) would like to wait and since they will be spending approximately 5 million dollars on the cemetery in West Hawaii she thinks it would be a good idea to wait a little while. West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery III - Complaint Regarding Charges Mr. Hanato said while at the cemetery the other day a veteran whose stepfather passed away complained that he had to pay $300 for the burial. Mr. Hanato explained to him the only time families have to pay is if burial is during the weekend, holiday or overtime. He said the funeral is tomorrow. Director Engelhard reported that he knows that the burial must be completed by 1:30pm so that staff can be back at the baseyard by 2:30pm or there will be overtime charges. With traffic it may take approximately one hour to get back to the baseyard in Kailua -Kona. That is the reason burials are normally scheduled before noon, anything after that will probably result in overtime. EX- OFFICIO MEMBERS West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery III - Columbariums Director Engelhard said in response to Mr. Highley's request for additional columbariums, there are more columbariums in the new plan. Just yesterday she spoke with Dwayne Hamada and another guy from Design Partners (Company that did the most recent upgrade of the facility) about the new sections in the conceptual plan. The new section will also have an area for ground urn burials. Maintenance Cost for Veterans Cemeteries on the Big Island Requested by Senator Lorraine Inouye Director Engelhard reported that Senator Inouye requested cost information for maintaining all three veterans' cemeteries on the Big Island. The budget for maintaining all three cemeteries this year is $167,000 and we still receive only $22,500 from the state. Unsure if we will be successful in obtaining additional funds this year, but as Mr. Kalua pointed out not only is the OVS asking for money for all of the veterans cemeteries and at least $100,000, they are asking Representative Cindy Evans for another appropriation specifically for the Big Island. We also asked Mark Moses of OVS to speak on our behalf. Mr. Kalua said there is a Legislative Bill with funding specific for Hawaii Island. Last year the $100,000 wasn't specific so they were able to move it around. He told them that this year it would be for the Big Island. He also stated that Senator Inouye and Representative Evans are both Chairs of their Military Affairs Committees.