2010-11-18 Veteran Advisory Committee Minutes

Home

Veterans Advisory Committee Page 5 November 18, 2010 NEW BUSINESS West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery III — Water Payment Director Fitzgerald said the water meter needs to be installed and the new company from California that owns the water rights has not yet gone to the PUC (Public Utilities Commission) regarding charges. It may take awhile so we have some time before they actually start charging for water usage. Mr. Nishimoto said Committee members need to testify at the PUC hearing against the County being charged for water at the cemetery. Chairperson Fox concurred that we can show strong support against being charged. We'll get the word out when we are notified about the public hearing. Veterans Cemeteries — Rule 7, Section 5.02 — Decorations and Offerings Chairperson Fox said we will move this item to February's agenda when Deputy Director Honma can attend the meeting. Membership Chairperson Fox said if your term is expiring, please let Nathalie know who will be replacing you or if you will be replacing yourself. She will get the necessary forms to you. Mr. Brulee- Wilson asked if the individual on the list does not contact Nathalie and has not been attending meetings, what standard of procedure is in place to remove these individuals from the committee. Chairperson Fox asked Deputy Corporation Counsel Renee Schoen for clarification if the Hawaii County Code would need to be updated. Deputy Corporation Counsel Renee Schoen stated that if a particular committee member's absence prevents this committee from meeting quorum, she thinks the statute states for more than two times, then you can request that person be replaced. Chairperson Fox responded that we have asked numerous times and the response is that the organization doesn't meet anymore. The organization still exists, but they don't meet anymore, they don't have very many members that show up, they don't have quorum. Deputy Corporation Counsel Renee Schoen said then the next step would be to change the code to remove them from membership and decrease the membership number. Ms. Brulee- Wilson said it sounds like three separate events and is wondering how long that process would take for each of these events. This isn't something that just happened last week, it has been ongoing for awhile. There are people that want to serve on this committee, but can't get on because there are people on the committee filling slots and don't want to be here. We need a little more information on the procedure, how long process will take and what's going to be done.