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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES for 2019-02-26 FINAL VETERANS ADVISORY COMMITTEE Tuesday,February 26,2019, 1:30 p.m. Office of the Prosecuting Attorney (Hilo) and Kona Mayor's Office (Via Videoconferencing) Present Members Emile Wery Michael Doolittle George Sheridan Debra Lewis Isaac Nahakuelua Marcia Brinkley Kona Mayor's Office (Via Videoconferencing) Members Antonio Gaspar Carolle Brulee-Wilson Minoru Hanato Guests (Kona) None Ex-Officio (Kona) None Ex-Officio (Hilo) Maurice Messina, Deputy Director P&R Roddy Sueoka, Office of Veterans Services Counselor Also Present(Hilo) Brittany Iyo, Secretary J Yoshimoto, Deputy Corporation Counsel Absent None Call to Order Chair Michael Doolittle called the meeting to order at 1:35 pm. Quorum met with seven members present, when meeting called to order. Total nine members present for majority of the meeting. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC None ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES Emile Wery made a motion to accept the minutes as written. George Sheridan seconded the motion. Seven ayes, none opposed, motion carried. OLD BUSINESS Veterans Advisory Committee Minutes February 26,2019 Page 2 Passage of Bill 213: Scope of Veterans Advisory Committee Chair Doolittle: Bill 213 was inspired by a letter he wrote to Mayor Kim. Chair Doolittle worked with Council Chair Valerie Poindexter to write Bill 213. **Insert changed verbiage from Bill 213*** It opens up the scope of the committee to Veterans, Veterans Cemeteries and the wellbeing of all Veterans in Hawaii County. Glad to see that's been made a permanent part of this committee purview. West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery Gate Hours Chair Doolittle introduced this topic asking if we've resolved this issue. Gaspar mentioned in December 2018 there was a Veterans town hall meeting in Kona and the Veterans were complaining that they can't see the numbers on the lock or they misplaced their glasses and they can't see the numbers on the combination lock. All other cemeteries in Hawaii are open the whole day, why not West Hawaii cemetery? Chair Doolittle explained it's been discussed in past meetings. It would require Parks & Rec staff to have someone drive out there and open it. Messina answered, depending on traffic it can be an hour and a half drive for the staff to get to the cemetery. Chair Doolittle asked if there's Veterans organizations in Kona that are willing to have someone open and close the gates at the end of the day. Wery suggested we hang a magnifying glass at the gate if Veterans are forgetting their glasses. Chair Doolittle is recommending the Veterans organizations in Kona have someone who can volunteer to open and close the gate. Gaspar mentioned across the street is Kukio and their gates open at sun-up and close at sun-down. Why can't they help County in opening the gate? Messina mentioned that no matter who is across the street, we shouldn't put another agency in charge of opening and closing our facility. To completely open up the cemetery for a few people who forget their glasses, not sure that's necessary. Sheridan explained we've done enough with the sign that's on the gate. Chair Doolittle agreed, we've provided two or three phone numbers on their and Carolle's been available to give out that number too. We'll keep that on the front burner Veterans Advisory Committee Minutes February 26,2019 Page 3 and if we come up with another solution we'll discuss it. Any other comments on that subject? We'll move on then. NEW BUSINESS Water mitigation at East Hawaii Veterans Cemetery II Messina explained that P&R has reached out to Department of Public Works (DPW) and come and look at the issue. P&R Park Planner is also working on a plan to mitigate the issue. We're kind of just waiting on DPW to take a look at it. There's nothing more that we can do right now. It doesn't sound like it's a big priority for those guys. Especially if you think the problem starts way up the hill with people who built their houses and maybe didn't do the right thing as far as drainage is concerned. Chair Doolittle agreed, that we bring it up in the committee meeting and if there's enough people talking about it then it generates interest in resolving the problem. Moving on from this topic. Report on Cemeteries Sueoka does not have any more updates from the last meeting. They are still working on the project at Veterans Cemetery II. Hanato asked for an update on the WHVC Columbaria. Sueoka explained the request was put in but no update yet on that. Messina added we'll find out an update on the status from our Park Planner. Gaspar wanted to follow up on pot holes in section"B" of the cemetery. Some people were complaining about it at the Veterans Day Ceremony, someone will get hurt. Chair Doolittle confirmed if that is on the access road to the plots. Gaspar explained that it is located between the grave markers. The grass is so green but when you step on them it's about five to six inches deep. Hanato explained that it is graves settling, not pot holes. Iyo explained that we don't have to wait until the committee meetings to address those types of issues. Please call the office and we can get these things taken cared of as soon as possible. Chair Doolittle asked if there were any other comments on Report on Cemeteries. ANNOUNCEMENTS Veterans Advisory Committee Minutes February 26,2019 Page 4 National Vietnam Veterans Day& Replica of Bronze Statue of Vietnam Army Nurse Tour Brinkley announced that March 29th is Vietnam Veterans Memorial Day for the Country. Not sure if anything is taking place in Kona but the Hilo ceremony will be on April 17th at the Hilo Veterans Center at 11:00 am. There will be an open house and potluck. The Vet Center is sponsoring it. The woman who owns the statue of the Vietnam Army Nurse was the Executive Director for the Vietnam Women's Memorial project. They were going to build a large statue of a Vietnam Army Nurse and they made a lot of little ones to raise money and they sent the little statuettes around the country. The large statue never got built. But the woman who owns the statue lives in Oahu and she's giving her 33" statue to Tripler in May and she contacted DAR in Maui and asked if they wanted to use it for ceremonies. They asked if we wanted to bring it to Hawaii Island. She wanted to let folks know about it and if any of the groups want to do a little tour. If anyone can think of any place for the statue to visit let Marcia know. She is requesting for it to be at the Memorial Day Ceremony at Veterans Cemetery I in May but she's not sure when it will be available. Lewis introduced the memorial plaque is being done and will be at Veterans Cemetery II honoring the ship that went down in the 40's, not only those that went down in the ship but the nine that survived and went on to serve in World War II. She also would like to bring attention to the Women's Memorial. Ideally they ought to have at least one of the smaller statues there. Cleaning of Veterans Cemetery I & II Wery announced that May 16 & 17 Purple Heart and VFW will be cleaning Veterans I& II before Memorial Day Ceremony. They coordinate with the maintenance staff at the cemetery. Hilo Town Hall Meeting Brulee-Wilson announced March 21, 2019 at 5:00 pm at the Hilo KMR Gym. It will be a Town Hall meeting as well as a Resource Fair. Sueoka added that it might be moved to the classrooms. VA folks are coming over to sponsor it. Chair Doolittle asked if there's any more announcements. Volunteer Drivers for Clinic in Kona Hanato brought up that they are still looking for drivers for the clinic in Kona. There are only two drivers in West Hawaii. The thing about being qualified is there's such a big problem with VA, there's a big amount of qualifications. Brulee-Wilson said she used to drive and the application process is very involved and very lengthy. This is another system that needs to be reviewed, they are sacrificing a lot Veterans Advisory Committee Minutes February 26,2019 Page 5 of drivers that could be coming to the aid of other Veterans that need a ride to the Clinics. It should be reviewed on a case by cases basis but a lot of Veterans are being turned away. Sheridan asked who makes the rules. Brulee-Wilson answered VA in Honolulu. Hanato replied DAV provides the vans but VA makes the rules. Drivers need to provide insurance after getting approved. It's almost like getting a secret clearance. We can't transport wheelchair Veterans unless they can get themselves in and out of the van. There are a couple of folks that can get themselves in and out of the van and that's ok, they can be picked up. There are no vans with lifts in them. Wery commented the County has a system, Harold Bugado ran it and they have all the equipment and you see them running around to different places. Lewis replied, they have all the equipment but reserving that equipment is almost impossible. It's not as reliable and available. Doolittle asked if VA is the one responsible for providing these services. Lewis replied they have an arrangement with non-profit DAV to do it but they have not taken on responsibility locally and the County has their vehicles. It's a woefully inadequate system at best and fraught with risk. Doolittle asked how we attack this problem. Lewis replied, we can't solve this here but it is something we need to talk about in a forum and we need to decide who needs to be at the table. Definitely the County because the County struggles with this too. It's got to be a system working together. Doolittle mentioned this is certainly one of the key issues we need to push a button on. Messina mentioned a small way to tackle a portion of this is, the County's system is set up to aid Senior Citizens and maybe it's not going to help every disabled veteran but there's a meeting next week with the Mayor's office and other County agencies and see how we can assist disabled Veterans who are Senior Citizens. Lewis one of the exceptions should be that they're all disabled Veterans in wheelchairs. Messina replied but this is a Federally funded program strictly for senior citizens. Wery suggested that DAV should have a member in the Veterans Advisory Committee so they can provide us with the information. Veterans Advisory Committee Minutes February 26,2019 Page 6 Brinkley is a part of DAV 6 but doesn't have the information we are looking for. She will try to find out. Doolittle explained this topic needs to be discussed further. NEXT MEETING The next meeting is scheduled for May 28, 2019 at 1:30 pm. Wery motioned to adjourn the meeting. Lewis seconded the motion. Chair Doolittle confirmed meeting adjourned at 3:01 p.m. Respectfully submitted, 13 rit t a wy Iyo- Secretary