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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-02-17 Veteran Advisory Committee MinutesVETERANS ADVISORY COMMITTEE Thursday, February 17, 2011, 3:00 p.m. Prosecutor's Office (Hilo) and Kona Mayor's Office (Via Videoconferencing) Present Absent Members Carolle Brulee- Wilson Caleb Churchill Penny Fox Brian Jordan Delbert Nishimoto Emile Wery Kona Mayor's Office (Via Videoconferencin2) Members David Carlson Antonio Gaspar Minoru Hanato Joseph Nimori Guests (Kona) Tom Leone Boss Hanato Ex- Officio (Kona) Robert Fitzgerald, Director,P &R Guests (Hilo) Juan Babiak, Liaison (Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home) John E. Johnson, Administrator (Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home) Ex- Officio (Hilo) Clayton Honma, Deputy Director, P &R Also Present (Hilo) Nathalie Santos, Secretary Herbert Lum, State Veterans Advisory Board - WH Member Keith Ribbentrop, State Veterans Advisory Board — EH Member Renee Schoen, Deputy Corporation Counsel Don Bennett Wendall Kekumu Edward Lee George Mukai Gilbert Sampaia George Yamamoto Veterans Advisory Committee Page 2 February 17, 2011 CALL TO ORDER • Chairperson Penny Fox called the meeting to order at 3:05pm and announced that there were 10 members present. (* *Audio Problems with Videoconferencin2 Equipment — Telephone Used for Audio) Kona still had problems hearing Chairperson Fox introduced the two new members: Brian Jordan attending in Hilo and Joseph Nimori attending in Kona. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC None. PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES — November 18, 2010 The minutes of the November 18, 2010 meeting were approved as submitted. REPORT ON CEMETERIES — STATE VETERANS ADVISORY BOARD Hawaii Island - East Hawaii Representative — Mr. Keith Ribbentrop Mr. Ribbentrop provided a written report of the State Veterans Advisory Board Meeting for committee members to review. (Copy Attached) He said the report is self - explanatory, if anyone has questions please call him. Hawaii Island - West Hawaii Representative - Mr. Herb Lum Mr. Lum reported that the West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery III has been granted "shrine status ". The Adjutant General, Director of Engineering stated that Phase II C is 99.9% completed. The only item remaining is the figurines that go on the gate which was just completed. The West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery Development and Expansion Association proposed (6) figurines on the gate (5) military services and (1) with the Hawaiian Warrior. VA approved the (5) figures representing the services and excluded the Hawaiian Warrior figurine. The VA requested the size and design of these figurines. The Association said they had someone who volunteered to design the figurines so OVS would only pay for the cost of materials. Since then, the designer that volunteered is no longer on the island and is unable to work on this project. The Association is faced with finding another designer or to choose another subject for the gate decoration. At this point they are attempting to find a designer and have been unsuccessful so far. The VA is waiting for the design plan so they can approve or disapprove it. The Association will probably be discussing soon what the options are and go from there. Discussion that took place later in the meeting relatin�to gate at Veterans Cemetery III: Mr. Jordan said he's new and doesn't know the rules of the committee and asked if there is sometime in this meeting that he can ask questions. Chairperson Fox said you can ask questions on the agenda item by just raising your hand. Veterans Advisory Committee Page 3 February 17, 2011 Mr. Jordan asked if the figurines have a specific size. Mr. Lum said the VA needs to know the size and design before they can approve it. Mr. Jordan said he has an idea, but it may not be a good one. There are symbols that are pretty recognizable for every branch of service, if you see an aircraft carrier you know that's the navy and if you see a frigot you know that's the coast guard and its got an orange stripe. If you see an Abrams tank, the Marine Corp doesn't use an Abrams tank, if you see an F -16; no one else uses the F -16. So he's wondering if something like that could be solicited and cut out of stainless. Chairperson Fox asked if someone from the West Hawaii Cemetery Association could contact Mr. Jordan and go over that with him. Mr. Lum said there is a meeting scheduled on March 1st at loam at the cemetery and Brian or he could be there. He thinks that is a good idea. Mr. Lum said he talked to Colonel Mitsuyoshi about the possibility of the state paying for the design. He said we don't have a designer anymore and the funds are only left for the materials since that was the agreement with the Association. REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF PARKS AND RECREATION Director Fitzgerald reported that they added to the Cemetery Form a space to mark whether or not the tent would be needed at the burial site for Veterans Cemetery III — West Hawaii. There is nothing new to report relating to the water for Cemetery III. He said we will need everybody's help to testify at the PUC meeting relating to water charges once that meeting is scheduled. Members will be notified when the hearing is scheduled. Reforestation Proiect (Members reviewed both Reforestation Reports dated December 15th and February 14th submitted by Dr. Richard Stevens). The next big planting is scheduled for April 16th The report also states that the hill is now really green. (Copies attached) Meetings for 2011 Chairperson Fox said that members should receive a Revised Meeting Schedule for 2011. The number of meetings has been reduced to (5). The Cost of Government Commission requested suggestions from this Committee on how to help the County save money. On report we stated that we can save money by cutting down the number of meetings. We have taken votes on this before, however, we went through the rules which states it is the Chairperson's decision. So, when the County asked to hold meetings every other month, she agreed to do it. If there is anything that comes up that is an emergency, a special meeting will be called. The Committee hasn't met since November and nothing has catastrophically gone wrong, so meeting every other month shouldn't be a big deal. Veterans Advisory Committee Page 4 February 17, 2011 Director Fitzgerald thanked the members for their understanding. He said with the furloughs, time is really valuable. Today is a great example since tomorrow is a furlough and Nathalie's time here won't allow her to get anything else done prior to the long weekend. He said we really appreciate your help with cutting the number of meetings. If something does come up, we will call an emergency meeting. Mr. Wery asked what are these meetings costing the County. Chairperson Fox said this is costing the County, Nathalie's time. Mr. Wery responded that she would be working anyway and getting paid. Chairperson Fox said she would be working on other Parks and Recreation stuff. She shared that Director Fitzgerald, Deputy Director Honma and Deputy Corporation Counsel Renee Schoen could all be working on other P &R and Counsel stuff. They are all here on the County's time dealing with this meeting. If meetings were held every other month, during this hour or so they could be working on other items. She stated that we can't give a dollar amount in savings, but when you add up everybody's time (not the members time because they are volunteers), that is a lot of money. If we can save them an hour every other month, that's our small part to help the County. Again, if there is something that comes up, we can call an emergency meeting. Chairperson Fox asked Mr. Wery if that answered his question. Mr. Wery responded that answered his question, but he doesn't agree with it. They are all sitting around doing what they do normally. Chairperson Fox said that isn't so, she would be in her office doing other P &R things. I'm sure Renee Schoen would rather be doing other work then having to sit here and listen to us in order to make sure we're not breaking the rules. She said they have other things that they could be doing that would be more productive for the County then sitting here in a meeting. It takes a lot of time in someone's day. It messes up the now and is very difficult. She said let's see how this works and go from there. She asked if there are any other questions about the new meeting schedule. EX- OFFICIO MEMBERS YUKIO OKUTSU STATE VETERANS HOME Juan Babiak of the (Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home) shared that for calendar year 2010 the average daily census for YOKSVH was 86.1 and their goal was 85.5, so they were slightly over that. Current number of patients as of this morning is 91 and actual goal for 2011 is 91. One of the goals is to make a big push for marketing trying to get veterans in the communities to enroll for care with VA, apply for benefits through the VA or pre - enroll with them for admission. Trying to get veterans to get in the system, so Veterans Advisory Committee Page 5 February 17, 2011 when it's time to get in the facility, there won't be a delay in getting them verified as veterans. Mr. Babiak also said they did an Annual VA Survey and did pretty well. The actual report should be ready in the next 20 work days, so they should have it at the next meeting. There were (2) findings and they'll address it when the report is complete. Overall it was very well received. Mr. Babiak introduced Mr. John Johnson, Administrator of the Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home. Mr. Nishimoto asked how the Adult Day Care is going at the Home and Mr. Johnson responded that it's not moving as quick as they would like, but feels that once they get recognized by the state and are able to get Medicaid, residents they should be fine. Mr. Babiak said we are currently up to (4) patients receiving services under the Adult Day Health Care program. They have on average (1) sometimes (2) patients a day. He also clarified that it is an Adult Day Health Care Program which is different from Adult Day Care. There are Adult Day Care facilities, this is a medical model, and there is a big difference. Patients can get their rehab services done, their meds provided for, they get evaluated for their diathetic needs and there is a social worker available. It's solid. Chairperson Fox asked members to let people know that this is offered in Hilo. Co -Chair Carolle Brulee- Wilson asked if the West Hawaii members are interested, she has information and application forms for the Veterans Home she can send over. Mr. Babiak said they have a power point presentation available and would be happy to attend meetings for different veterans' organizations. Chairperson Fox said you can contact Juan Babiak and schedule him to attend your veterans organization meetings. He will do a presentation and answer any questions people may have about the Veterans Home. He is also willing to do presentations during weekends. He can also help with applications and getting people pre - registered. ANNOUNCEMENTS Department of Defense — Changes in Leadership Mr. Herb Lum reported that Adjutant General Robert Lee has been replaced by General Darryll Wong. Darryll Wong was the Commander of the Air Guard at Hickam Field; he is a flier and has many years of experience. He reported that as of February 17th (today) Greg Jackson has replaced Mark Moses as the Director of the Office of Veterans Services. Greg is a combined Army and Air Force veteran and keeps jumping back and forth in his job as Judge Advocate and goes where he is needed. Veterans Advisory Committee Page 6 February 17, 2011 VAMROC Meeting (Veterans Advisory Board Meeting) Vice Chair Brulee- Wilson said she will be attending the VAMROC meeting on February 25th and if anyone has any issues they would like her to bring up such as transportation to and from their appointments, please let her know. NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be held on April 21, 2011 at 3pm. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 3:35 pm. Respectfully submitted, Nathca, &Scw,tVo-s; Secretary