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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-06-16 Veteran Advisory Committee Minutes VETERANS ADVISORY COMMITTEE Thursday, June 16, 2011, 3:00 p.m. Prosecutor's Office (Hilo) and Kona Mayor’s Office (Via Videoconferencing) Present Members Carolle Brulee-Wilson Caleb Churchill Penny Fox Brian Jordan Delbert Nishimoto Emile Wery Kona Mayor’s Office (Via Videoconferencing) Members David Carlson Antonio Gaspar Minoru Hanato Joseph Nimori Guests (Kona) Tom Leone (KWV) Boss Hanato (DAV) Stanley Tokunaga (Boy Scouts – Troop 79) Bruce Soto (Boy Scouts – Troop 79) Bronsten Glenn Kossow (Boy Scouts – Troop 79) Barbara Kossow (Office of the Mayor) Ex-Officio (Kona) Robert Fitzgerald, Director,P&R Guests (Hilo) Juan Babiak, Liaison (Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home) Keoni Delacruz (DAV Chapter 9) Camron Fox (DAV Chapter 9) Madison Harris Ex-Officio (Hilo) Joseph Flores (OVS) Gregory Jackson (Director of OVS) Also Present (Hilo) Nathalie Santos, Secretary Herbert Lum, State Veterans Advisory Board - WH Member Renee Schoen, Deputy Corporation Counsel Absent Don Bennett Edward Lee George Mukai Joseph Nimori Gilbert Sampaia George Yamamoto Veterans Advisory Committee Page 2 June 16, 2011 CALL TO ORDER  Chairperson Penny Fox called the meeting to order at 3:06pm. INTRODUCTION OF DIRECTOR OF OFFICE OF VETERANS SERVICES Mr. Joe Flores of the Hilo Office of Veterans Affairs introduced Mr. Gregory Jackson, Director of Office of Veterans Services from Oahu. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC None. PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES – February 17, 2011 The minutes of the February 17, 2011 meeting were approved as submitted. REPORT ON CEMETERIES – STATE VETERANS ADVISORY BOARD Hawaii Island - East Hawaii Representative - Mr. Keith Ribbentrop Absent. Hawaii Island - West Hawaii Representative - Mr. Herb Lum Mr. Lum reported that the State Legislature passed two resolutions relating to a Veterans Center, one for the acquisition of 60 acres and the other for the design cost. Both resolutions are on the Governor’s desk for his signature. The County has also submitted a resolution to the Governor urging him to sign off on those resolutions. Mr. Lum also shared that the West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery Development and Expansion Association’s Articles of Corporation has been approved and an IRS EIN number has been assigned. The group is now in the process of submitting an application to become a 501C-3 Non-Profit Organization. Mr. Lum said a ceremony was held at the Governor’s Office in May to receive the “Shrine Status Award” for Veterans Cemetery III which was brought back from Washington DC by Gene Castagnetti, Director of National Punchbowl Cemetery. The award was presented by the Governor to OVS Director Gregory Jackson who presented it to Mr. Lum who in turn presented it to John Grogan who will send it to the County with a letter stating their concerns about the cemetery and hoping that with proper maintenance they can maintain shrine status at the cemetery. Director Fitzgerald asked if the report being sent to the County will be recommendations for maintenance. Mr. Lum said there are volunteers at the cemetery constantly and they observe things that need attention, they will communicate that to the County. Letter is not yet written so he Veterans Advisory Committee Page 3 June 16, 2011 doesn’t have any details, but suggested he check with the West Hawaii volunteers attending the meeting about their concerns. Mr. Minoru Hanato said one of the concerns is the West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery doesn’t have any sod cutters and Hilo has two. The sod cutters are needed to do a neater job. He said they requested one for Kona and they still don’t have one. He said employees are currently using a knife to cut the sod of the burial area which makes the ground lumpy. The sod cutter keeps the ground flat and even. Mr. Hanato also said in the new urn burial area there is no cinder under the sod, it is just dirt fill with all rocks underneath. There is supposed to be cinder so when you remove the sod with the sod cutter it comes out flat. The sod cutter may not be able to cut it because of all the rocks underneath. The last funeral there which was the first burial, the ground underneath the sod looks terrible. He’s not sure how they are going to fix that. He also said when the plans first came out, there was suppose to be concrete urn vaults put in the ground and there are none. He expressed his concern about the ground looking nice until there is a burial then it looks terrible. Mr. Hanato said the first burial required the backhoe because the ground is packed solid. It wasn’t a good idea to put the first burial next to the road, they should’ve put it in the back on the top end. That’s where the worker suggested, but the supervisor didn’t listen to the worker. The workers don’t want to use the compacter, because the vibration causes the sides to cave in and its all rocks. Chairperson Fox said she thought all burials required plastic vaults. Mr. Hanato responded in addition to those vaults, they are suppose to put the fill and compact it, add more fill and compact it again and shoot water. The sides cave in with the vibration. He said they don’t use it because they are afraid to use it. Chairperson Fox asked Director Fitzgerald to ask the supervisor to talk with Mr. Hanato about his concerns. Director Fitzgerald confirmed that he will get the supervisor, employee and volunteers to discuss what they can do. Mr. Hanato said they still need to get the sod cutter from Hilo. Mr. Delbert Nishimoto asked about the last grant which was about half a million dollars, he believes there is a clause in the grant for purchasing equipment. He suggested they find out what kind of equipment the State or County purchased with those funds and expressed concerns about the accountability of the funds. Director Fitzgerald said the grant went to the state, he will check about the equipment purchased and report back to the committee. Ms. Brulee-Wilson asked Mr. Minoru Hanato if some type of wire mesh could prevent the rocks from sliding. He responded that the wire mesh would have to be heavy duty and would need to be left in all the time. Veterans Advisory Committee Page 4 June 16, 2011 Mr. Brian Jordan said that a steel collar may have to be used instead of a web, something that is strong and can be removed to keep it from caving in. Mr. Hanato said that when they dig the hole, they drop in a steel collar so it doesn’t cave in when they are at the service, but when they begin covering they remove the steel collar. Mr. Nishimoto said the initial plan was to have concrete liners, the plastic came out of Punchbowl Cemetery because they ended body burials there. Mr. Hanato said they fought for the concrete liners for a long time, but the VA said no. Mr. Lum said the issue was taken all the way to Senator Inouye, but the VA said no. Mr. Wery asked if the liner is just a couple feet high and if so, it should not have an impact on the fill. Chairperson Fox responded that it doesn’t. Mr. Minoru Hanato said the County needs to label the grave lines so families can find their graves. He commended Eagle Scout Kalei Kossow’s brochure, but said the County has to finish the labeling. REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF PARKS AND RECREATION Director Fitzgerald said he will schedule a meeting with the West Hawaii Veterans, the P&R Supervisor and workers at the cemetery to discuss the concerns about the cemetery. Director Fitzgerald reported that the Water Company has not yet gone to the PUC and will let the members of this committee know when it is scheduled. Director Fitzgerald shared that Deputy Planning Director Margaret Masunaga recently returned from Washington DC where she met the head of Veterans Affairs, General Counsel Will Gunn and invited him to come to Hawaii. She wanted this committee’s approval to invite him to be a part of the Veterans Day Ceremony at the West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery. Members in attendance were in agreement with extending the invitation. Director Fitzgerald wanted to compliment Kalei Kossow prior to his presentation for all of his hard work and dedication to his Eagle Scout project. He saw a young boy become a strong man in the last six months. This project is a model for others to work on at the other cemeteries the County manages on the island. He thanked Kalei for his hard work. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Reforestation Project (Members reviewed the Reforestation Report dated May – June 2011 submitted by Dr. Richard Stevens). (Copy attached) Veterans Advisory Committee Page 5 June 16, 2011 Mr. Minoru Hanato reported there were a lot of marines helping at the recent planting. They did a great job in the replanting area. Veterans Cemetery III – West Hawaii Brochure Prepared by Bronsten Kalei Kossow – Eagle Scout Candidate Chairperson Fox said she has worked with a lot of professionals in a lot of businesses that have never ever in all of her years in the military given her a product anywhere near this brochure. She said she is extremely pleased with the final product which is very professionally done. (Members applauded Kalei’s work). Chairperson Fox asked him where the funding came from. Kalei responded that he received private donations from various groups. Director Fitzgerald wanted him do a short presentation of what he went through, he had to overcome a lot of hurdles when working on the mapping. Bronsten “Kalei” Kossow said he started the project almost a year ago on July 10, 2010. It was suppose to be completed for Veterans Day and he discovered it is all about becoming a leader and found that out the hard way. It took from May 1to May 20, 2011 to input all of the information he received from Mr. Hanato relating to the history and rules and regulations. He coordinated a volunteer project to check each headstone at the West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery and write down each name. That list was compared with the list from the County. He said that version is now in the computer and is also an insert of the brochure. He coordinated additional volunteer improvement projects at the cemetery such as painting tables and putting wood chips in the median. Chairperson Fox asked him how old he was. Kalei responded that he is 16 years old. Kalei reported that they currently have 5,000 printed brochures and printed 400 inserts for the West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery. The cost to print the 5,000 brochures was $900 and he raised a little over $2,000. Chairperson Fox again thanked him and commended a job well done. The brochure is outstanding, above and beyond what we expected and better than a lot of professional documents. Co-Chairperson Brulee-Wilson also paid high compliments to Kalei, stating that his attention to detail and emotional workmanship is outstanding. She also would like to have something like this done for the cemeteries on the East side and include all of the information relating to who qualifies for what during burials. OVS Director Greg Jackson expressed his appreciation also and told Kalei that he met him on Oahu a couple months ago at which time he received a copy of the brochure. He shared it with Frank Salvas who is the Director of the National Cemetery Administration Veterans Advisory Committee Page 6 June 16, 2011 who echoed many of the comments made here. He was extremely impressed and called him personally to thank him for sharing it with him. Mr. Minoru Hanato thanked Kalei for all of his work. Mr. Hanato asked if the County can provide a place for the brochures to be placed at the cemetery where it could be protected from the elements. It would get wet even in the committal shelter. Mr. Flores suggested getting those containers that are used by Real Estate Companies to display their brochures. Chairperson Fox said she will look into it and get back to members at the next meeting. She wants to be sure that the brochures will not get ruined. Mr. Nishimoto recommended that it be placed at the West Hawaii Civic Center. Mr. Bruce Soto, said he is Kalei’s Scoutmaster and a Retired Veteran after serving 20 years in the Air Force and as a veteran feels that it is best to have brochures available at the cemetery. Especially if relatives visit from away during the weekend when the County offices are closed, this information can help them locate their relatives graves while at the cemetery. Director Fitzgerald told Chairperson Fox that if she finds a box, the Parks staff will install it at the Cemetery. He also said that Parks staff will be updating the insert of the brochure every six months. Kalei said that the distribution of the brochures will be at the discretion of Director Fitzgerald. NEW BUSINESS P&R Forms for Burials at Veterans Cemeteries Chairperson Fox requested copies of the following forms relating to burials at Veterans Cemeteries be distributed to members for their information: 1) Procedure for Burial at Veterans Cemeteries (Dated 6/20/10) 2) Application Form For Burial at Veterans Cemeteries (Dated 1/2011) Chairperson Fox wanted members to be aware of what is on this form and pointed out that there is a place for requesting the use of the tent for burials at the West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery only. The mortuaries just need to have that checked so the tent will be set up and casket could be carried directly to the gravesite. She requested members review forms. Mr. Hanato said the roll away tent is being used now instead of going to the committal shelter and then to the gravesite. Veterans Advisory Committee Page 7 June 16, 2011 Mr. Hanato told Vice Chairperson Brulee-Wilson as far as doing the honors for veterans, to them it doesn’t matter what branch or rank, just as long as the veteran was honorably discharged and the family requests it. Vice Chair Brulee-Wilson said she understood that, but there was an incident when a relative of a veteran thought the veteran rated a 21-gun salute, but did not. She wants to take on this project to make it easy for the family members of the veterans to understand who rates what. Mr. Flores said he would get together with her to work on something regarding the regulations. Mr. Hanato suggested that veterans go to the VA Office to confirm their records are on file so their records are updated in case something happens, otherwise it could take awhile to get documentation. Juan Babiak of the Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home said that Fort Shafter has lots of information on what veterans are eligible for. EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS Office of Veterans Services OVS Director Greg Jackson said regarding military honors and eligibility for burials questions were posed to the Lt. Governor at the recent DAV Conference so he’s already looking into it. He has spoken to the Cemetery Director in Kaneohe who has all of the request forms and has also spoken to three out of the five points of contact for the different services. The requests are very simple and at the end of the day the answers are “yes or no”. It’s just to make sure that everyone at the mortuaries understand the process. It will be an education project as opposed to fixing the system. He will collect all information and share it with all of the Offices (OVS, P&R Directors and the Mortuaries). Director Jackson shared good news about a grant that is out to bid for a contract to put in columbariums, three of them going into East Hawaii. It will be a nice construction project tied in to several other islands so it’s now on this island. It is a multi island contract that eliminates a couple local contractors, but the construction will happen. Director Jackson said the burial plot allowance goes up in October from $300 to $700, the plot allowance for the columbariums will be more than twice as big. Director Jackson said that HB 200 has some funds in the operating budget to plan and design a maintenance project, which classifies as an improvement project. The project would be to remove the headstones just like the project in West Hawaii, but would be funded through reimbursable grants from the VA. The project would be to go in, remove the headstones, pull up all the sod, level off the land, clean the headstones and put it all back down. If there are other repairs and fixes that can be included into that contract, it Veterans Advisory Committee Page 8 June 16, 2011 would be included during the design phase. We would work hand in hand with the VA to be sure what we want to do is what they will pay for. The money is classified in general funds which is a little problem because it’s difficult to spend that much money on an extraordinary project in the short amount of time that the general funds are available which is one year. A project of this scale will probably take longer than one year to plan and complete especially because there are multiple cemeteries to do it on (East Hawaii I and East Hawaii II), West Hawaii is not included since it is new and done so well. All of the other cemeteries as well as Kaneohe are in the plans. We hope to get to plan and design phase this year and in a few years to the actual resurfacing. The Hilo Office of Veterans Services will be relocating to Keaukaha Military Recreation Area on June 20, 2011. Director Jackson said the OVS is working on hiring a counselor for this island, not sure if the position will be located in Hilo, Kona or be a floater. The internal vacancy closed without any applicants, so an external vacancy announcement will go out in the near future. That is not replacing Joe Flores, it will work under him. Director Jackson will research the cemetery grants and check if there are funds that could be used for purchasing equipment. He will respond to Director Fitzgerald on the outcome. Director Jackson announced that there will be changes to the composition of the State Veterans Advisory Board. Keith Ribbentrop’s interim appointment to replace Norm Stahl will end and Ms. Carole Brulee-Wilson will be appointed as an Interim Advisory Board member. Mr. Minoru Hanato told Director Jackson regarding the gate opening in the wrong direction, he installed chain link fence under the gate. He said it works, but it doesn’t look that great. The plan was to have the gate open outward instead of inward because of the way the ground is. The sensor that opens the gate is only a few feet from the gate and somebody will eventually run into the gate because it’s so close. The sensor needs to be far away from the gate. Director Jackson said it sounds like two separate issues, 1 is the chain link to keep the goats out and the other is the sensor being too close. Mr. Hanato said and the gate is opening the wrong way. Director Jackson said the contract has not yet closed, but they put in for reimbursement on the final payment. He has not done a final walk through at that project so he will pull the contract and see if it’s finished. Mr. Nishimoto suggested they purchase a computerized gravesite locater with leftover funds. Director Jackson said those cost about $35,000 each. Veterans Advisory Committee Page 9 June 16, 2011 ANNOUNCEMENTS POHAKULOA SOLDIERS – VOLUNTEER WORK IN EAST HAWAI’I Ms. Brulee-Wilson wanted to inform everyone, she thought that Command Sergeant Major Thorpe of Pohakuloa Training Area was going to be at this meeting, but was probably unable to make it. They do a lot of volunteer work at the West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery and have expressed the desire to do work on the East side too. She believes that arrangements are trying to be made for them and P&R to get together to work out the particulars. NEWSPAPERS – FLAGS FOR VETERANS OBITUARIES Mr. Tom Leone reported that he is now working with Councilmember Pete Hoffman about requesting the newspapers to put a flag next to the veteran’s obituaries. KOREAN WAR VETERANS Mr. Emile Wery announced that the Korean War Veterans cleaned the headstones at Veterans Cemetery I and II on May 19 and 20, 2011. He requested that the County acknowledge their volunteer project. Chairperson Fox said this committee is very appreciative of their efforts. th Mr. Wery said that on May 27 there was a Stand-Down at Kea’au Armory, the Military Order of the Purple Heart donated $500 for food. This is the second year they have done that and it is not a very large organization. He said the County should acknowledge them also. Chairperson Fox said that acknowledgement for that should come from The Director of the Hilo Vet Center not the County. She expressed appreciation for this awesome project. th Mr. Emile Wery announced that on June 24, there will be a Memorial Service at Veterans Cemetery I beginning at 10am commemorating the start of the Korean War. YUKIO OKUTSU STATE VETERANS HOME Juan Babiak, Liaison (Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home) announced that their Administrator John Johnson resigned recently. Teana Kramer Ka’aho’ohanohano is the new Administrator. She is a hands-on leader, spends time with the veterans and their family members. She checks on things that have been issues for a long time. She’s focused on quality indicators, now doing more follow ups and investigations if needed. The residents are happier in this very short time frame. STATE VETERANS ADVISORY BOARD Vice Chairperson Carolle Brulee-Wilson announced that she received a letter from the Governor appointing her as the Interim Board Member to the State Veterans Advisory Board. She is excited since she can continue her platform to help veterans. Veterans Advisory Committee Page 10 June 16, 2011 NEXT MEETING The next meeting was scheduled to be held on August 18 at 3pm. THE AUGUST 18, 2011 MEETING HAS BEEN CANCELLED The Hilo Location was changed from the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney to the COUNTY BUILDING – PUNA CONFERENCE ROOM (First Floor – Across of the County Councilroom) ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 4:14 pm. Respectfully submitted, Nathalie Santos, Secretary