Bill Text: HI HR142 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Set Aside; West Hawaii Veterans Council
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Passed) 2011-04-15 - (H) Resolution adopted in final form. [HR142 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2011-HR142-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.R. NO. |
142 |
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TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE RESOLUTION
REQUESTING THE GOVERNOR TO SET ASIDE AND TRANSFER SIXTY ACRES OF LAND TO SUPPORT THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A WEST HAWAII MULTI-PURPOSE AND INTERGENERATIONAL VETERANS CENTER.
WHEREAS, there are more than sixteen thousand veterans on the island of Hawaii, a significant number of whom live in West Hawaii, and they are overwhelmingly requesting and supporting the location of a veterans center in the central part of West Hawaii, near the West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery; and
WHEREAS, veterans make up 12.5 per cent of the adult population of Hawaii County, which is second only to the City and County of Honolulu at 13.0 per cent, and according to the 2010 census data, the population of Hawaii County has increased 24.5 per cent since the last census, which is greater than any other county in the State; and
WHEREAS, there is a severe lack of facilities to meet the needs of veteran groups in West Hawaii, including American Legion Posts, Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Korean War Veterans Association, Vietnam Era Veterans Association, Camp Tawara Detachment #1255 of the Marine Corps League, Big Island National Guard Retirees Association, Big Island Retired Military Association, 100th Infantry Battalion Veterans (also known as Club 100), 442nd Veterans Association, Interpreters Club, Hawaii Island Women Veterans Association, Hawaii Island Veterans Memorial, Inc., and Military Order of the Purple Heart; and
WHEREAS, the West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery does not have a convenient place for large gatherings for funeral services and celebrations; a veterans center would be convenient and appropriate for these gatherings; and
WHEREAS, in Kona there is no permanent office for the Office of Veterans Services of the state Department of Defense, and, therefore, meetings are held at the federal Department of Veterans Affairs Center in a leased retail space; and
WHEREAS, the National Guard Armory in West Hawaii is old and located south of Kona, which is a less than optimal location for the community; and
WHEREAS, there is a shortage of public emergency shelter space in West Hawaii and a new veterans facility could be designed to accommodate this need; and
WHEREAS, there is a need for a gymnasium activity center to provide a facility in West Hawaii where veterans of all ages would have access to suitable recreational activities; and
WHEREAS, veterans in West Hawaii have indicated a desire to have a museum to share their personal achievements, medals, plaques, group commendations, troop flags, and other achievements, as well as personal photos and memorabilia from newspapers, magazines, and letters; and
WHEREAS, a museum with adequate acreage would be ideal for an outdoor museum for historical planes, such as the P-51 Mustang and F-4C Phantom; and
WHEREAS, the Kailua-Kona Community Based Outpatient Clinic is in a leased two-story building located on a hill, which presents significant difficulties for parking, especially for disabled veterans, because the parking lot is small and navigating the turns to drop off a veteran in a wheelchair at the door is very difficult; alternative parking at the bottom of the hill does not meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act because it would require walking up a steep hill; and
WHEREAS, because the Kailua-Kona Community Based Outpatient Clinic building lease period ends in approximately two years, and having a larger, expanded facility that is co-located with the federal Veterans Affairs Center would better meet the existing and future needs of West Hawaii veterans, there is an opportunity for moving the Community Based Outpatient Clinic to a new West Hawaii Veterans Center and designing the facility to best accommodate the needs of veterans; and
WHEREAS, in Maui and Hilo, there are efforts to co-locate military and veteran services to wisely expend federal dollars and create efficiencies that would best serve our veterans; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that co-locating the West Hawaii federal Veterans Association Center and the Veterans Association Community Based Outpatient Clinic within a multi-purpose facility that includes a meeting place for veterans would provide veterans access to meetings, information, assistance, activities, and all veterans affairs services within a consolidated area, which would be in the veterans' best interests; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that a multi-purpose and intergenerational veterans facility should be established and operated by a nonprofit organization that could generate funds for repair, maintenance, and operation of the facility; and
WHEREAS, a multi-purpose and intergenerational veterans facility could generate the necessary funds by providing facilities, programs, and services for the numerous federal and state programs for veterans and the military, which is similar to the existing Kauai and Oahu veterans centers; and
WHEREAS, the West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery Development and Expansion Association's leadership is forming the West Hawaii Veterans Council, a nonprofit organization that should manage the proposed multi-purpose and intergenerational facility; and
WHEREAS, the West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery Development and Expansion Association was established in 2005 and has proven itself highly competent by spending countless hours of labor, donating materials and equipment, renovating the cemetery, and removing headstones (after GPS positioning) to install an irrigation system, topsoil, and new grass sod as an unofficial caretaker in cooperation with the county Department of Parks and Recreation; and
WHEREAS, the West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery Development and Expansion Association's leadership of the West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery, touted as the Arlington of the Pacific, resulted in the cemetery being granted shrine status by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, making the sixty-two acre cemetery in Kailua-Kona one of three state-owned veterans cemeteries in the nation to have that distinction, and the only one in Hawaii; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that the current and future needs of veterans in West Hawaii require that immediate action be taken to establish a multi-purpose and intergenerational veterans facility, to include a facility with area for a museum, meetings, activities, and other veteran-related services; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that funding for the planning, assessment, design, and construction of the West Hawaii multi-purpose and intergenerational Veterans Center facility is needed and strongly supported; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2011, that the Governor, in coordination with the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Hawaii Department of Defense, is requested to set aside and transfer by executive order sixty acres of land to support the establishment of a West Hawaii multi-purpose and intergenerational Veterans Center facility, to the West Hawaii Veterans Council; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, the Adjutant General of the State of Hawaii, the Director of the Office of Veterans Services of the State of Hawaii, the Mayor of the County of Hawaii, the President of the West Hawaii Veterans Council, and the Director of the Honolulu Regional Office, Department of Veterans Affairs.
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OFFERED BY: |
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Set Aside; West Hawaii Veterans Council
