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LAHEmergencyCommitteeMinutesFeb_05finalfinal Page 1
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Minutes
Town of Los Altos Hills
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
Tuesday, February 1, 2005 @ 7:30 PM
Town Hall @ Bullis School
1. Roll call:
Present, prior excused, absent
Council liaison Dean Warshawsky, absent
Guest Gena Moldovan, of Page Mill Estates, which is just north of Arastradero and Page Mill
Road, attended to gain information about the emergency communications planning and work of
the committee. Residents of that area are building a Neighborhood Preparedness Group. Some
of the residents there had homes in the major fire that occurred in that area in the early 1980s
and have rebuilt.
2. Review of January minutes: Approved
3. Report from Chairman Dru Anderson:
a. Chairman’s discussion – moved that Bob Fenwick be an associate member, at his
request. Passed.
b. Dru noted participation is required with at least participation at a quarterly drill,
particularly if the person has a radio assigned. “Continuing to hold a town radio
Member Call Sign Attended Absent
Bob Anderson, Vice Chairman KC6ZWG x
Bob Hall KF6DHX x
David Gilmour WQ1K x
David Pratt K6LWT a. excused
Dru Anderson, Chairman KG6LAD x
Jim Abraham W6EB x a. excused
Maynard Stevenson W7MVT x
Rick Ellinger, Secretary KJ6NU x
Sam Wood K6MSR x
Scott Overstreet N6NXI x
"Smitty" Smithwick W6CS a.
Al Whaley N6RPR x
Ray Egan W6FQY a. excused
Edwin R Jones, Assistant Secretary W7WPO x
Associate Members Call Sign (requirements as defined)
Peter Berman K6PJB na.
Bob Fenwick, Outgoing LIaison K6GX na
Bob Lisbonne KG6HOD na.
Ed Radlo AJ6V na.
Council Liaison Dean Warshawsky a. excused
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requires at least once per month participation. This may be flexible out to three
months, subject to available radios. Regular meeting rules require no more than 3
unexcused absences or they will be dropped from the committee.”
c. All agreed to move this meeting’s Grab-n-go inspection the end of the meeting.
d. Dru reviewed the January Drill results and distributed the sign up sheet to illustrate
how the work party portion of the drill was set up and who attended.
i. She noted that the effort to totally identify which radios were set up with
which antennas fell slightly short as people were focused on the intent of
the county drill: pass traffic via packet.
ii. The sheet detailed the drill.
iii. Sam noted we couldn’t get beyond the setup of the computer with the TNC.
iv. Action – Sam would like to get a small team together to do the packet
demonstrated and locked down. Proposed to do this on a Saturday
morning.
e. Dru’s secret agenda was to push the envelope on the equipment and see what is
busted. A key determination was that the county command net and resource net
could not be accessed by portable, on the ground antenna – hooked up to the
radios that were in the front office.
f. Rick reviewed the room assignments’ functions by EOC staffing objective.
g. LAHECC is on the town hall committee agenda for Feb 9 re: incorporation of
antenna placement in the overall town hall site plans. Town Hall committee and
many council members will understand what the needs are if LAHECC describes
this clearly. Requirements are ready to go, already standing, high enough for
communications function, and safe. Ray Egan, Al Whaley, who also is a member
of the town hall committee, and Sam Wood will drive the written proposal and
clarifications with Dru, chairperson.
h. Dru gave an update on the Water tank site lease agreement that has been signed
between the town and the water district relative to the W6LAH repeater housing
and associated antenna. She noted that the lease includes a stipulation for a
proper all-weather enclosure and an antenna. Jim Abraham, along with Scott
Overstreet, David Gilmour, and Sam Wood will work on the plan. The lease
permits an 8’ pad and a 60’ tower. Per the agreement, there can be no materials
welded to the tank or electrical equipment on it.
4. SPECS report: Dru reported that there was a Good turnout at the SPECS annual meeting
in January. New officers for 2005 were elected. Bruce Homer of Los Altos remains
president; Dru Anderson of Los Altos Hills remains vice president; Maynard Stevenson of
Los Altos Hills was elected second vice president; Everett Palmer of Palo Alto was elected
treasurer, and Roy Austin was elected secretary. Tom Smith and Paul Lufkin, training
officer, are continuing to work on ham radio training for emergency work. The next class is
Feb. 26 and details are available at www.specsnet.org .
5. Report from Rick Ellinger, EC
a. 1200 to 1400 hours on Jan 20 had lots of participation. We still need to understand
the radio positions as they relate to EOC overall operations, and ensure that we
have antennas at the proper place and height for the radios that perform well for
the intended function.
b. 1400 to 1600 hours was the formal County drill with 11 people present and
working on packet, voice radio operation, and limited field communication.
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c. The drill was 90% packet and the team learned how to manage the new software
and now have some follow-up work to do to become individually familiar with the
RIMS preparation software and the Outpost software.
d. Without a resolution on the antenna structure that would enable the radios to be
secured in place to properly function, communicating to the county was limited and
much of the activity on the air was local and training-oriented. Rick led the training
e. Rick also reported that the emergency ham radio booth at the Los Altos
Emergency Faire that same day, Jan. 22, was quite successful with a lot of people
who attended interested in the work of the Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, and SPECS
emergency communications functions. Dru distributed the bound “book” of training
materials that had been assembled by Rick, with assistance by Dru, in preparation
for the Emergency Faire.
6. Report from Bob Anderson regarding Mobile Unit Operations.
a. Bob reported that at the Emergency Preparedness Meeting earlier in the day with
town staff, the staff had noted that Government Emergency Telephone Service will
be special on the phones and it will go through if there is any function at the phone
company. It is an override.
b. He also noted that the Teleminder system that the town is participating in with the
city of Los Altos is a computer that will bring up Los Altos Hills and it will call you
for notification, even if unlisted. This is a donated $24,000 unit and LAH is paying
for $5000 worth.
c. Mobile people – Bob Hall and Bob Anderson were the only mobile people who
self-assigned for the drill. (We tested this function even if it was not required in this
county drill). There are several others on the mobile committee.
d. Bob distributed a information form to the people interested in the mobile aspects
for them to identify their equipment and readiness. Bob will compile a readiness
spreadsheet and related mobilization process.
7. Report from Scott Overstreet regarding the status of the SPECS Repeater. Palo Alto
coverage is now better.
8. Report on Packet operation by Sam Wood: He noted that there was a lot of multipath and
a better, higher, directional antenna would help. He felt that the new Town Hall
construction with all the metal probably is creating some multipath problems.
9. New Business:
a. Passed a resolution to ask the town to print all of us a current copy of the town
map. Bob Hall requested this for the mobile operators.
b. We would also like the map to have a legend, with a list of the streets and a way to
find them.
10. Grab-N-Go Review, conducted by Dru, who got the ball rolling with a demonstration of
her grab-n-go kit, which in addition to the basics, includes tire chains, water, and a variety
of flashlights. She then opened the floor for everyone to share their kit approach
a. Scott advocated that a supply of alkaline cells were a useful addition to the kit.
(Note: these are for field mobile users. Vehicle mobile operators have other
options. The EOC has other power.)
b. Al Whaley’s kit includes a satellite phone with Li- ION batteries. He includes a
voltmeter and binoculars, in addition to the basics of first aid and radio necessities.
c. Bob Hall keeps hat, vest in his car. He has an ICOM headset and remote mike,
but the audio balance is not good. He includes a power supply for the car. All of his
kit stays in the car.
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d. Maynard’s kit includes several survival things. Has clothes and food for at least a
day.
e. Ed had many batteries; his kit includes a crib sheet for how to operate the radios.
f. Sam’s kit includes a telephone butt set for taps. Duct tape, voltmeter.
g. Bob Anderson includes hiking boots and cold weather clothes. He has an AM/FM
radio receiver. He has a map, a tri-band antenna magnetic mount, knife, and an
Adventure medical kit. He keeps a good amount of the emergency radio and other
gear in his emergency vest.
h. Rick went through his kit emphasizing the items he had to support other people,
including a stove, and related setups for survival.
i. Everyone learned from each other’s perspectives and preparations and also
reaffirmed that the basics, as defined, are an excellent start.
j. The Review was declared a success by Dru.
11. Adjournment. It was moved and second and agreed to adjourn at 9:30PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Rick Ellinger
LAHECC Secretary
Emergency Coordinator, Los Altos Hills