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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOctober 19Minutes Town of Los Altos Hills EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE October 19, 2010 @ 7:00 PM, Council Chambers Roll call: Member Call Sign Attended Absent Jim Abraham W6EB P Dru Anderson KG6LAD P Bob Anderson KC6ZWG P Ray Egan, Chair W6FQY P Andy Fawcett KI6MAF E Edwin R Jones, EC W7WPO P Andrew Kirk WB6CLS P Duncan MacMillan KI6VMY P Scott Overstreet N6NXI P Bob Rowe AF6LD P Miles Seiver, Secretary KI6LDU P Terry Smith K7YNO Maynard Stevenson W7MVT P Jerry Tomanek AF6HY P Gary Waldeck K6AIR P Al Whaley KV6U Sam Wood K6MSR P Other Hams present Andy Rose KI6SEE P Jany Rose KI6SER P Dave Stewart KJ6VT P Bell Gibbins KJ6IRA P Council Liaison Rich Larsen KI6VMW Chairman Ray Egan called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. Jim Abraham introduced a talk from Scott Overstreet regarding the radios in the LAH EOC. Overstreet suggested that EOC members become more familiar with the devices by using them regularly. Manuals for each radio are available both in the EOC and online. Dru Anderson suggested that the ECC plan Saturday training events for further radio practice. Bob Anderson moved to approve the August ECC minutes, Jerry Tomanek seconded and the motion passed. Andrew Kirk showed the committee a bicycle strap he recently acquired. He had found it to be a very useful addition to his radio equipment. Jim Abraham informed the ECC that the Los Altos Hills Planning Commission will suggest that the Town Council accept T-Mobile’s proposal for usage of Town radio tower space. The Planning Commission introduced a clause to the proposal which requires that T-Mobile inform the Town before any work is completed on the Tower so it can confirm that no damage has been caused to the amateur radio antennas also present on the Tower. If any damage is discovered, T-Mobile will be responsible for the repair. Dru Anderson reported that the light in front of the EOC is still not functioning reliably. Edwin Jones, EC, shared the listing of LAH MACs on the Santa Clara County EC website. He accepted updates to the information. Ray Egan reported that the August ECC minutes had been sent by Miles Seiver, ECC secretary, to the Town with adequate time before the September meeting to comply with the Brown Act. The email containing the minutes was never received by Karen Jost because it was trapped by the Town spam filter. Scott Overstreet noted that participation in the weekly Town ECC net could and should be increased. Ray Egan suggested that the weekly net be more of a check in and less of a conversation in order to make it shorter and easier for members to fit into their schedules. Ray Egan reminded the ECC of an upcoming Santa Clara County drill. He volunteered to manage the EOC and run packet radio for the exercise. He asked all ECC members to check in on the Town repeater between the hours of 2pm and 4pm the day of the drill. Ray Egan noted that the ECC website is in need of an update. Jim Abraham felt it was important for the LAH ECC website to be hosted on a Town-owned computer or rented server, as opposed to its current hosting on a private computer. Dru Anderson agreed with Abraham. Egan responded that the ECC website cannot in any way be connected to the Town website. Dru Anderson felt that the current ECC website contains too much content, making it difficult to access important or recent documents. To solve this issue, she proposed the creation of an archive on the site. ECC members suggested that a Go-kit list, a roster, drill information, radio manuals, recent minutes and agendas would all be useful additions to the site. Miles Seiver will contact Al Whaley, the current webmaster of the ECC website, to determine how best to proceed with the changes. Dru Anderson described the current status of the LAH CERT program. A recent CERT drill was a success and had a good showing of ECC members. The Town now has two mobile trailers and an ARC, all well-outfitted for emergency response. There was a post-drill meeting to discuss what went well and what could be improved. Individuals volunteered to focus their efforts on improving specific aspects of the CERT/ECC program such as communication protocol, radio manuals, and equipment. The individuals at the meeting serve as a reliable “ready team” for future drills and activations. Dru Anderson campaigned with Mike Sanders for further training of CERT supervisors. Ray Egan added that he sees one purpose of the the EC as a group of communicators in support of the CERT program. Gary Waldeck was involved in the aforementioned CERT drill as a Purissima Hills Water District representative. Waldeck asked if the ECC thought it would be worthy to loan a mobile radio to the Purissima Hills Water District so that it will be better able to communicate with the LAH ECC in the event of an emergency. Sam Wood thought that the Water District should be linked to the EOC by means of cable. Ray Egan suggested that Waldeck prepare a formal proposal for the ECC. Scott Overstreet suggested that a warning be attached to the radio informing that it must only be used by licensed amateur radio operators. At 8:20 pm Bob Anderson moved to adjourn the meeting, Jerry Tomanek seconded, and the motion passed. Respectfully submitted, Miles Seiver LAH ECC Secretary