HomeMy WebLinkAboutOctober 2
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Minutes
Town of Los Altos Hills
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
October 2, 2012 @ 7:00 PM, LAH Council Chambers
Roll call:
P = present, E = excused, no mark = absent
Member Call Sign Attendance
Jim Abraham W6EB P
Dru Anderson KG6LAD E
Bob Anderson KC6ZWG E
Ray Egan W6FQY E
Andy Fawcett KI6MAF P
Bill Gibbons K6GH E
Robert Hall KF6DHX E
Jim Heintzelman KD6Y P
Edwin R Jones, EC W7WPO P
Andrew Kirk WB6CLS P
Duncan MacMillan, Chair KI6VMY P
Scott Overstreet N6NXI P
Bob Rowe, Vice Chair AF6LD P
Miles Seiver, Secretary KI6LDU P
Maynard Stevenson W7MVT E
Sam Wood K6MSR P
Others Present Call Sign Attendance
Rick Ellinger, Associate Member KJ6NU P
John Harpootlian, incoming. Council
Member P
Michael Murray KI6JDY P
Dave Stewart, Associate Member KJ6JQT P
Gary Waldeck, Council Liaison K6AIR E
1. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Chair Duncan MacMillan KI6VMY. Roll call and minutes were
taken by Secretary Miles Seiver KI6LDU.
2. Review and approve minutes of 9/4/2012 ECC meeting: MacMillan led review of the minutes of the 9/4/2012
ECC meeting. Jones requested that the minutes be corrected to accurately reflect his unavailability for an
upcoming 10/20 drill. The updated minutes were approved unanimously.
3. Public comments from the floor: Ellinger reported that he and Dru Anderson were unable to reach anyone on
the W6LAH repeater during the recent fire in LAH. A discussion followed on protocol and procedure for alerting
the ECC membership in an emergency situation. It was suggested that the ECC membership gain access to
the LAH RapidNotify system so a telephone message to the rest of the ECC can be quickly sent. Abraham will
investigate how RapidNotify is used and what latitude the ECC has in using the system.
4. Update on the County and State – EC Edwin Jones W7WPO
a. Jones presented some changes to the Santa Clara County ARES/RACES packet system. Updated
information can be found at www.scc-ares-races.org
b. Jones reported that Jerry Haag, SPECS president, is looking for someone from LAH to be nominated
to serve on the SPECS board. Anyone interested in the position was asked to contact Jones.
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5. Comments by Council Liaison - Councilmember Gary Waldeck K6AIR: Not present but nothing to report.
6. Old business
a. Associate status (Egan W6FQY): Summarizing an email from Egan, it was noted four individuals who
should be removed from associate membership of the ECC: John Dukes, Nick Dunckel, David Pratt,
and Edward Radlo. Each was being removed either out of his/her own volition or because he/she did
not respond to a status query from Egan in a timely manner. Jim Abraham suggested that the following
individuals should also be removed from associate membership due to lack of participation: Charlie
Ellinger, Robert Lisbonne, Lynn McLeod, Al Whaley, and Walt Wilson. Those comments will be
directed to Egan for comment/review.
b. Update on EOC support at Foothill EOC (MacMillan KI6VMY): MacMillan reported that equipment had
been purchased for the Foothill EOC and was ready for installation. Overstreet, Abraham, and
MacMillan volunteered to complete the installation. The plan is to install the antenna but to keep the
radio in the ARK until needed.
c. Memory provision for ARK and EOC radios (Fawcett KI6MAF): Fawcett reported that ARK and EOC
radios had been provisioned with the latest LAH frequency list. Fawcett suggested that he pass the
knowledge of how to provision the devices to another ECC member, preferably Gibbons. Fawcett had
also produced laminated frequency lists and provided MacMillan with the receipt for reimbursement.
Fawcett will report back to ECC on the best way to transfer knowledge on provisioning radios.
d. Establishing inventory control of EOC equipment (MacMillan KI6VMY): MacMillan reported that there
was no new information on the topic of EOC inventory control other than that the Town will manage
non-radio assets and the ECC will deal with EOC radio room, ARK and loaned equipment. An ICOM
IC-7000 radio is still missing.
e. Field survey of critical infrastructure list (MacMillan KI6VMY): MacMillan reported that the Purissima
Hills GIS system had been used to update the ECC Town Map with new points of interest (like water
tanks). The list of critical infrastructure in the Town has grown to 64. Survey of these sites following a
disaster will be simulated on the October 20, 2012 LAH drill. Abraham volunteered to act as voice net
control in the EOC and Fawcett and Heintzelman offered to do packet radio in the EOC/ARK.
MacMillan will handle dispatch assignments for field hams and suggested that special message
formats be prepared for infrastructure reporting. Overstreet, Stewart, and Rowe also volunteered to
participate in the drill from the field. More field personnel are needed to cover the infrastructure list in a
reasonable time period.
7. New business
a. Comments from the floor on past events (MacMillan KI6VMY): i. LAH Hoedown (9/8/12) -- No report. ii.
ARK cleaning and reorganization (9/22/12) -- Stewart reported that the ARK had been cleaned with a
storage container now installed in the Purissima yard across El Monte. iii. Volunteer Recognition Dinner
(9/22/12) -- No report. iv. Half Moon Bay International Marathon (9/23/12) -- No report.
b. MacMillan reported that the mess in the Heritage House will be removed shortly. Abraham asked that
the facility be rekeyed for security; MacMillan will ask Marsha Hovey about re-keying.
c. Wood said he is involved with a group that has a collection of microwave radios. These radios could be
useful for providing packet communication. The group would like to donate the devices along with a
pallet of related radios to the ECC. Murray, Ellinger, and Stewart will work with Wood to transfer and
test the radios.
d. Ellinger reported he had donated radio equipment to the Town. He also described a scholarship
program for wireless projects for anyone interested in becoming a mentor to awardees.
8. Upcoming events: MacMillan reminded the group of the upcoming Meeting Efficiency Training (10/03/12) and
Town/Country Drill (10/20/12).
9. Adjournment: At 8:22 pm it was moved and unanimously approved to adjourn.
Prepared and respectfully submitted by Miles Seiver, KI6LDU, secretary.