HomeMy WebLinkAboutFebruary 5LAHECC_FINAL-Minutes_20190205.docx 1
Emergency Communications Committee Minutes
Tuesday, February 5, 2019, 7:00 to 9:00 pm
LAH Council Chambers: 26379 Fremont Road, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022
Members Call Sign Attendance
Dru Anderson, Co-Chair KG6LAD P
Eduardo Arias, Co-Chair KM6LSX P
Bob Anderson KC6ZWG P
Jim Heintzelman KD6Y A
Ben H. L. Hu, Secretary KK6HH P
Edwin R Jones W7WPO E
Terry Kearney KM6LTQ P
Andrew Kirk WB6CLS P
Scott Overstreet N6NXI P
Sam Wood K6MSR E
Council/Staff
Kavita Tankha, Council Liaison P
Associate Members
Larry Carr KE6AGJ P
Kjell Karlsson KD6BPP P
Bill Lattin KK6PCA P
Neil Katin, EC K2LL P
Greg Olsen K6XM P
CERT/Guests
Mauri Okamoto-Kearney KM6LXC P
Duncan MacMillan KI6VMY P
Gary Waldeck K6AIR P
1.Roll Call: At 1901 hours, Dru KG6LAD called the meeting to order. Ben KK6HH
took the roll call: Attendance: 15 including 7 members, 1 Council Liaison, 4
associates and 3 guests. At 2109 hours, Kjell KD6BPP joined the meeting, after
finishing another committee meeting.
2.Minutes approved: Terry KM6LTQ moved to approve the January 2019 minutes,
and Bob KC6ZWG, together with Andy WB6CLS, seconded the motion. It was
approved with a unanimous voice vote.
3.Public comments from the floor:
a.Eduardo KM6LSX co-chair, cautioned all present to be careful in the current cold
weather, not only to keep family members warm but also to look out for pets
commonly left outside. In addition, he urged all present to monitor W6LAH and
W6ASH for unexpected events. Neil K2LL added that AA6BT, the County
Resource net, is preferred over W6ASH, if receivable.
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b.Larry Carr reported, after receiving feedback from more than 30 CERT Recon
members, that he would start training CERT NCO on desktop drill as well field
exercises. He advised that he also needs to train operational managers to plan
and perform for CERT Field exercises. He explained that due to current health
issues, he could no longer direct the operation in the field. There was a
discussion among Dru KG6LAD, Scott N6NXI, Mauri KM6LXC, Neil K2LL and
others about how to integrate ECC and CERT Recon in training, drills, and
certification of NCO, operation manager, and field operators.
Ben KK6HH made a motion to form a subgroup for further discussion, consisting
of Dru KG6LAD, Eduardo KM6LSX, Scott N6NXI, Neil K2LL and Larry KE6AGJ,
to develop a strategy/plan to consider integrating the two organizations in order
to fulfill the common needs relative to the Emergency Communications for the
Town, and considering volunteers’ preferences and training.
The motion was duly seconded and passed unanimously.
As a side point, Neil suggested a possibility that the hams of the two groups
could merge into an umbrella organization, such as Town’s ARES/RACES.
4.ECC Activities and related
a. Co-chairs Dru KG6LAD and Eduardo KM6LSX and the group welcomed the
committee's new liaison Kavita Tankha, newly elected last fall to the town's city
council. Kavita expressed she looks forward to the committee activity, commenting
that she had requested serving as liaison to the committee; and adding that she is
looking into taking a "ham cram" license class. She stated that she would follow
the flow of the meeting run by the co-chairs and would interject whenever she could
be helpful.
b. On behalf of the ECC members and associates, Dru KG6LAD, co-chair,
presented Gary Waldeck K6AIR with a special recognition for his 8-year service as
liaison to the committee during his tenure on the LAH City Council. She read him a
commemoration, signed by her and co-chair Eduardo Arias KM6LSX on behalf of
the ECC membership and recognizing Gary's service and support of the committee,
as well as his service to the town and commitment to its emergency preparedness
objectives. Presented to Gary with the commendation was a book "50 Years of
Amateur Radio Innovation -Transmitters, Receivers and Transceivers: 1930-1980".
c. Dru also recognized Neil K2LL, EC and ADC, for receiving EMA awards from
both the Town and the Red Cross for his tireless service.
d. Dru, after checking with the Town Clerk, will report at the March meeting the
resolution of status of members and associates.
e. Mauri gave an update on the inventory status and would follow up with others on
the walk through of the items in ARK and making recommendations for updating
the ECC safety vest and helmets.
f. Dru put forward the appointments to Associate Membership for Gary Waldeck
and Duncan MacMillan. Members voted unanimously to accept.
g. Gary Waldeck gave a brief update on the HF antenna placement, and issues.
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5.New Business:
a.Neil K2LL asked and received permission to prepare an integrated New Mailing
list relative to training activities to include both CERT Recon and ECC.
b.Terry KM6LTQ and Mauri KM6LXC debriefed with an insightful slide
presentation and discussion of their experiences as part of a Search and
Recover team responding after the devastating Paradise area fire in Butte
County. The group discussed the insights of Terry and Mauri with respect to the
LAH evacuation plan and further needs, as well as the roles of Recon and ECC
in a fire emergency.
6.Tech Talks
a.BEYOND THE GO KIT Update: Duncan KI6VMY briefly described the subject
(document to be distributed prior to the March meeting): "Initial NCO Cheat
Sheet 190204") as a draft aid for NCOs and those who wish to assist NCOs
immediately after an event. The information was extracted from current standard
practices and town guidelines. Discussion was put off until the March because
the ECC meeting ran late. Duncan urged all those in NCO-related service as
initial NCO or assistant to program their cell phones and email address books
with the contact information in the document, and not wait until an emergency.
(Note: e-distribution pending appropriate secure access.)
b.“Move the Hill!” - a discussion of effective antenna placement issues –
deferred because of time constraint.
c.Neil K2LL said there will not be an LAH-specific participation in the ARES-
RACES county level exercise on Feb. 23. However, he encouraged local hams
to participate at the county site, which is an excellent opportunity to see the
emergency operations center of the County.
7.Reminders: Please check online schedules for activities in the following:
a.LAH town events: http://www.losaltoshills.ca.gov/calendar.aspx.
b.Note: 2019 County ARES/RACES courses & events:
http://www.scc-ares-races.org/aresraces.htm
c.CERT activities:
http://www.lahcfd.org/community-programs/public-classes
d.EMERGENCY ALERTS:
LAH: http://www.losaltoshills.ca.gov/381/EMERGENCY-ALERTS Alert
SCC: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/alertscc/Pages/home.aspx
e.ECC QRG (Quick Reference Guide): (link to be updated with current .pdf)
f.SPECS organization: 2019 activities, links to ham training. www.specsnet.org
8. Adjourn. At 21:17, the meeting was adjourned after motion made by Bob KC6ZWG,
seconded by Andy WB6CLS, was approved unanimously.
Respectfully submitted: Ben Hu KK6HH, Secretary